Agenda Highlights 4/2/24
The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 4-2-24 will begin with a vote on annexation requested by Liberty Ridge RRF Properties of 23.55 acres of property south of Spring Mountain Road and west of Old Highway 71. The City would have no obligation to construct infrastructure for the annexed property.
The Board will vote on a zoning change for 1 Essex Place that would allow for the former Fianna Hills Country Club to be redeveloped into retirement housing.
The Board will vote on a measure that would allow for 6.47 undeveloped acres in the extraterritorial jurisdiction at 8819 Highway 45 South between Planters Road and Burrough Road to be developed into a 175,500 square ft parking lot for freight vehicle storage.
The Board will vote on amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance that would remove wording allowing deciduous materials to be used for required parking lot screening (leaving only evergreens allowed to be used), that would remove barberry from the approved list of screening shrubs, and that would add columns to the landscaping materials list distinguishing evergreen versus deciduous plants.
The Board will vote on whether to issue a resolution recommending dissolution of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority. The measure is similar to one that was passed by the City of Barling on 3-26-24.
The Board will vote on prohibiting parking on top of sidewalks and water meters and on unpaved parts of street right-of-ways behind a Type A barrier or Type C integral curb, and prohibiting parking on unpaved parts of street right-of-ways behind Type B curbs with the exception of parking in that area by the owner/occupant of the adjacent property. Parking in these areas was discussed at the 2-27-24 study session.
The Board will vote on contracting with Forsgren for the relocation of utility pipes to accomodate the Highway 45 expansion project. The total cost of the contract would be $15,783,939.50 with ARDOT reimbursing the City for $14,528,061.60 of the cost. The project also includes upsizing the pipes from 16 inch to 24 inch pipe. That ARDOT will not reimburse for that upsizing is why the reimbursement would be only 94.8% of the cost instead of the entire cost of the project.
The Board will vote on contracting with Forsgren for repair of collapsed segments of sewer line and installation of 3 manholes for a total of $131,653.
The Board will vote on renewing the contract with Cox to provide communications services to the City for $55,915.53 per month.
The Board will vote on the design to be used for the artwork decorating the second National Fitness Campaign Fitness Court to be installed at 121 Riverfront Drive. There were 32 designs submitted by local artists for consideration and the Parks Commission put their top 3 design submissions up to a public vote. The design that received the most votes from the public was Design 3. The artist responsible for the selected design will be paid $5000 dollars.
The Board will vote on whether to purchase a replacement bucket truck for Streets and Traffic Control from Versalift for $141,672.
