Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 1/18/22

The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 1-18-22 was kicked off by a presentation from the Girl Scout Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in which troop members shared information about their annual cookie sale fundraiser currently underway and presented the Board with sample cookies.

Then Mayor McGill showed a short video in recognition of the National Day of Racial Healing featuring his proclamation regarding the day.

The Board voted unanimously to approve renaming the park that has been being referred to by the placeholder name Riverfront Drive Sports Fields to John Bell Jr. Park. John Bell Jr. was a Fort Smith artist best known for his paintings of historical Fort Smith scenes and an advocate for accessibility for people with disabilities. In addition to sports fields, the park will feature a fully accessible and inclusive playground. Director Settle spoke up in support of the name and praised John Bell Jr. and his legacy. Settle requested that when the playground is completed that a grand opening ceremony event be held. Mayor McGill also spoke up in praise of John Bell Jr and mentioned Bell’s art “illustrating Fort Smith in an amazing way.”

The Board unanimously approved contracts with the Sebastian Retired Citizens Association for $175,000, Area Agency on Aging for $60,000, and Project Compassion for $7,500 for services provided for senior citizens to be paid for out of money from the county sales tax.

The Board unanimously approved payment of the Fort Smith Museum of History’s utility bills up to $20,000.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the purchase of an automated flood warning system from High Sierra Electronics for $136,705.72. The system will be installed at the North 66th Street crossing of No Name Creek and will include automatic crossing arms that close the street and warning lights. Director Settle inquired about the durability and reliability of the system expressing that he wants it to be effective and not fail. Director of Streets and Traffic Matt Meeker assured that the system was a reliable high quality product. In response to questions from Director Morton, Meeker also clarified that in addition to the automatic trigger system the system could also be activated manually and that it should take about 8-12 weeks for the new automated flood warning system to be installed and operational.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the purchases for the Street Department of replacements for a mini excavator, a backhoe, a pothole patch truck, and a dumptruck as well as a new addition to the fleet, a distributor truck. The total price for all of the equipment is $786, 657.19.

Director Settle motioned to add an item to the meeting’s agenda pertaining to approval of a contract with an outside company for emergency sewer line repair at North 52nd Street. The Board voted unanimously to add the item to the evening’s agenda. The repair is to fix problems including sewage overflows that result from a collapsed sewer line. It will cost $318,000 and include repair of 497 feet of sewer line and 2 manholes . The repair cannot be performed in-house because the problem is too deep for the City excavation equipment to reach. Two bids were received. The lower bid from Crawford Construction was accepted. The Board voted unanimously to approve the contract and the work is predicted to take about 3 weeks to complete.

During the Official’s Forum portion of the meeting, Director Rego inquired if any of the upcoming neighborhood meetings about the sales tax renewal would be recorded or broadcast for people who to view at home. Director Geffken responded that all of the meetings would be recorded and made available on the website and that at least one may possibly be streamed live.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of the appointments of Emily Ziegler and Director George Catsavis to the Sebastian County Solid Waste Board.