Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 3/26/24

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 3-26-24, the Board voted unanimously to approve the top prioritized new needs requests portion of the 2024 budget including City employee raises and adding an additional 2% to City employee retirement contributions (bringing the total contribution to 7% of the employee’s salary). The new pay rates include a 25% increase in pay for the low grade positions. The reason that was suggested is to help fill chronic vacancies in the Utility, Streets, Solid Waste, and Parks departments. The total cost of all of these new needs budget items will be $6,078,279.

Director Martin expressed concerns about the cost of hiring additional sanitation personnel. Director Morton and Director Rego mentioned the strong financial health of the Solid Waste Department currently. City Administrator Geffken clarified that the personnel is to allow for more routes and weekly recycling pickup. Director Morton mentioned late evening garbage pick ups in his neighborhood as evidence that additional services are needed. Geffken said that at this time the additional staffing would not require a sanitation rate increase. Director Good said “Commercial and out of town haulers are not paying fair share.”

Director Good expressed his support for hiring for the part-time receptionist for the City Prosecutor. He mentioned that other area cities’ Prosecutors’ offices have much larger staffs and that the implementation of handing out citations for neighborhood services issues is creating more work for the court. Of City Prosecutor Watkins, Director Good said he would “hate to overload someone doing such a great job.”

Multiple Directors expressed a desire to discuss new needs that were not prioritized at the top of the list but they feel are still worthy of consideration including additional personnel at the landfill and in commercial waste collections, additional animal control personnel, and blight remediation measures. The discussion of other new needs will be added to a study session meeting agenda in April.

In discussion of the raises, Director Settle said that he would like to bring the pay up for the bottom tier even more in next year’s budget. He said “If that means the top tier gets stuck for a couple of years, I’m fine with that.” and expressed his view that increases at the bottom tier are crucial to staffing for water leaks and mowing. Director Good agreed. He also said citing his experience as a middle-manager at his job, managing is “easier when you have happy satisfied people working under you.” Director Martin said he is “happy to do this.” Director Christina Catsavis called the raises a “first step towards paying people a living wage.” She mentioned that many workers at the bottom tier also work other jobs to make ends meet and even qualify for the City’s Project Concern utilities assistance program. Director Morton praised the “outstanding people running departments” and said that he doesn’t want them to be forgotten regarding fair compensation, either.

Administrator Geffken spoke about the 2016 decision to reduce the retirement contributions to 5%, half of the 10% instituted in 1997 when the employees voted to switch from a pension system to the retirement account contribution system, calling it a “hard decision” that was made during a bad time for the City financially. He said that the City’s finances have improved and now the City is “fiscally very healthy” and expressed his view that it is time to begin reversing the process that cut the contribution.

The Board voted unanimously to purchase the former site of Crain Kia at 8200 Highway 71 South for a total of $2.85 million. The location will serve as a second police precinct, police cadet training facility, and centralized city vehicle maintenance facility. The property at 4500 Burrough Road that was recently purchased with the intention of using it for a second police precinct will instead become home to a consolidated 911 call center.

Director George Catsavis asked about the price of equipment and additional staffing for the maintenance facility. Geffken said that some staff would come from the maintenance staff currently at the Streets and Utilities facility on Kelley Highway and that some spending on outside of vendors to perform services could be redirected when repairs are performed in-house at the new facility. He also mentioned potentially exploring consolidating maintenance staff at the Transit and Solid Waste maintenance facilities to the new building, too. Director George Catsavis said he doesn’t want the facility to become a “white elephant down the road.” Geffken responded that “It won’t be.”

Director Rego expressed his support for the new site, especially the visibility of the location. Director Morton agreed with Director Rego and mentioned that the appraised value of the property was more than $600,000 higher than what it is being sold to the City for and the owner will get tax benefits for selling to the City for that low price. He also mentioned that the training facility will be able to host training for Police departments from other cities.

Director Good expressed excitement about the 911 call center and asked about reimbursement for some of the cost. Geffken responded that the County will be reimbursing the City for the $575,000 purchase price of the Burroughs Road facility.

Director Settle mentioned liking that the EMS is right around the corner from the new police precinct. He also suggested that the City work with the State on improvements to Highway 71 to help police get in and out quickly and safely.

Mayor McGill called the project “taking advantage of opportunities that come our way” for delivering “services our residents expect.”

The Board voted on whether to contract with Make My Move for $224, 175 for a remote worker recruitment program.

Geffken expressed his support for the program saying that the “city has a lot to offer” and that it needs to take the next step to attract people. He said that when a remote worker is attracted they often bring their spouse and family with them. And that spouse may also help fill other job vacancies. He mentioned that there are currently 2000 well-paying job vacancies at local major manufacturers.

A representative from Make My Move said that the average income of the remote workers they bring in is $110,000/year and that the average household size is 2.3. He said the spouses of remote workers frequently work locally. He said the program is good for economic development by bringing in increased tax revenue and consumer spending.

Fort Smith resident Russ Bragg spoke in opposition to the program. He related his experience with hiring truck drivers with recruiting campaigns and sign-on incentives that when their initial contract period is up, they leave and move the next place with a sign-on incentive. He said that growth is already happening here. He asked of attracting remote workers “Is that where we really need to prioritize?”.

Director Rego asked Make My Move if they thought the program would be successful here. Make My Move responded that the “recipe is here” and that Fort Smith has everything needed to be successful and that using this program is for “communities playing offense” in attracting residents for economic development. Director Rego called the expense a “marginal and fractional investment” to generate revenue. He said the program “represents choosing to move forward in a way that is impactful.”

Director Morton mentioned that marketing Fort Smith was a top priority included in the 2022 Strategic Goals. He said that the City does not have the network in place to execute the program the way that Make My Move does. He also pointed out that the Board would still have to approve adding them if incentives were to be added to the program in the future and at this time they are “not obligating ourselves to that” only the recruitment program.

Director George Catsavis asked about another town that had benefited above the expense for the program. Make My Move gave Muncey, Indiana as an example. Their population has been in decline for two decades but Make My Move brought them in 55 new households at an economic impact “north of $4 million”. Make My Move said that their program targets one of the “most valuable segments of the population” economically to help produce economic benefits.

Director Settle asked if this is a one-time expense. Geffken answered that it is. Settle said “I struggle with this.” and expressed his view that the City “should be recruiting those blue collar workers” to fill jobs manufacturers are struggling to fill. However, he said he is “Ok with trying this this one time.”

Director Martin mentioned his view that it is in line with executing on the implementation of the Strategic Goal from 2022 to promote the city.

Director Christina Catsavis reminded that the proposed program does not include incentives only selling Fort Smith on its amenities and quality of life so it is different than the experience of hiring drivers with incentives. She also said that her husband is a remote worker and they choose to live here. She said that remote workers do hop from job to job fairly frequently, but they do that while still living in Fort Smith.

The Board voted to contract with Make My Move with all voting in favor of the program except for Director George Catsavis.

The Board voted unanimously on a measure to use federal grant money from the opioid lawsuit settlement to fund hiring of 2 additional officers for the Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Unit and 2 additional peer counselors for the unit.

Director Martin asked how the Crisis Intervention Unit officers are different than regular officers. Police Chief Baker answered that they are specifically highly trained and go beyond typical police responses. They focus on looking for alternatives to jail for people experiencing mental crisis and to connect them with the resources they need and even following up with the individual’s support system to provide a long term successful outcome. The extra officers will allow the department to provide more round the clock coverage of this type. Director Martin mentioned having heard positive feedback about the program saving lives.

Director Good mentioned that the types of situations addressed by the Crisis Intervention Unit are a nationwide problem and said that “Jailing these people is not the answer.” He asked if the 2 additional officers would be helpful. Baker said “absolutely” and that they “could triple” the unit and “would still have work to do.” He said that he could tell “story after story” about times the unit has “changed the course” of people’s lives.

Mayor McGill mentioned that Fort Smith was the pilot program for the Crisis Intervention Unit program in Arkansas and it has since rolled out across the state.

The Board discussed a change that would allow for the required taxi cab inspections to be performed by any licensed auto mechanic in Fort Smith. Currently, the requirement is that the inspection be performed by a mechanic on the City’s official list of approved mechanics, but there has been so little interest in performing the inspections that there is currently only one approved mechanic performing the inspections (and there have been accusations that that one has not been performing them thoroughly). Chief Baker also expressed his hope that at some point in the future the City might even be able to conduct the inspections themselves at the new maintenance facility.

Director Settle expressed his view that the City should get rid of the requirement for taxi inspections all together and “let capitalism take care itself”. He mentioned that rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are not inspected by the City and said that the inspections “put a burden on taxi cabs.” Director George Catsavis agreed with Director Settle and said he was “tired of messing with this” and called the inspections “too much intrusion.” saying that the cab companies “aren’t a bunch of derelicts.” He noted that the inspections are no longer state mandated.

Director Rego noted that while the City and State may not impose inspection requirements on rideshares, the companies themselves do.

Director Morton noted that the has noticed the quality in cabs has improved over the last 2 or 3 years as a result of competition with the rideshares. He said it is “not unreasonable” to have an assurance of safety with the cabs. He expressed his view that it is the government’s responsibility to keep people safe. He did propose that what the inspections require might be able to be slimmed down. Director Christina Catsavis agreed with Director Morton that “people do expect a level of safety” and with the paring down of the inspections.

Director George Catsavis asked if there had been any incidents caused by a mechanical issue where someone was hurt. Baker said that there had not. Geffken acknowledged there was a serious injury accident involving a cab a few years back, but it was the result of a driver running a stop sign, not a mechanical safety issue.

Director Settle suggested tabling the issue to allow for discussion of eliminating the inspection requirement for taxis. The Board voted to table the issue with all but Director Rego voting in favor of tabling.

The Board voted unanimously to set a guaranteed maximum price of $6,052,752.98 for a new bath house and diving well enclosure at the Creekmore Park swimming pool so the project could begin. The project will include a new bath house, changing rooms, restrooms, concession stand, lifeguard area, diving well enclosure to replace the “bubble”, stadium seating in place of the concrete steps, cantilevered sun shades over those and the north and east end of the pool. Parks Director Deuster said “everything will be new except the pool itself.”

Kansas Wagley with Ocean Impact spoke in support of the project and mentioned the importance of the diving well in training public safety divers.

Kashia Deshields with the Special Olympics spoke in support of the project and mentioned their use of the pool for the Polar Plunge fundraiser and other activities. She said with the Polar Plunge happening in February with the cold weather that it will be good to have a place for participants to get warm and changed quickly.

Ian Bullock with the Tideriders spoke in support of the project. He mentioned that the Creekmore pool is the only 50 meter 10 lane pool and the only deep water pool in the area. He said “I’ve waited 40 something years for this.” and that he is “exicted to be able to take down the dome forever.”

Patty Bates with Girls Inc. spoke in support of the project saying that they use Creekmore pool daily in the summer and that the improvements are “greatly appreciated.”

Scott Barr, the Firefighter Dive Team Coordinator, spoke in support of the project saying they use the pool for swim tests and the diving well for training. He expressed being especially excited about the permanent diving well enclosure instead of the bubble.

Fort Smith resident Roy Gene spoke in support of the project and mentioned that Creekmore Pool celebrated its 75th year last year. He called the pool “iconic”, but said that the facilities have deteriorated and the project “will add to quality of life in this community.”

Fort Smith resident Michael Ferrell spoke in support of the project and said that investing in recreation facilities is “investing in the well-being of our community.” He said the modernization ensures the pool remains a “safe, accessible, enjoyable destination”. He mentioned the economic impact from attracting more visitors from neighboring areas and hosting swim meets and Boy Scout merit badge events.

Cali Williams with the Arkansas Army National Guard spoke in support of the project and said that they use the pool twice a year for water survival training for 130-300 soldiers at a time. She expressed excitement especially about the diving well enclosure and the new bathrooms.

Director Rego said that he has heard a significant amount of feedback about wanting more investment in Creekmore. He said it would be “less than wise to not move forward” with investment in the swimming facility. He said that it is line with the being “military friendly” goal in the 2024 official City Vision Statement with the pool’s use by soldiers.

Director Good said it was “so warming to see” so much support from the audience. He also noted that the price of the project had come down from the previous estimate.

Director Morton added that the initial estimate was $8.3 million and it is down to around $6 million through Deuster’s “tenacity” and hiring a construction management company. He called it a “great project” and expressed a desire to get started on it as soon as possible.

Director George Catsavis and Director Settle asked if the pool could still be used for swimming this summer. Deuster answered that they intend to open the pool on an abbreviated schedule and to use portable restrooms and temporary changing rooms to allow the pool to be open as much as possible.

Director George Catsavis asked if there would be any further major expenses for the pool in the next five years. Deuster answered that there would be an assessment of the pumps and filtration system.

Director Christina Catsavis said the “design looks really nice”. She said that as a melanoma survivor she is happy to see the sunshades included in the project. She said “investment in midtown” is a “really good thing.”

Director Settle said the project “sounds great” and mentioned that it remedies a complaint the Board received from a visitor from Bentonville for a swim competition last year regarding the conditions of the bath house. Director Martin agreed and called it a “good project.”

Mayor McGill said “We are headed in the right direction as we complete the mid-town park area” including improvements at Creekmore and the future plans for the Acme Brick Park.

The Board voted unanimously to contract with Crawford Construction Company for $5,083,072.50 for realignment and capacity improvements to 1,300 ft of sewer main that will remedy a sewer overflow problem. Utilities Director McAvoy said that because of the frequent sewer overflows the project was “deemed to be a high priority”. The realignment will include moving the pipe from underneath the Boy Scout building and ball field, installing 7 manholes, and eliminating 3 manholes on the ball field. Crawford Construction was the only bidder for this project.

Director Morton called the bid being $2.3 million over the engineers estimate and that there was only one bid “disturbing”. While acknowledging that he is not an expert in the subject, he said that other than the boring part it “does not appear to be a complicated project.” He said he is in “complete agreement with the urgency”. McAvoy said that currently engineers estimates are not of much use as the supply of many materials does not meet the demand and there is “more work to be done nationwide than contractors to do the work.” Director Christina Catsavis also expressed concern about the lack of bids. McAvoy said that 3 contractors picked up bid packets, but only one submitted a bid. He said that the Utilities Department reached out to McKee, too, and they were not interested in bidding on the project as they only deal with bigger pipes. The department also solicited bids in multiple newspapers and nationwide databases and looked in other regional markets.

Director Rego asked that the Utilities Department communicate well with the baseball leagues regarding any disruptions of field use so that scheduling changes can be made so players and their families can still get the full value of what they are paying for.

Director Settle asked if the schedule could be rearranged to work with the ball field between their summer and fall seasons to reduce the bore cost. McAvoy said that would be “much much cheaper”, like possibly around $3 million and the time frame would be less. Director Morton agreed that they should look into getting the cost down.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of approval of the property and building at 1801 South 74th that has been home to Bost reverting back to City ownership. The property adjacent to Carol Ann Cross Park was previously owned by the City but in 1966 it was deeded to Bost with the requirement that it would revert back to City ownership if it were to ever cease to be used for a facility for the “training and education of limited persons”. Bost plans to stop using the facility for services in April 2024.

Director Settle suggested that the public school system, university, and Boys and Girls Clubs be contacted to see if they might be able to put the building to good use. He said “Let’s find the right use for it.” Geffken said that there is a non-profit that is looking for a space currently that might be interested in leasing it.

Director Good said that the “building needs work, but is a great asset”.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a 5 year lease renewal to Sebastian Retired Citizens Association for the Fort Smith Senior Activity Center at 2700 Cavanaugh.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a contract with Royal Ridge Construction for $1,834,263 for drainage improvements on Hardscrabble way, Dallas Street, and Glen Flora Way.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of contracts for design and engineering services for 7 streets projects totaling 12.9 miles of street overlays and a stormwater drainage project for the 188th and the airport. The total amount for the design and engineering for all 8 of the projects will be $1,382,697.

Director Morton expressed his view that it is good to spread the engineering work among multiple firms. He did, however, question Garver receiving the largest contract (the one for the 188th drainage) when while the other firms receiving contracts all have a substantial local presence, Garver’s office and presence here in Fort Smith is extremely small. He said that while he is “not arguing about selecting them at all” he asks “that that kind of thing be considered” in the future.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a contract with Crawford Construction Company for $399,743 for Creekmore Park for the replacement of the interior sidewalks and mitigation of pooling stormwater.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a contract with Steve Beam Construction for $1,264.762.10 (with $750,000 of that cost to be paid through grants instead of through City funds) for Phase 1A of the Maybranch Greenway. Phase 1A includes .7 miles of 10 ft wide concrete trail from North 7th to North P traveling to MLK Park and terminating at North Greenwood Avenue. It will include a high intensity activated crosswalk signal at the crossing of North P and Midland and a flashing beacon signal at the crossing of North P and North 13th. Those two signals amount to $290,000 of the cost of the project.

Director Martin said that the project was the one he was “most excited about” on the night’s meeting agenda.

Director Morton voiced his support for the project.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a contract with Crawford Construction Company for $257,797 for a 54 ft long tunnel for the miniature train at Creekmore park. The tunnel will be 10 ft wide and 10 ft tall. The tunnel will also serve as storage for the train cars when the train is not in operation. It will include LED strip lighting and emergency lighting.

Director Settle asked if the tunnel will replace the wire cage near the train shed and if the train shed is still staying. Deuster said that it will replace the cage. It will house the cars and the electrical and diesel engines will remain in the shed. The shed will be staying for now because they have put the project out for bids on a replacement but the bids were all way too high so they are working on a different solution.

Director Settle suggested that they install the color changing programmable Christmas lights inside now rather than later.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of the purchase of 4 used unmarked vehicles (a Buick Encore, Nissan Altima, and 2 Ford Escapes) for the Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Department from Randall Ford for a total of $85,000.

Director George Catsavis asked about the using cars seized as asset forfeitures for the unmarked cars. Chief Baker said that they do use seized cars as undercover investigation cars, especially because those seized vehicles don’t have to come before the Board for public discussion revealing the details about the undercover vehicles, but these unmarked cars will serve as detective cars.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of the purchase of 3 marked Dodge Charger police cars from Superior Auto Siloam Springs. The combined price of the cars themselves will be $110,505 and there will be an additional cost of $108,792.83 for the upfitting and equipment for the cars bringing the grand total of the purchase to $219,297.83.

In the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Mayor McGill suggested he and the Board take a field trip to the Lake Fort Smith water treatment facility to see what the proposed future upgrade would look like. Multiple Directors voiced approval of the idea.

Director Morton pointed out that in the most recent Financial Report the debt service coverage ration was less than one. Cash flow did not cover debt payments and they failed debt covenants for the utilities department in 2023. Failing debt covenants means the City cannot issue future bonds.

Director George Catsavis pointed out that County sales tax revenue is down by 3% and streets tax revenue is down by 5%. Geffken said that interest rates are expected to lower toward the middle and end of the year, the Foreign Military Sales funding of $320 million was approved and “will have a great impact on sales tax collections”. He said that it is predicted that through September’s report it will float in and around flat or at a little negative or a little positive then the sales of homes will accelerate it again.

Director Martin asked the Administration to look into what can be done regarding when an owner’s vicious dog bites someone and the dog is removed from the home and then the owner gets another dog and an attack happens again. He questioned if something might be done to prevent owners of vicious dogs from owning a dog after that. He acknowledged that animals are legally considered property so there may be some constitutional issues preventing such measures, but asked that it be looked into.

Director Martin mentioned receiving complaints about a 10 ft high fence some consider unattractive and suggested that part of the permitting process for that kind of project could include participation from neighboring property owners (like is done with zoning rules). He said that something should allow for neighbors to be able to have input and “protest” the situation. Director Settle said that if you drive by it makes sense why the fence was constructed the way it was. He said of adding neighbor participation in the permit process “My fear is more bureaucracy” that “stops growth.”

In the Executive Session portion of the meeting, Kenneth Wallace and Larry Newman were re-appointed to the Electrical Code Board of Appeals, Dr. Daniel Fudge was appointed to the Future Fort Smith Committee, and Roger Baldwin was re-appointed to the Plumbing Advisory Board.