Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 7/23/24

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 7-23-24, the Board voted to accept the report from the third party review of the audit of Fort Smith Animal Haven that was conducted by Baker Tilly. This issue was discussed at last week’s study session meeting.

Fort Smith resident Richard Morris spoke to encourage the Board to vote unanimously to approve the audit saying that a unified vote would “shed good light on the City.”

Director Morton praised the quality of the work done by Baker Tilly and the company’s reputability.

The audit was accepted with Director Christina Catsavis, Director George Catsavis, and Director Martin voting against accepting the audit and all others voting in favor of accepting it.

The Board voted to approve budgeting for the remaining list of 2024 new needs budget requests. This final list (refined based on discussion at last week’s meeting) will cost a total of $1,374,894. New personnel hiring requests include hiring a Planning Department Deputy Director, 3 Streets Department equipment operators, a Solid Waste Deputy Director, a landfill scale house attendant, a Solid Waste commercial collections worker, and 4 landfill equipment operators. Total personnel requests will cost $919,494. The capital requests include replacement vehicles for IT, Engineering, Neighborhood Services, Streets, and the landfill and also purchasing water meters. Total capital requests will cost $455,400.

The new needs budget request items were approved with all but Director Martin and Director George Catsavis voting in favor of approval.

The Board voted to appropriate $250,000 in funding for additional incentives for the Make My Move remote worker recruitment program. At the March 26, 2024 meeting, the City contracted with Make My Move at a cost of $224,175 to participate in their recruitment program. The incentives initially offered through the program to encourage remote workers to move to Fort Smith are 4 season passes to Parrot Island, one year memberships to the Fort Smith Museum of History and the US Marshals Museum and Deer Trails Golf Course, 50% off co-working space at The Mill, and season tickets to UAFS Athletics. The total value of the incentive package was $1900. The new additional incentives will be to also offer up to 25 participants in the program cash incentives of $10,000 each for workers who will be buying a home in Fort Smith or $5000 each for workers who will be renting a home in Fort Smith. To qualify for the incentives, applicants must be vetted including a background check, must have a remote work job that earns at least $75,000 per year, and must agree to live in Fort Smith for at least one year.

Public Relations Manager Buchfink said that most of the other 76 communities that participate in the Make My Move program offer cash incentives, leaving Fort Smith the only one that does not. He mentioned two Arkansas participants. Texarkana offers a package totaling $17,100 including $5000 in cash and West Memphis offers $10,000 for home buyers and $5000 for renters. He said that only 4.2% of the visitors on the website that express interest in Fort Smith turn into applicants, but for other cities 7.6% of interested visitors turn into applicants. Buchfink said that one participant in the program has already arrived in the city so far and that 5 more offers have been extended to applicants so far.

Director Rego pointed out that Fort Smith is third from the bottom compared with the other cities on the amount of incentives offered. He said that if Fort Smith is going to participate in the program it “should be on par with the successful communities, not the ones on the bottom.”

Director Settle suggested offering a lower cash payment amount and also a utilities subsidy for reduced water and sewer bills for a longer term (like 2 or 3 years). Director Martin asked if it would be possible for a fund for a credit toward utility bills to be set up for the program. Geffken answered that that could be done.

Director Christina Catsavis said that she was concerned when the initial contract with Make My Move was proposed because other cities that use the program offer cash incentives. She asked why the cash incentives weren’t included as a part of the initial proposal. Geffken answered that originally there were high hopes that the non-cash incentives that were requested would exceed a total of $10,000 in value. However, many of those requests were denied.

Director Christina Catsavis mentioned that in discussion of the original contract centered around participants qualifying at a $120,000-$150,000 income level rather than the $75,000 level. She asked about the return on investment at the $75,000 level. Ryan Pike with Make My Move (participating in the meeting remotely) answered that 25 households at the $75,000 level would produce an economic impact of $1,825,747 in one year. Director Christina Catsavis said that if the incentive amount were smaller she might be interested and expressed her opinion that Fort Smith has “more to offer than West Memphis.”

Director Morton expressed that he thought that the program would be about selling Fort Smith based on things like quality of life, cost of living, traffic, climate, and natural beauty of the surroundings. He said that a lot of new residents will be moving here soon in connection with the F35 program. He initially said that he “might go for something less.” However, later in the meeting, he voiced that he was swayed by the comments of other Directors including Director Settle and Director Martin and decided to support the additional incentives after all. In regards to incentives for renters, he said he was “not as enthused about that” but expressed optimism that they “might see what Fort Smith has to offer and actually like it.”

Director Rego mentioned that he was not born in Fort Smith saying “I chose to live here.” He mentioned that Tulsa offers $10,000 in cash incentives through the program. He said that the economic impact would be worthwhile for the $250,000 investment. Director Rego asked for clarification that if the allocated incentive money is not claimed by qualified applicants that any unclaimed money is not spent. Buchfink assured that that is the case. Buchfink also said that most of the people who have applied through the program interested in moving to Fort Smith so far have been planning on renting.

Director George Catsavis called the incentives “a lot of money.” He suggested if the incentives are approved that the results should be analyzed in a follow-up in six months.

Director Settle expressed support for the incentives as a first step, with the program recruiting remote workers at this stage and possibly someday being utilized in a later phase to recruit blue collar workers to staff local manufacturing facilities.

Director Christina Catsavis voiced her opposition to the cost of the program questioning that if the City is going to pay people cash to move here why it wouldn’t save money by just buying a cheap social media ad advertising the cash incentives instead of also paying Make My Move $225,000 for the recruitment effort. Buchfink said that some of what Make My Move does includes conducting the vetting process and background checks. Director Christina Catsavis suggested that the HR Department or Police Chief Baker could handle those vetting tasks and said “We’ve got resources here. Let’s use them.”

Mayor McGill said that there is “some validity to the program” and suggested the possibility of offering incentives of only $5000 for home buyers and only $2500 for renters.

Director Martin mentioned that Fayetteville offers incentives of $10,000 and a bicycle. He said of offering the incentives “We ought to give it a shot.” but agreed with Director George Catsavis’s suggestion regarding an evaluation of measurable results in 6 months and if the program was not working yet that it be terminated.

Director Rego called for an amendment to the original proposal to add that the results of the program would be re-evaluated in 6 months. The amendment passed with all but Director Christina Catsavis and Director George Catsavis voting in favor of adding the 6 month evaluation. Then the Board voted on the proposal as amended, the additional cash incentives of $10,000 for buyers and $5000 for renters with an evaluation of the program’s results to be conducted in 6 months. That item passed with all but Director George Catsavis and Director Christina Catsavis voting in favor of it.

The Board voted unanimously to contract with Dale Crampton Company for $7,902,106.75 for roof repairs to City buildings for damage caused by hail. The cost of these repairs will be paid from insurance settlement money. Insurance Consultant Merry praised Dale Crampton Company as “sterling.”

The Board voted unanimously to declare Fort Smith a Partner City with Ridgway, Colorado. The partner cities will share in joint efforts to promote our shared heritage in relation to “True Grit”. Fort Smith is the setting for Charles Portis’s “True Grit” novel and Ridgway is where the 1969 “True Grit” movie starring John Wayne was filmed.

Director Christina Catsavis said “I’m excited about this.” but also asked about clarifications that there would not be significant “hidden costs” associated with the declaration outside of minor items like signage. Buchfink assured that there would not.

Director Rego as a former Colorado resident added that Ridgway is also where every Grammy Awards trophy is handmade.

Director Settle asked about opportunities to ski in the area near Ridgway and said that he might take his family for a vacation there.

The Board voted unanimously to contract with GSM Engineered Fabrics for $256,741 for repairs to the filter at the Massard water treatment facility.

The Board vote unanimously to renew permits for SRK Waste LLC and MSG Waste & Refuse for non-residential solid waste collections for two years at a 5% franchise fee

In the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Director Rego mentioned the $14.5 million federal pollution reduction grant that was recently awarded and praised the staff involved in securing the grant money that will be used for programs including renovation of alleyways into paved trails, chargers for electric vehicles, and solar panels for Nelson Hall homes.

Director Morton asked IT Director Gentry about any adverse effects experienced by the City due to this week’s Crowdstrike/Microsoft outage. Gentry said that there were no direct effects to any in-house systems but some third-party vendors had delays that had to be waited out. He said that even with those delays “We recovered exceptionally quickly.”

Director Settle mentioned that Fort Smith was chosen to host the Great American Conference collegiate basketball championships in 2025 and 2026.

Director Martin mentioned having heard residents express concerns about unpleasant smells in the air. He mentioned that there have been issues in the past with lagoons nearby creating odors. He suggested that smells could be investigated and that the City should consider some sort of recourse for bad smells that are not caused by local manufacturers and companies but are the “fault of others.”

During the Executive Session portion of the meeting, Ryan Rains was reappointed to the Fort Smith Municipal Employees Benevolent Fund Board of Advisors, Gary Duke was reappointed to the Historic District Commission, Greg Williams and Mike Lockner were reappointed to the Mechanical Board of Adjustments and Appeals, and Karen Lewis was reappointed to the Property Owners Appeal Board.