Agenda Highlights 8/6/24

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 8-6-24, the Board will vote on a zoning change that would allow for a 199 ft tall cellular communications tower to be built at 8202 Veterans Ave.

The Board will vote on leasing the county’s half-ownership of Parrot Island water park for one dollar per year, resulting in the City having sole control over and financial responsibility for the park including operations, upkeep, and expansion instead of the current arrangement where control of and responsibility for the park is shared equally and jointly with the County.

The Board will also vote on purchasing a set of 5 water slides for the park at a total price of $4.2 million. The City would make a down payment of $1,260,000, then pay the next 30% when the slides are delivered, and then pay the final 40% when the installation is completed. The purchase of the water slides was initially approved by the Board at the 7-9-24 meeting with the plan at that time being for the County to pay the other half of the price of the slides, but the County did not approve spending for what would have been their half of the purchase price. Following their decision to not fund the purchase of the water slides, the County proposed leasing their half of the park to the City.

The Board will vote on whether to accept a legal settlement with the federal government for a total of $590,000 for penalties resulting from 481 sanitary sewer overflows that occurred between July 1, 2021 and December 31, 2023.

The Board will vote on whether to contract with Denali Water Solutions for $252,735.69 for the removal and disposal of sludge in the Southwest Lagoon at the Lee Creek water treatment facility. The treatment operations create sludge that is stored in four on-site lagoons and the Southwest Lagoon is currently full.

The Board will vote on applying for a $250,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism to be used for constructing pickleball courts at John Bell Jr. Park.