Agenda Highlights 1/24/23
The Fort Smith Board of Directors of study session meeting scheduled for 1-24-23 will begin with discussion about the parking situation on the 2800-2900 block of Fairway Hamlet Court. The item is scheduled to be discussed in response to a resident complaint. The Planning, Engineering, Streets, and Fire Department looked into the situation and do not recommend any changes be made. The Police Department saw no illegal parking in that area and went door to door to interview residents at all of the addresses in that area. In the interviews, they heard about little to no trouble with parking. The Police Department does not recommend any changes be made.
The Board will discuss the future of the hydroelectric generator at the Lee Creek Dam. At the most recent inspection of the dam by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), it was noted that the hydroelectric dam was no longer functional and that no energy is being produced. Minor repairs and a study must be done regardless before any next steps are taken, but there are two main options for moving forward. Either the generator can be repaired at a cost of $3-5 million that is likely to produce a negative return on investment from the revenue generated by producing electricity, or the City could surrender the FERC license and remove the generator. One top concern with removing the generator is that since the generator was originally included to reduce red tape with Oklahoma questions are raised about how removal would impact Phase 2 of the Lee Creek Dam expansion that would cause there to be more reservoir in Oklahoma. The other top concern with removal is that some FERC projects require the stream to be returned to its natural flow state if the project is ended so questions are raised about how that would impact the drinking water supply reservoir.
Prompted by the Greenwood School District recently purchasing land inside the Fort Smith city limits to build a public elementary school, the Board will discuss the locations of new schools within the city limits.
