Agenda Highlights 12/5/23
Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting agenda for 12-5-23 include a vote on whether to contract with Baker Tilly US for an estimated total cost of $10,000-$15,000 (at a rate of $235 per hour) to perform a third party review of the Fort Smith Animal Haven audit.
The Board will vote on whether to approve the top strategic goals for 2023-2024 set at the recent day-long strategic goals workshop. The goals include…
#1 - Reduce neighborhood blight through the use of demolition and code enforcement. Examine possible use of grid based code enforcement.
#2- Reduce homelessness. Support the new Next Step transitional housing facility and policies that grow affordable housing.
#3- Strengthen relationships with federal and state government agencies to reduce the impacts of the consent decree. Request additional time to complete the consent decree requirements.
#4 Mitigate the impacts of inflation on City services. Prioritize needs over wants in budgeting.
#5 Hire Assistant to the Deputy City Administrator to free up the City Administrator to focus on other tasks
#6 Prepare a plan to increase water supply and pressure and plan funding for that plan
The Board will vote on contracting with Vortex Services for $21,856,895 for consent decree required sewer repair and capacity improvement work including 55,774 feet of pipe and 624 manholes. The funding for the project would come from the sales tax for consent decree sewer work.
The Board will vote on whether to renew the legal services contract with Daily & Woods at the same rate as the existing contract, $168/hr for attorney services and $70/hr for paralegal services. Daily & Woods has provided legal services to the City since 1968. This year they were the only bidder to submit a proposal for the legal services contract.
The Board will vote on a request from the Fort Smith Housing Authority to abandon the right of way on part of Lexington Avenue as part of the development of a new housing subdivision at the site of the old Bailey Hill Reservoir.
The Board will vote on whether to contract with Forsgren for $2,481,021.35 for 2.1 miles of street overlays.
The Board will vote on whether to purchase homes at 3408 and 3414 Edinburgh Drive through the flood buyout program in which the City purchases flood-prone homes when it is cheaper to buy the property than perform the improvements necessary to mitigate the flooding. The total cost of the homes would be $440,000.
The Board will vote on whether to renew the contract with First Western for insurance and risk management advisory services at the same rate as the current contract, $130,000 for the year.
The Board will vote on whether to contract with Stearns, Conrad, and Schmidt Engineers for $178,500 and Sloan Vaszquez McAfee for $258,400 for a master plan for solid waste management. The master plan would include a feasibility study and conceptual site plan for a City-owned recycling materials recovery facility, plan for relocation of the customer convenience center at the landfill, an updated 20 year strategic plan for the landfill, a waste composition study, and a landfill and solid waste rate study that would include a comparison of the current all-inclusive collection rate system and a pay-as-you-throw system.
