Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 5/16/23
At the Fort Smith Board of Director meeting held 5-16-23, the Board voted unanimously in favor of zoning changes for 7301 and 7323 Terry Street, 7300-7313, 7317, 7401, 7404, 7405, and 7412-7429 Buckhorn Street, 7300, 7305, 7312, 7402, 7412, 7428 Ellis Street, and 11821 Darby Street to allow for existing buildings (mostly former Fort Chaffee barracks buildings) to be used for a mix of uses including a wedding chapel, event hall, duplex, and hotel/motel. This issue was originally tabled at the 5-2-23 meeting because of a lawsuit against the city that was happening involving an adjacent property at 7820 Collier Street but that lawsuit has now concluded.
Randy Decanter who owns Old Fort Furniture in Chaffee Crossing spoke. He suggested that the FCRA be the one to handle the rezoning for the entire area (including rezoning for other properties in that neighborhood including his) rather than the City. He expressed frustration with the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority and mentioned a conversation in which the head of the FCRA said “F*$k Randy. F*$k Quinton. I’m gonna put them out of business.” in reference to Old Fort Furniture and Fort Smith Brewing Company. Decanter is currently involved in litigation against the FCRA that is on appeal.
Director Rego asked Decanter if the zoning change up for the vote would impede his ability to operate his business if it were to be approved. Decanter answered that it would not.
Director Settle asked for clarification about the previous PZD process that set the existing zoning for both the area that Decanter’s property is in and the area requesting rezoning. Planning Director Rice explained that in May of 2020 because businesses were unable to get business licenses and building permits because the area was not zoned that the FCRA and property owners in the area (including the owner currently requesting a change) got together to make a blanket PZD and assign different zonings and uses to various areas as seemed appropriate at the time. Director Settle asked if these could be changed or redone in the future. Rice said that they could.
It was agreed that a meeting will be scheduled between the beneficiaries of the FCRA trust (Fort Smith, Barling, Greenwood, and Sebastian County) soon at the Ben Geren tornado shelter to discuss their position with the FCRA.
The Board voted unanimously in favor of a resolution requesting the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority to donate the property of Deer Trails Golf Course to the City of Fort Smith. The intention of the resolution is to prevent the course from being sold and developed for a use other than a golf course.
Rod Blake who owns property at Chaffee Crossing and spoke about the golf course situation during the Citizens Forum at last week’s meeting returned to speak again about the golf course and to express his disapproval of the FCRA. He asked the Board to consider a plan for closing the FCRA. He said the FCRA is in the “twilight stages as far as developable properties go” and that there is no oversight with one person setting the market price at Chaffee Crossing. He also expressed that he feels there is need for a police precinct and more parks and potentially fairgrounds in that part of town.
Director George Catsavis asked FCRA legal council Dalton Person “When are we gonna get our golf course back?” Person did not know and said that he does not give the FCRA advice, only tells them what is legal. Director George Catsavis asked Person about his statement at a previous time that the FCRA can’t be dissolved. Person said he didn’t say that. Director George Catsavis said “Y’all need some flexibility out there to work with the beneficiaries”.
Mayor McGill recommended that the broader issues with the FCRA (not directly related to the issue of the resolution about the golf course) be discussed at the upcoming joint meeting with the FCRA.
Director Settle said that for the land near the course that houses next to a golf course will be a great selling point. He said the city needs more houses and more amenities especially with the growth coming from the F-35 project. He said the FCRA’s response to the request to donate the course would serve as a “true test of what the FCRA is going to do”.
Director Rego said he has “been troubled by the tone” of the conversation around the topic and “shocked” at the lack of recognition of the FCRA’s success over the last two decades. Director Morton agreed that “many positive things have resulted from” the FCRA’s 20 years in existence. He said “Our difficulties have been very recent” and that everyone needs to sit down at the meeting and put together a plan that makes sense. Mayor McGill mentioned that the FCRA has been nationally recognized positively several times. He said “At this point if we begin to communicate better and collaborate, we’ll be able to finish this project.”
Director George Catsavis asked if the City can file an injunction to block the sale of the golf course property. City Attorney Canfield said that could not. They have “no basis” to say how the FCRA disposes of the property. Director Catsavis asked Dalton Person to ask the FCRA to provide the Board of Directors with a time table of how they plan to wind down their operations. Person said that he has no ability to speak at the FCRA meetings unless addressed, so he cannot guarantee anything, but that he would be happy to pass the request along informally.
The Board voted unanimously to accept a bid from Royal Ridge Construction for $2,035,955 for drainage improvements including adding box culverts on the 9800 block of Brooken Hill Drive and installation of a drainage channel on the 2100 Block of South 88th. Royal Ridge was the only bidder for this project.
The Board voted unanimously to contract with Schnabel Engineering for Phase 1 (of 3 phases) of the Lee Creek Probable Maximum Flood Plan for $151,503. Director Morton asked why Schnabel was chosen since they are not local. Utilities Director McAvoy responded that the project is specialized work and Schnabel is a specialty firm that has strong expertise in that specialty.
The Board voted unanimously to renew the lease with Sebastian County Aquatics Association for an additional 5 years with the option for a 5 year extension agreement for the operation of the diving well at the Creekmore Pool in the non-summer off-season. The SCAA agrees to maintain a heated dome cover over the well during the winter. The SCAA works with the Fort Smith Tideriders Swim Team and local public high school swim programs as well as facilitating training for scuba, military, police and fire, Red Cross, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts training programs and lifeguard training programs. The diving well at Creekmore is the only deep water facility in the area suitable for many training programs.
The Board voted unanimously to contract with Crafton Tull for $169,800 for engineering on the project to tear down the existing Creekmore pool bath house and replace it with a new one.
Director Settle reminded that the City already has a design for a pool bath house, the one used for Parrot Island. Deputy Administrator Dingman said that the design used for Parrot Island has already been pulled and will be sent to Crafton Tull.
Director Morton said he wants the project to be focused on “a functional facility at the most reasonable cost.” Parks Director Reinert talked about how the Parks Deparment is soliciting professional services for a construction manager for the project whose focus will include “value engineering” and saving money when bidding out the separate trades.
The Board voted unanimously to apply for grants of up to $500,000 from the Arkansas Recreational Trails Program and the Arkansas Transportation Alternatives Program to be used for building Segment 3 of the Chaffee Crossing trails project. Segment 1 of the project was awarded $500,000 from Arkansas Transportation Alternatives Program in 2016.
The Board voted unanimously to purchase a pre-built concrete restroom building to replace the existing one at Woodlawn Park from CXT for a cost of $110,793.10.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the purchase of a 30 cubic yard side loading CNG fueled garbage truck from Labrie Environmental Group. The total price of the truck will be $478,079, but $334,655 (70%) of that cost will be reimbursed by a grant from the State because it is a CNG vehicle replacing a diesel vehicle. A CNG fueling station was recently completed at the landfill and 3 new CNG trucks will get their first fill-up there on Thursday.
Inspired by the discussion about the landfill, Director Morton inquired about the landfill’s program selling methane gas that is produced by the decomposing waste. Solid Waste Director Riley said that the sale of methane brings in $1.5 million dollars per year.
The meeting’s final agenda item was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting via a motion from Director Martin. The issue was setting a date for when the audit report from the audit of Fort Smith Animal Haven would be finalized and released to the public. Martin said that while he has not viewed it himself, he is aware that a draft version of the audit report has been being already circulated on the internet. Of the leaked report, he said “I don’t know if it’s accurate. But it’s out now.” At the Audit Committee meeting the date for finalization and publication of the report was set for May 12, but when that date was set, the Audit Committee did not realize that Internal Auditor Shockley would be out of town on that date and also frequently over the next few weeks (for medical reasons and for continuing education classes for licenses required for her job).
Director Morton talked about the audit process. The audit was conducted and the draft version of the report was sent to FSAH, as is standard procedure in an audit for the audited organization to be able to review the report and provide any corrections or clarifications needed to make sure it is accurate. Director Morton said that FSAH expressed they were having some difficulties understanding a lot of the things on the audit. They were surprised by the enormous length of it and the thoroughness including individual bills over the course of a full year. They said they were concered with “hearsay” not based on a specific document. Director Morton said “What I don’t want to do is have us issue an innaccurate document to the public.” He expressed a desire to give FSAH a reasonable amount of time to review it first.
Director Christina Catsavis questioned with a critical tone how long the City would give FSAH to review and respond to the audit. Director Morton expressed a desire to make sure they had enough time to have a proper chance to make sure the facts are correct and said that he thinks “they’ll respond quickly”. He said that the shelter has already made a lot of changes in 2023 in response to issues they had in 2022. Internal Auditor Shockley clarified the status of the audit, that the audit has been completed and that the report (that does include some findings) has been completed. Some documentation that has been requested for each section still needs finished and it needs to be reviewed by FSAH. She said “My report is valid.” and “I never have produced anything to you that was inaccurate or invalid”. Shockley said that she is willing to sit down with FSAH and go over the report and the findings and explain the things they don’t understand. Director Morton also recommended that FSAH could hire a professional to help them understand it and review it.
Director Rego suggested in not only this audit, but in future audits in general that when they are finalized the Board should hold a study session to discuss each audit since policy changes are often inspired by audit results.
Director Martin expressed frustration at the idea of dragging the audit issue out for a long time. Director Morton reminded that the shelter currently cares for 200 dogs and that they depend on a board that is unpaid and that he considers the shelter an essential service. Deputy Administrator Dingman agreed that without Fort Smith Animal Haven the City would be without a solution to the animal problem.
Director Rego expressed his view that what is left of the finalization process would likely “only somewhat change the narrative” yet it would be “fruitless” to act from a policy standpoint based on an incomplete process. He encouraged the Board to set a date “not unreasonably distant”. Mayor McGill suggested 30 days in the future, calling it “ample time for everyone”.
Director George Catsavis asked Shockley if she felt FSAH were 100 percent in cooperation with the audit. Shockley answered that she felt that they were not.
The Board voted to finalize the audit and make the report public on Friday June 16, 2023. While the meeting plans were not solidly established, there was an agreement to discuss the results of the audit at a meeting soon after the finalization on 5-16-23.
During the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Director Morton asked when the ARDOT truck route report and traffic study was set to be completed. Engineering Director Snodgrass answered later this summer.
Director Settle asked if it would be possible to subpoena someone to testify in front of the Board of Directors or if the Board could hold hearings that someone could be subpoenaed for. City Attorney Canfield did not know of a way, but would research that.
Director Martin reminded that the first meeting of the Sales Tax Review Committee would need to be happening soon as the tax collection from the first quarter has occurred. Though no expenditures have been made yet to review, the committee could meet and review the revenue that has come in.
Deputy Administrator Dingman announced that Parks Director Reinert is leaving to pursue a different career opportunity. His last day with the City will be June 9th.
