Agenda Highlights 4/15/25

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 4-15-25, the Board will vote on whether to purchase 2 dump trucks from Carco, 2 backhoes from Stribling, 2 backhoe trailers from Scott Construction Equipment, and 2 service trucks from Red River Dodge Chrysler to fully equip two water leak repair crews. The total cost of the equipment would be $727,832.72. The funding for the purchase would come from cuts to be made to the Water Utilities department budget. This issue was discussed at the 4-8-25 study session meeting.

The Board will vote on whether to contract with Burns & McDonnell for construction observation services for a project involving 736 ft of concrete encased 66 inch steel pipe water transmission line running under the I-49 on and off ramps. The cost of the contract would be $124,424 and would be reimbursed entirely by ARDOT.

The Board will vote on whether to purchase 8 new Dodge Durango police vehicles from Breeden Dodge, 2 new Harley Davidson police motorcycles from Fort Smith Harley Davidson, one used 2023 Dodge Durango police vehicle from Breeden Dodge, and all of the necessary upfitting and equipment for all of the vehicles. The total cost for all of the vehicles and equipment would be $575,324.09. $115,321.09 of that cost would be funded from court fees earmarked for the police department rather than out of the City budget.

Immediately following the voting meeting, there will be a study session meeting held for the Board to review the Water Utilities budget. The discussion will include proposed short term cuts including deferring expenses for training, travel, maintenance, and one-time small equipment purchases. Those proposed short term cuts would total $1,126,700. The bulk of the money from those cuts will be used to purchase the equipment for the two water leak crews if that purchase is approved during the voting meeting. The discussion will also include proposed long term cuts from reducing the number of full time employees in the water department. The proposed staff cuts include 26 positions, 11 of which are currently filled (the rest are currently vacant) for an 8.7% reduction in staff. None of the 26 positions to be considered are positions that are legally required to satisfy the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Drinking Water Act, or the consent decree. The proposed staffing cuts would total $1,839,500 if all 26 positions were cut and would total $969,500 if only the positions that are currently vacant were cut.