Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 1/10/23
At the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting held 1-10-23, the Board heard an update from Utilities Director McAvoy about water leaks. There are currently 371 confirmed leaks pending repair and 338 that have been reported but that are not yet verified. It is estimated that about 75% of that 338 that have not yet been confirmed will turn out to not result in need for a repair because they are not a leak after all or are on the customer side. The oldest leak that has not been fixed is from 2018 (it is a smaller leak than the others, so the other bigger ones have been given priority first). There are 2 or 3 leaks from 2019, a dozen from 2020, and the rest are all from 2021 or 2022. In 2022, there were 779 more leaks reported than were reported in 2021. 420 leak repairs and 84 water main repairs were done by the City this year.
High numbers of leaks occurred in February of 2021 and December of 2022 because of the subfreezing weather. Some other high months were during the summer drought (high demand causes stress on the pipes). Director Settle asked if there was an increase in leaks that corresponded with when AT&T was installing fiberoptic cable and bored into water lines. McAvoy confirmed that from July-October that did contribute to an increase but the drought was also a big contributor during some of that period.
Director Morton said that having repaired more leaks in 2022 than 2021 “gives me hope that we can begin to catch up” and called that the “most encouraging thing we’ve heard on leaks in a long time”.
Forsgren, the outside company contracted by the City to do $3 million of leak repairs did 396 repairs last year at a price of $1, 136, 975.02. The City typically has Forsgren take care of the more simple leaks and does the more complicated ones themselves to get the most out of their money for the outside contract repairs. Director McAvoy said that the $2800 average per repair by Forsgren actually came up a little lower than the $3500-$5000 average repair that he’d expected. McAvoy expects that Forsgren will be able to fix about 230 more leaks on their contract. Next Tuesday, the Board will be voting on an extension of time only to the Forsgren contract that would not cost the City any more money but would allow Forsgren to still conduct their work until the remainder of the $3 million contract money has been used up.
One of the biggest challenges McAvoy cited as standing in the way of getting caught up on leak repair was the staffing shortage. There are currently 16 vacancies on leak repair crews that need to be filled. Mayor McGill expressed agreement with the staffing problem being a major and widespread issue. Administrator Geffken acknowledged the hiring challenge and mentioned that the jobs that need filled start at $17 hour and with longevity reach up to $42,000. McAvoy stated that his department currently has less staff for leaks than they had in 2019. He said that cities statewide are all experiencing a similar labor shortage but that it is not just a matter of pay rates saying that with being “cold, wet, digging a ditch on Christmas eve, it takes a special type of person that wants to do this job.” Director Good asked what the title of the leak repair positions is on the part of the City website where people can apply. McAvoy answered that the majority of those are listed under Equipment Operator 1. Good asked if it was known how many people apply. McAvoy said he would get that information from Human Resources for him. Good noted that on the website that it looks like there are only 25 total positions to apply for when clearly there are far more openings. Geffken clarified that multiple positions are all under one listing like that all 14 Equipment Operator 1 positions are under one listing for Equipment Operator 1. Director Morton asked that it be made more clear and asked for wording saying “multiple openings” to be included on the listing where there are multiple opportunities. Geffken agreed to make that change.
Other challenges listed by McAvoy included supply chain issues making parts hard to get, new service being added to accommodate growth utilizing the time of staff that could otherwise be used for repairs, and aging mains. He said that old galvanized pipe fails more often than modern pipe and asbestos concrete mains require complex repairs that require a large section to be cut out and replaced with PVC double wrapped in plastic and the removed section has to be dealt with with a special procedure at the landfill because it is a hazardous waste material. One pipe that broke last year was 120 years old and made of cast iron. Director Christina Catsavis asked how old the asbestos concrete pipes are. McAvoy answered that they are from the 1950s and 60s. He added that the EPA through the Safe Drinking Water Act requires testing for asbestos and that while water is running through them the asbestos pipes don’t leave asbestos in the water but when they become old and brittle repairing them becomes dangerous. Director Rego asked about the approximate costs of replacing the antiquated pipes. McAvoy answered that it will cost $10-12 million to replace the galvanized pipes and that he doesn’t yet have an estimate on the asbestos concrete pipes but that it would be a “large number” with it being about 10% of the system that would need replaced and those being mostly large pipes.
McAvoy said he plans to hire another leak checker in addition to the one currently on staff. Director Rego asked if it would make sense to hire 2 more. McAvoy agreed that it would be useful if it was understood that as the leaks got caught up they would be moved into another job within the department. Other plans presented by McAvoy to improve the leak situation include utilizing overtime for leak repairs (though burn out and fatigue is a serious concern) and replacing the 20 miles of galvanized pipes and 63 miles of asbestos concrete pipes.
Director Rego questioned with the staffing shortage if it might be feasible and/or financially efficient to make greater use of outside contracts (like the one with Forsgren)to catch up the leak repairs. McAvoy said “We have no money for that at this time”. Director Morton expressed support for doing the work in-house instead of with an outside contractor because doing it in-house does not requiring paying for depreciation on the equipment.
Director Settle suggested that creative solutions may be necessary including using different systems for gaskets and connections near the meters and using different materials in place of materials affected by the supply chain problems.
Director Rego said “Reasons are not solutions. Hope is not a strategy.” and suggested that creative ways be found to actually “take 600 leaks off the books in the next 12-30 months”. He suggested potentially hiring a team of 12 leak fixers for a short period of time at high above the normal pay rate to reach the target. He mentioned modeling the plan off of the shale oil fields in North Dakota where they are not thinking about hiring people for 3-5 years with benefits, but rather just 6 months at a “ridiculous hourly wage”.
Director Morton voiced his view that with leaks needing repaired, the electronic meter reading system needing implemented, water lines needing replaced, and new growth that there needs to be a “reasonable water rate increase” soon. He expressed hope that with a rate increase the finances could be put into a situation that would allow for bonds to be issued again for water projects. McAvoy reminded that there is discussion about water department needs and revenues slated for the January 31, 2023 study session meeting.
In response to McAvoy saying that a map (similar to the one pictured at the top of this post) will be posted on the newly revamped City website so citizens can see the situation and the progress on the leaks. Rego called it “communications malpractice to just put up a map” without “commensurate strategy or an explainer” of the strategy to fix the problem. Director George Catsavis suggested that the Utility Department reach out to the press and explain to the public what is going on with the leaks. Director Christina Catsavis asked about a social media information campaign about the leaks. Geffken said that they have done that and “We do try”.
Discussion about the water department in general was sparked out the discussion of leaks. Director Morton mentioned some billing problems he’d heard about during the December 30, 2022 billing cycle where customers received extraordinarily high bills mistakenly. He asked if there could be a system to stop those mistakes from reaching customers like a spread sheet that could show all residential bills over a certain amount and the Utilities Department could call the company that makes and mails out the bills and stop those bills from being sent out. Director George Catsavis also expressed frustration with customer complaints about receiving astronomical erroneous bills. Director McAvoy acknowledged that 2 bills went out saying that the customers owed over $120,000 for the month’s water. It was a result of a meter rolling over and accidentally overbilling. It was “human error” caused by lack of staff to read and re-read meters. The errors were resolved and customers were not held responsible for paying for more water than they really used or any late fees. After this incident, a new system to review bills was instituted and this new extra check was started this week.
The Board discussed whether or not to continue holding the quarterly Ward meetings and/or potential changes that could be made to the meetings to encourage greater attendance and citizen participation. Director Geffken expressed the general sentiment of the Board and the Administration is that Ward meetings have not been as successful as hoped mentioning that one meeting was held when no one from the public showed up. He mentioned that the Coffee with the Police Chief program has been very successful and suggested that a similar Coffee with a Director format where Director and himself and City Clerk Gard just show up at a location and invite people to join them for coffee and informal conversation might work well,too.
Director Good said “I’m all in favor of not having the Ward meetings”. With the low attendance and large number of staff that has to attend them (usually the majority of the people in the room being the City staff) and the high availability of the Directors for one on one discussions with citizens that are already taking place, of the Ward meetings he said “They should end”. Director George Catsavis agreed they should end or at least go on a 6 month hiatus to monitor feedback on their absence.
Director Settle said that “we still gotta make ourselves accessible to the public” . He suggested going into neighborhoods, all the Directors splitting up and saying where they will be when and talking to people. He also suggested the Directors and department heads going to sporting events and setting up and meeting people there. He suggested trying that for a year and seeing how it works out. Director Martin agreed that with the current format Directors are “asking people to come to us instead of coming to them”. He suggested going to places that people already are like MLK Park on a Thursday night or the Steel Horse Rally. He also suggested doing an online virtual conversation so that the Directors and staff would still all be at the Blue Lion, but the citizens could engage with them from their own homes.
Director Morton said “Ward meetings have not been effective”. He said that during the recent sales tax renewal election the Directors saw good attendance for their meetings about the tax issue in the beginning but then it tapered off so they switched to going to civic clubs. The people really engaged with them at the civic clubs. He suggested that there should be meetings about hot button issues like potential water rate increases.
Director Rego expressed his view that the majority of the staff don’t need to attend the previously Ward meetings in a new format. He said that with his Ward set to be the 1st quarter meeting, he would like to try the Coffee with a Director meeting format instead and in the next month or so will be picking a high-traffic location for an informal hour-ish long chat.
Director Martin suggested that the At-Large Directors also start serving as hosts to the new meeting format as well as Directors from each of the 4 wards.
Mayor McGill said that he has success in meeting and engaging with citizens by making a point to “find out what’s happening around town and go”. He mentioned he attended the New Years Eve ball drop downtown last week and the Rodeo Queen crowning this week and planned to attend various Martin Luther King Day events next week. He encouraged the Directors to make a point to attend events and to get out to churches, bars, and restaurants and meet people.
Director Good mentioned that nothing had been planned by the Board yet for the National Day of Racial Healing coming up Tuesday 1-17-23. He suggested that the Board could be somewhere and do something in relation to that that evening. Director Settle reminded that the Board will be at the Board meeting scheduled for that evening. Director Good said that they could do it there. Mayor McGill said that he plans to make a proclamation.
This meeting featured the first of the new Citizens Forum section of the agenda that will be included as the final item of the first study session meeting of every month where anyone can speak for up to 5 minutes on any topic that is not included on the meeting’s agenda (replacing the old separate monthly Town Hall meetings that used to follow the first regular meeting of the month). One citizen, Deana Griffith spoke tonight. She was there to introduce herself to the Board as the new Director of the Downtown Business Association and Director of the Community School of the Arts. She also invited the Directors to attend the monthly Downtown Business Association meetings. Director Rego asked her when the new Community School of the Arts building on the Riverfront next to the Marshals Museum is expected to open. Griffith answered that it is set to be ready to move in at the end of July with the high school class program to start in August.
