Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 11/2/21

A Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting was held 11-2-21. Director Morton was absent. The issuance of industrial development revenue bonds for expansion of the Weather Barr window and door manufacturing facility was passed unanimously.

Zoning changes were unanimously approved to allow for the vacant building at 830 North Greenwood to become an indoor tire sales, furniture sales, and detailing business. Zoning changes were also unanimously approved to allow for 4 duplexes to be built on a lot at 5209 and 5213 South 30th.

A vote was held to decide on zoning changes to allow for a new asphalt plant to be built on 10 acres located on the west side of Ball Road and northwest of the Harper Drive by Emery Sapp and Sons (ESS). Director Settle questioned the potential for odor to be produced by the plant, specifically if odors might negatively affect the nearby Pernod Ricard factory and Remington Place neighborhood. Chris Collins with ESS assured that there is a chemical that can be added to the asphalt to eliminate odor if necessary and that they have a history of being a good neighbor in communities where they operate. Senior Planner Maggie Rice mentioned that the city had spoken with the city of Springdale where a similar ESS asphalt plant is already operating and Springdale confirmed that there has been no issue there with any smell complaints.

Settle brought up the need to change the current requirement for notifying neighbors about meetings about proposed zoning changes. He feels the current policy of inviting neighbors withing 300 ft of the property to be changed doesn’t cover a large enough area, especially when there is potential for things like smells that travel further. Administrator Geffken responded that that issue is scheduled for a January 2022 study session.

Director Martin inquired who would be responsible for the road and utilities at the site and the Maggie Rice responded that the developer would be taking full responsibility for those.

The zoning change was approved with all but Settle voting in favor.

The proposed change to the Unified Development Ordinance to allow for restaurants anywhere in town to offer outdoor dining with no longer needing to gain additional Conditional Use zoning approval so long as they are not located within 300 feet of of a residential property passed unanimously. Senior Planner Rice clarified that downtown is already zoned so that the extra approval is not necessary and that that would not be affected by this change. It was also clarified that the 300 ft from a residence would be measured from the restaurant parking lot, not from the building itself.

The Utility Department requested an additional $250,000 in their budget for the rest of this year to cover dramatic increases in utility bills. Because of the massive snow storm in February 2021, the electric companies raised their rates. Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative, the company that supplies the power for the Lee Creek Water Plant, opted to recoup their extra expenses over the course of a single year because they don’t produce their own power but only buy it. They are concerned that if there is another significant storm this winter they’ll need to have replenished their available funds to buy power to keep customers’ power on this year. This resulted in a giant price increase. Because they produce their own power, Oklahoma Gas and Electric that supplies the power to the wastewater treatment plants and to Lake Fort Smith opted to spread their snowstorm cost recovery out over 8 years, resulting in an increase, but a much smaller one. The additional budget to cover the utility bills was unanimously approved (with Director Settle expressing dissatisfaction with Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative’s choice causing the need for extra spending).

It was unanimously approved to offer free parking at the Downtown meters during the holiday season from 11-26-21 to 1-7-22. Director Rego raised the question why the city ever charges for parking. Administrator Geffken clarified that most of the year the meters help keep spaces turning over so that employees of downtown businesses don’t park in the spaces in front of other businesses all day long, preventing them from being used by customers. Support was expressed by the Board and Mayor McGill for shopping local with Director Dawson pointing out specifically the number of locally owned small businesses downtown and that many local small businesses were hit much harder during Covid versus huge nationwide corporations.

During the Official’s Forum portion of the meeting Director Good inquired whether or not the budget hearing meeting scheduled for Thursday 11-04-21 would be video streamed. Administrator Geffken answered that it would not.

Administrator Geffken mentioned that the company building the new City website is doing a survey about what people want, need, like, and dislike about the city website. He strongly encouraged residents to take the survey.

Director Catsavis inquired about progress on a replacement for the dog park that will be closing December 1 to accommodate expansion of the airport runway. Administrator Geffken responded that talks are underway about a possible partnership with Sebastian County to put one at Ben Geren Park. Director Good also mentioned a property located at the dead end of Grand Avenue that might make a good site.