Agenda Highlights 3/7/23

The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 3-7-23 will begin with a vote on a resolution that would set the process in motion to change the name of Fire Station 1 to Phil Christensen Fire Station 1 in honor of Fire Chief Phil Christensen who passed away recently. If the resolution is passed, a 4 week period for public commentary will begin, and then a second resolution can be made to officially rename the station.

The Board will vote on Master Land Use Plan changes and rezoning changes for an undeveloped area at 2902-2928 Old Greenwood Road to facilitate Viguet Landing, a mixed use development including a 6 story building incorporating light commercial businesses, a restaurant with outdoor dining, “nicer condo/apartment units”, a parking garage, a walking trail, an indoor workout facility, a greenspace, and 14 gated duplexes. The rezoning request was denied by the Planning Commission and is coming to the Board of Directors on 3-7-23 for an appeal of that decision. The development was the subject of discussion at the last study session meeting.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 5300 Zero Street (the former site of Grand Slam and some undeveloped land) to allow for a business park and warehousing facility to be constructed.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for an undeveloped lot at 7820 Collier Street that would allow for the construction of two new warehouses.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 12001 Ward Avenue and 7201 Terry Street that would allow for the existing vacant buildings on the property to be used as Chapel at The Barracks wedding chapel, an event hall, duplex, and short term rentals.

The Board will vote on changes to the Unified Development Ordinance that would allow for indoor tire sales in only C-4, C-5, I-1, I-2, and I-3 zoning districts and allow for outdoor tire sales in only I-1, I-2, and I-3, zoning districts (no longer allowing them in C-5 districts). Any existing tire sales businesses that would not fit with the new rule would still be allowed to continue operating in their current location.

The Board will vote on whether or not to enter a cost sharing agreement with Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority and Rival Commercial Real Estate for street overlays, new railroad crossings, and minor storm drain work on Ward Avenue between Terry Street and Fort Chaffee Boulevard. The total cost to the city is estimated at $257,047.17.

The FCRA approached the Board about sharing in the cost of the project (the City paying 257,000, FCRA paying 260,000, and Rival paying $75,000). The City’s share of the project is about the same as the same as the overlay project the City had already included in the 2022 Capital Improvement Plan.

This issue was discussed and tabled at the 1-17-23 meeting.

The Board will vote on a $100 tap fee for water hookups being installed at the Shire Glen residential development. Shire Glen requested expedited service having the water taps installed but due to staffing shortages the Utility Department could not accommodate that request and instead an agreement was reached that the Shire Glen developer could use their own contractors to install the taps, service lines, and meter boxes and the City would inspect them. Since the developer would be paying for the materials and labor usually paid for by the city, a $100 per tap fee has been agreed upon instead of the full normal fee for when the City provides all of the materials and labor.

The Board will vote on appropriating the funds left over from the 3/4% sales tax that was enacted to pay for the 2012 and 2014 water bonds. The tax produced enough revenue to pay the bonds off early in July-September of 2022, but by State law the tax had to continue being collected until December 31, 2022. The sales tax was renewed recently with 16.67% to go to the Police Department and 83.33% to go to consent decree required sewer repairs. That renewal did not go into effect until January 1, 2023. So there is an excess of $14,645,239 from the collection of the old tax from October through December.

The Board will vote on allocating $4 million to the Parks Department for the demolition of the old pool bathhouse at Creekmore Park and the design and construction of a new bathhouse to replace it and allocating the remaining $10,645,239 to the Utility Department Capital Improvement Fund for use on critical water and wastewater projects.

This issue was discussed at the last study session meeting.

The Board will vote on paying Matrix Design Group $210,000 to assist in crafting construction regulations regarding sounds in response to the sound study conducted in response to the Foreign Military Sales pilot training program anticipated to be coming soon to Ebbing Air National Guard Base. A moratorium on residential construction near the airport was put in place until the appropriate regulations about construction for sounds in the area could be written. This expense is being recommended as a step toward being able to lift that moratorium.

The Board will vote on renewal for the software licensing for the Utilities Department’s E-Builder software for a cost of $251,100.63 per year for 3 years.

The Board will vote on spending a total of $1,090,126 for the contracts for the engineering phase of multiple street overlay and repair projects.