Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 6/18/24
The Board voted to amend the Unified Development Ordinance to create a Military Compatibility Area Overlay District (MCAOD). Three areas of the city will have City regulations, the Lighting MCA, Noise MCA, and Security MCA. The Lighting MCA will apply to property within the runway buffer and prohibit use of search lights, lasers, and high intensity advertising lights. The Noise MCA will cover areas near the airport in the 65-80 decibel noise contours and will require new noise sensitive land uses to meet sound transmission classes for their noise contour. The Security MCA will cover property physically contiguous to the airport property and will require a buffer of 30 ft for all property with a shared boundary with the airport, will establish a 35 ft max height above the Established Airfield Elevation for buildings, and will require Board of Directors approval for all property sold, transferred, or developed by any non-US entity or its agent. The Military Compatibility Area Overlay District previously was designed to include the entire city and the extraterritorial jurisdictions, however based on public feedback, the area was changed so that it now will only include the three MCA areas, not the whole city. The issue was tabled at the 6-4-24 meeting to allow for Director Rego who was absent at that meeting to be able to vote on the issue.
Fort Smith resident John Alford spoke in opposition to the MCAOD on behalf of some landowners near the airport. He called the language in the amendment “very thin” in terms of what the requirements are. He criticized that there is no compensation for property owners of land within the 30ft buffer that must still pay taxes and insurance on that land and maintain it. He criticized the lack of compensation for extra costs to comply with lighting requirements. He said that while the requirements only apply to new construction, not existing structures, the amendment does not address the impact of if an existing building is damaged and has to be repaired or rebuilt. He mentioned the lack of inclusion of specific procedures for making the decision on sales to foreign entities in the Security MCA. He expressed concern about the height limit for buildings.
Fort Smith resident Kim Ferguson was going to speak but said that her concerns with the MCAOD were already resolved with the change so that the MCAOD no longer covered the whole city.
Fort Smith resident Mr. Walker spoke in favor of the MCAOD as a way to get the residential construction moratorium lifted. He said that he is “looking forward to jets coming back.”
Director Morton asked about restrictions already in place on lighting near the airport. Planning Director Rice said that there are citywide restrictions on commercial lighting including things like requirements for it to be shielded and pointed downward. The main addition in the lighting MCA is the prohibition of search lights that point upward (like for advertising purposes) and laser lights. Director Morton asked for confirmation that the restrictions are based on what the military has wanted in other cities. Rice confirmed that they are.
Director George Catsavis asked about the FAA controlling height for buildings around the airport and why the additional City requirements would be necessary. Rice confirmed that the FAA does already have restrictions in place but that the ones for military are different than the ones for the FAA. Director Martin asked how long the existing FAA regulations had been in place. Rice responded that they’d been in place a long time. Director Martin asked how much more restrictive the MCAOD height and security requirements would be than the FAA requirements alone. Rice said that in some areas the existing zoning is far more restrictive than the MCAOD. She clarified that the zoning and MCA rules are not as restrictive as they sound, like that they don’t mean that 35 feet is the max height period (there are calculations for things like slope and set backs that affect the maximum allowable height). She mentioned two specific examples, one location at Phoenix and 74th that would be suitable for hotels where they would be allowed to build a hotel in excess of 70 ft tall and that the new Mercy clinic would be allowed to be 80-90 ft tall (though it does not actually plan to build to that height). Director Morton asked if “most places are going to be a lot more than 35” feet allowed in height. Rice answered “Yes.” Director Martin said that the MCA rules were “not a blanket” and pointed out that property owners would be allowed to apply for a variance for things that would not comply with the requirements. Rice confirmed that they could apply for a variance through the exact same process as any other zoning variance request. Director Martin mentioned that the Planning Commission receives requests for variances often and Rice confirmed that are routine and the Planning Commission receives them monthly. Director Martin asked how many modifications were made to the MCAOD in response to public input. Rice said “a lot” and “probably in the hundreds.”
Director George Catsavis motioned to table the issue to allow for the Airport Commission to share their opinion with the Board. The motion to table died without a second.
The Board voted in favor of the MCAOD and the restrictions for the three MCA areas for noise, lighting, and security with all but Director George Catsavis voting in favor.
After the MCAOD passed, the Board also voted to end the moratorium on residential construction near the airport. In June 2022, the City passed a moratorium on residential construction in the area near the airport and the moratorium was extended in October 2023. The Board voted to repeal the moratorium with all but Director George Catsavis voting in favor of repealing it.
The Board voted unanimously to authorize the City Attorney to proceed with an interpleader action regarding $401,792 in taxes that were improperly collected from Parrot Island admission tickets from 4-20-21 to 11-30-23 when a POS system was accidentally set up incorrectly so that it was charging sales tax that it should not have been. The procedure approved will initiate the interpleader action and place the improperly collected funds with the Court. Then the people who paid the taxes will be given notice and opportunity to make claims for refunds of the tax money they paid. The issue was tabled at the 5-21-24 meeting to allow for Rick Coleman, CEO of American Resort Management that runs the water park to be able to attend the meeting and answer questions.
Administrator Geffken mentioned that the County had already passed their measure identical to the City measure on the issue.
Rick Coleman explained the problem occurred in 2021 when new POS software was installed and the manager at the time (who is no longer with them) made an error in the settings. The improperly collected funds have been sitting on the balance sheet and in the bank account. The error was discovered by Parrot Island when they were going over contracts and balance sheets and the problem was brought promptly to the City’s attention.
Director Morton said “Businesses make mistakes.” and “It happens.” but called that type of mistake “one of the most difficult to correct.” He also suggested that in the future the Board could receive more regular financial reporting from Parrot Island, possibly quarterly reports, to be able to better understand the Parrot Island operations. Director Morton asked about how the cost of process of administering the distribution of the funds would be handled. City Attorney Rowe said that those costs and the costs for the counsel for the class action representatives would be handled by the Court and would probably come out of the unclaimed funds. He said it would be “unusual” for the City or County to be “on the hook” for those costs. He said that typically the costs come off the top of the fund before funds are distributed to claimants and that it would also be unlikely that all the rightful claimants would be identified and all of the over payments would be claimed.
At the request of Director Settle, Coleman spoke a little about the Parrot Island water park in general. He called the park a “gem” and “beautiful asset”. He said that the park is already ahead of projections for this summer and had a record breaking year last year. He said that they “never predicted to hit these type of numbers.” He said the performance is “what we all wanted to see.” He mentioned that over 4000 people attended the park last Friday. He said that about 32% of patrons are from NWA, 30% are from the Rive Valley area, and 15% are from the Little Rock area. He said that the Flow Rider is recognized as “one of the best surf machines out there right now.” Challenges the park faces are what he called “growing pains” with the park “getting close to capacity” and being 10 years old the pipes and chairs are starting to show their age.
Director Settle praised the park calling it a “destination park for us.”
The Board voted unanimously to purchase a replacement HVAC system for the broken one at the Senior Activity Center on Cavanaugh from Robbins Refrigeration for $114,427.50. Mayor McGill called the Senior Center “one of our main assets” and praised its service to senior citizens. Director Morton pointed out the need to move quickly on the replacement because of the hot time of the year.
The Board voted unanimously to purchase a house at 2518 Dodson through the Flooded Residence Buyout Program used to purchase flooded properties when purchasing the property is cheaper than performing the drainage improvement project that would remedy the flooding problem. The cost of the property will be $179,000.
Director Settle asked for clarification on the flooding to the property. Engineering Director Snodgrass said that the flooding enters the basement because of a “grossly undersized storm drain” that doesn’t properly accommodate storm overflow water in the area. Director Settle asked about what the property would be eventually used for. Snodgrass responded that the intention for that property (and the one adjacent to it that was also purchased through the Flooded Residence Buyout Program) is for it to become a retention pond.
Director Morton said “I’m satisfied this is a necessary purchase.”
The Board voted unanimously to release $292,000 in Climate Pollution Reduction Grant funds to be paid to McClelland Consulting Engineers for the final step of the design phase of the Alleyway Rehabilitation Project. Utilities Deputy Director of Business Administration Joshua Robertson said that the just over 2 miles of alleyways will be upgraded with lighting, fencing, and permeable pavement to turn “blighted areas” into “pedestrian and bike friendly locations”. Mobility Coordinator Mings said that they will create a “really nice atmosphere for pedestrians.”
Fort Smith resident Jo Elsken spoke in support of the Alleyway Rehabilitation Project calling it a “small but valuable beginning” to making the city more attractive to businesses and young professionals by showing that sustainability is being prioritized.
Herbert McGill, with the Arkansas Climate League and Director of the Elizabeth McGill Center and operator of a community garden between 7th and 8th streets, spoke in support of the alleyway improvements. He also expressed his support for Joshua Robertson’s hard work on environmental sustainability efforts.
Director Morton asked about what the alleyways are currently being used for. Robertson said that they are mainly being used for utility access.
Director Martin asked why the particular alleys chosen for the project were chosen. Mings answered that with the focus for the climate pollution reduction grant being projects aimed at directly reducing climate pollution they were chosen to help create safe pedestrian routes to 5 different schools to increase walking and biking to school instead of driving.
Director Rego expressed support for the project improving spaces he called “underutilized at best and hazardous at worst.”
The Board voted unanimously to purchase a filter for the Lake Fort Smith water treatment plant to replace one that is broken. The filter will be installed by Crawford Construction at a total cost of $99,138.
Director Martin mentioned that the capacity for treated water will be decreased by 5 million gallons per day while the repair is being made. Director Rego asked what residents could expect from that decreased capacity. Utilities Director McAvoy said that “everything will proceed as normal” but added that if needed that the City could enact emergency Phase 1 conservation measures. Mayor McGill asked for clarification on what those measures would be. McAvoy answered that they would be limiting watering lawns to only every other day (even address numbers on one day, odds on the other) and only in the evening.
Director Settle asked about the old valve that caused the failure of the filter and whether there are other valves at the plant like that one. McAvoy said that there are other old valves like that in place, that it is a 1960s filter plant and “past its lifespan”, but that all the same type valves are currently working properly.
The Board voted unanimously with no further discussion to replace the lighting at the police station with LED lights to increase energy efficiency. The replacement would cost a total of $36,125.24, but with the OG&E incentive program paying $25,260.43, the cost to the City will only be a total of $10,864.81. The savings from switching to LED lighting will be $14,779.80 annually.
The Board voted unanimously with no further discussion to issue a 2 year permit for W&W Roll Offs for non-residential solid waste collection at a 5% franchise fee.
The Board voted unanimously to purchase two Ford high roof conversion vans for the Transit Department demand response service. The vans cost $102,604 each for a total of $205,208, but the Federal Transit Administration grant will reimburse 80% of the cost resulting in both vans costing a total of only $41,042 in City funds.
The Transit Department would strongly prefer to transition its demand response service fleet to electric vehicles, but currently the desired electric vehicles are not available as a part of the Buy America program for the FTA grant. Work is underway to obtain a Buy America waiver. But the two vehicles are needed currently, so gas powered ones will be purchased for now to meet that immediate need.
Mayor McGill praised the demand response service as an “amazing service” and said “people really appreciate it.”
During the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Director Morton asked for an update on the efforts regarding establishing a solar energy farm before the September 30, 2024 deadline. Joshua Robertson answered that the efforts are underway with OG&E and Arkansas Valley Electric and will be ready to get into contract status by July or August (in time for the deadline). The solar farm is predicted to be able to meet 70% of the power needs of City facilities.
During the Executive Session section of the meeting Ashlie Ross and James Famer were reappointed to the Community Development Advisory Committee, Bradley Marion was reappointed to the Municipal Employees Benevolent Fund Board of Advisors, Vicki Newton was appointed to the Planning Commission, Debbie Jones was appointed to the Sebastian County Regional Solid Waste Management Board, and Judith Willcoxon was reappointed to the Sales Tax Review Committee.
