Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 2/21/23

The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 2-21-23 in the absence of Director Morton and with Director Good in attendance remotely began with a unanimous vote in favor of parking restrictions and signs and enforcement of the rules on parking in the City owned lots and parking spaces near the Blue Lion Building and Riverfront Pavilion. The parking will be restricted to only people attending an event at the facility and no parking whatsoever will be allowed from midnight to 6AM. Violators will be towed at their own expense. This policy was suggested in response to issues of lack of parking, especially near the Blue Lion for Board meetings, mostly caused by residents of the nearby townhomes and employees of the Twin Rivers plant on B Street.

Director Settle expressed dissatisfaction at the public having to park far away to attend public meetings because of people who are not attending the meetings taking up the City owned parking spaces. Director Martin asked that the management of the nearby townhomes be informed of the new policy so they can inform their residents. Administrator Geffken agreed to contact them. Director George Catsavis asked about the potential to purchase the dirt lot near the Blue Lion that is owned by the owner of the townhomes (where Director George Catsavis and Director Martin frequently park for meetings). Administrator Geffken expressed that there is a future plan for the owner of the lot to develop more residential units on that lot and expressed that he would rather see that property “in private hands generating taxes”.

The Board voted unanimously to renew the auto insurance coverage for City vehicles through Arkansas Municipal League for $419,679. The Board voted unanimously to buy coverage from Arkansas Municipal League for property insurance for City buildings for $1,035,364. Last year the City switched away from AML property coverage it carried previously to insurance from Travelers. This will be a switch back to AML.

Phillip Merry with First Western who is contracted by the City to consult on insurance matters expressed agreement with the choice to go with AML for auto insurance. He expressed concerns about flood coverage through AML including worry that the AML pool could be “hit hard” if multiple cities nearby experience significant flooding. Also, he informed the Board that the exact wording of the AML policy itself says that there is a $500,000 “per building” deductible for flooding but that AML has assured him verbally that it really is a $500,000 “per occurrence” deductible. Merry talked about how in the independent insurance market that rates typically go down with loyalty and that companies are not comfortable with insuring a customer who hops back and forth between independent insurance companies and an organizational coverage program like AML’s program. He said that it would likely be at least 5 years before insurers are interested again. He said that for a focus on the short term and low deductibles AML was the best choice, but for a long term relationship staying with Travelers would be the better choice. Merry recommended that with choosing AML, the City should still maintain separate outside policies for certain special things like inland marine coverage and coverage for high value public art.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of the purchase of Itron water meter reading software from United Systems Software for $38,445 to replace obsolete software. This purchase was approved without discussion at the meeting.

The Board voted to accept a bid from Crawford Construction Company for $755,500 for putting a required encasement around a 48 inch water transmission line that will run under a roundabout being built as part of a State highway project. The cost to the City of this water line project will be reimbursed 100% by ARDOT.

While there was no opposition to renewing a contract with Central Arkansas Recycling and Disposal Services to allow them to pick up non-residential garbage in Fort Smith, the issue appearing on the agenda sparked Director Christina Catsavis to discuss franchise fees from waste collection companies in general. She suggested that those revenues might go to the Solid Waste department budget directly instead of into the general fund. Inspired by that CARDS picks up waste from a large apartment complex, Director Settle suggested redefining what is considered non-residential waste so that apartments with large numbers of units are no longer considered non-residential and would be collected by the city instead.

The Board voted unanimously to purchase a replacement Mack MD742R truck for the Solid Waste Department from Bruckner’s Truck and Equipment for $327,553.

Director George Catsavis questioned why the truck the new one would be replacing was worn out with only 39,000 miles on it. Solid Waste Director Riley explained that it had engine problems that have made it not viable to maintain. She explained that the truck serves as sort of a “mobile shop” housing and transporting materials and equipment like a welder and compressor and lifting things with its crane so though it seldom travels far, mostly just up and own and around the landfill, it gets used heavily on harsh terrain. It does most of its work while it is not driving. Its service is more accurately considered in terms of hours than in terms of miles. It is a 2003 model. The new one is expected to have a life expectancy of 8-10 years.

Director Christina Catsavis asked if grant money was being used to help pay for the truck. Riley answered that because this kind of truck is not available in a CNG fueled version, only in diesel, that it is not eligible for the grants that are available for CNG vehicles. The lack of availability of a CNG version is also why this truck is diesel even though the Solid Waste department is making a serious effort to buy only CNG whenever possible.

The Board voted on unanimously to approve new rates for advertising on Fort Smith Transit buses. The new large buses have more space and different spaces for advertising so the prices need to be reset to match with the new spaces.

Director Settle expressed agreement with the fee schedule but was concerned about the policy regarding what types of advertising are allowed on the buses and what types are not allowed. His main concern was with the public bus funded with public dollars staying comfortably in line with Constitutional free speech issues, especially with the new big buses being more visible and in demand for advertisers. He asked if it was just a policy or an official ordinance. Transit Director Savage answered that it was included in the official resolution that was approved by the Board in 2000 and 2001. Savage clarified that each ad is reviewed and decided upon individually. He also clarified that the overall policy was crafted carefully to be sure that ads are not offensive while avoiding any worry about free speech issues. He added that the advertisements are usually businesses (one example a current advertiser is Harry Robinson) and events like the Blues Festival and there has not been much of a challenge or problem with objections in the past. City Attorney Canfield said that bus ads are not a “public forum” so there is no legal concern there with meeting First Amendment expectations of providing a platform for free speech.

Director Good expressed his agreement with the fees overall but asked if the rates are capped by the State and how they compared with other cities. Director Savage answered that the rates are not controlled by the State and are set at the local level and that comparisons with other Arkansans cities were used in devising the rates for Fort Smith.

During the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Mayor McGill reminded about the annual State of the City Address he will be making in the Reynolds Room at the UAFS campus at 6pm February 27, 2023.

Director George Catsavis suggested that the recently approved contract with 64.6 Downtown that would pay 64.6 Downtown $12,500 per month up to a maximum of $150,000 per year to provide downtown development services including recruiting businesses to the neighborhood, marketing, revitalization projects, and seasonal lighting and to operate Fort Smith’s Main Street Arkansas and National Main Street programs be amended to require an internal auditor with the City to audit 64.6. Administrator Geffken clarified that with 64.6 being an outside 501C3 entity they could be audited for performance in relation to their duties in fulfillment of the contract, but that they could not be required to just open up their books to a City audit. He added that 64.6 will already be giving monthly reports to the Administration and quarterly reports to the Board of Directors.

Director Christina Catsavis suggested that all standard service contracts with the city need to include mandatory reporting on a set schedule. Director Martin added that he would like to see required reporting of measurable results, too. Director Rego expressed his view that the contract with 64.6 is very new and that “reaction prior to giving them opportunity to report to us is knee-jerk”. He agreed with Director Christina Catsavis that scheduled reporting being included as a part of standard service agreement is a “wise policy to consider moving forward.” Director Good said that the existing agreement with 64.6 is “on the right path” and “we don’t need to hold them to anything further”. Director Settle suggested holding a joint meeting with the City Board of Directors and the 64.6 Board of Directors six months from now. Most of the Board seemed to express agreement with that idea.

Director Martin mentioned being contacted by citizens with concerns related to a possible 6 story building possibly being built on Old Greenwood. Director George Catsavis added that he’d heard concerns,too, about the possibility of apartments being built there. Administrator Geffken clarified that that development plan has been denied by the Planning Commission but they have appealed the Planning Commission decision and since all Planning Commission appeals now go before the Board at a study session first instead of directly to a regular voting meeting, the issue is slated to appear on the agenda for the 2-28-23 study session.

In the Executive Session, Thomas Brock was appointed to represent Ward 2 on the Sales Tax Review Committee.