Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 7/26/22

A long Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting was held 7-26-22 with Director Good absent and Director Catsavis leaving about a half hour early. The meeting began with an update from Chad Adams of the Arkansas Department of Transportation on ARDOT projects in Fort Smith. He mentioned road work on Rogers Avenue completed in October, on Wheeler and parts of Zero completed in December, and coming from Greenwood to Fort Smith completed last year. Then he moved on to discussion of upcoming projects including work at Hwy 255 and 253 east of Massard headed into Barling that is scheduled for completion in late 2023 or early 2024, Riverfront Drive resurfacing and repairs on A and 5th that start in mid-August, and resurfacing for the Garrison, Midland, and 1-540 bridges scheduled for early 2023. Highways 253 and 271 towards Bonanza, Waldron to 70th, and the intersection at 74th are scheduled for improvements. Highway 45 widening is scheduled for late 2023. Towson Avenue will be receiving resurfacing, pavement drainage, and sidewalks in 2024. Improvement to the I-540 and Zero interchange is still in the planning stages and on the agenda for 2024.

Adams proposed that the City might consider closing A Street , perhaps making it a pedestrian-only street, and expanding B Street to a two-lane road. Director Settle spoke in favor of the idea and Administrator Geffken also voiced his support.

Adams spoke about the 1-49 that when fully completed will stretch from New Orleans to Canada and will pass through Fort Smith. The main challenges the project faces (along with funding challenges that are expected to be better in 2024) are the Arkansas River Crossing, environmental concerns, and the I-40 interchange. Adams said “We are committed to getting this project done” and that the goal is to have it “open to traffic by the end of this decade”. Director Morton asked when he expected the bridge portion to be finished. Adams estimated 4-5 years from now. Director Dawson spoke of the economic impact putting the city at the intersection of I-40 (east to west) and I-49 (north to south) while also having rail and waterways already established will have. She mentioned the large industrial ports predicted to come in. She said “Our minds cannot comprehend how this project is going to change the community” and said “great, great things are coming for our city”. Adams added that the average population where there are interstate intersections like that is typically 800,000. Director Settle asked about the planned interchange at Gun Club Road and Adams responded that it is to accommodate ports and for connectivity from one bridge to another for the ability to divert traffic if needed.

Director Settle suggested that the Board be given similar yearly updates from ARDOT.

Then the Board discussed the issue of homelessness with an emphasis on reducing the negative perceptions and impacts related to some members of the homeless community. Dr. Donala Jordan, a psychologist who has worked with the homeless and especially the intersection of psychology and the justice system, addressed the Board. He said that the problem is not so much individuals that are living in the Hope Campus or other shelters or transitional housing and participating in programs offered by Next Step, but rather it is those who aren’t participating in those services. He expressed his view that those that choose to stay outdoors and not participate in programs to transition towards having a home again should be considered differently than those who are the shelter population. He talked about the need for clear boundaries and consistent authoritative enforcement of those boundaries with alternatives being offered. For example, that people are not allowed to sleep everywhere, but instead are offered an alternative like setting up tents on the Hope Campus’s outdoor property.

Director Rego asked Next Step’s Sharon Chapman and Hope Campus’s Chris Joannides about the general makeup of the local homeless population, saying that he views the homeless in other places as being generally about 1/3 criminals, 1/3 “modern day drifters”, and 1/3 down on their luck looking to get back on track. Chapman agreed with the general spirit of Rego’s characterization, but differed in that his 1/3 being criminals is higher than it is here and that most of the criminality in our homeless population is low-level offenses like trespassing. Joannides also sort of agreed but mentioned he also sees about 25% applying for disability, 25% with disability pending, and 25% of the unsheltered dealing with mental health and addiction issues. Rego spoke of the success of programs in other places that utilize active policing. He mentioned it keeping the criminal third from preying on the other 2/3 while also discouraging the drifters and making more space and resources available for the people who want to be helped.

Director Dawson mentioned complaints from citizens about the homeless gathering and bathing in the downtown splash pad. She said the “community can’t use the splash pad” and it was “not built to be a bath house”. She mentioned offering public showers as an alternative. She cited her experience as an elementary school Principal in her view that Dr. Jordan’s idea about setting firm parameters and offering alternatives works. She also mentioned the numerous complaints about panhandlers.

Administrator Geffken discussed the need to consider ordinances very carefully as “Homeless are part of our community.” and their civil rights must be considered. He reminded of the legal troubles that arose from the City’s previous efforts at anti-panhandling measures. Panhandling is constitutionally protected free speech. He also mentioned that meetings about homeless issues between homeless services providers and downtown stakeholders and the City will resume soon.

Director Morton suggest an age limit for using the splash pads, like that they be limited to children allowed to play in them. He also suggested a member of staff be hired as a Homelessness Coordinator and that work be done on clearing out the forested areas where camp sites are concentrated. Director Geffken added that a more specific change to the code pertaining to not requiring undeveloped property to be maintained would be needed to find the right balance so that people weren’t having to maintain wild properties that are not a problem but also had to maintain properties that are. Morton said Dr. Jordan’s suggestion “makes total sense”.

Administrator Geffken asked Joannides about the possibility of allowing outdoor tents on the Hope Campus property. Joannides explained that when he’d tried before to allow for that the Planning Commission denied permission.

Police Chief Baker emphasized the need to be very careful where civil rights are concerned, that a city can’t exclude some people from a public area without excluding everyone and cannot infringe on constitutionally protected activities. He said that any legislation “has to be a very intentional and deliberate process”. He mentioned that rules could possibly be added prohibiting bathing at the splash pad if bathing was carefully defined. Baker said that most of the crimes the Police Department deals with from the homeless are nuisance crimes including public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and minor assaults. After arrest, they are released quickly on a signature bond and end up with a failure to appear warrant and more fines they can never pay. He said that about 20% of the Crisis Intervention Unit’s time is spent dealing with the homeless. He mentioned the Downtown Ambassador program and that with partnership from the CBID it may be able to add additional ambassadors soon. He also said that as staffing levels at the Police Department continue to rise back to normal levels, he expects to be able to assign more officers downtown again and to reinstate the bicycle unit soon.

Director Catsavis asked about the count he’d heard of there being 375 homeless individuals in the City of Fort Smith. Baker confirmed that that was the recent point in time count, but expressed that he feels that it is a little low and that there are actually probably closer to 400. Catsavis asked what makes Fort Smith so attractive to homeless people and mentioned having heard stories about police in other cities paying homeless people cash and telling them to go to Fort Smith. Baker said that he’d seen no concrete evidence of that practice. He said that a big part of the appeal is our amenities and our many “very good intentioned citizens”. He said that it is “cultural for our area” to “want to do good things for people”. Catsavis said that of the homeless problem “This isn’t going away” and “still going to be a problem 10 years from now”. As to a solution to the problem, he said “I don’t have a clue.”

Director Martin talked about how Fort Smith offers so many services and “if that’s the draw, we’re creating our own problem”. He said “the only alternative should be transitional housing”. He spoke of wanting to help those who “need a hand up” but being mindful of how some of our generous services may actually be increasing the problem and may need to be limited.

Director Rego agreed with Morton’s suggestion of a Homeless Coordinator on staff. He said that our community’s current approach is “clearly not working like we would like it to be”. Instead of trying to craft new legislation, he suggested considering a successful program in Colorado Springs that included active strict Police enforcement of things that are currently illegal. Director Settle asked Rego about the 1/3 of the drifters in Colorado Springs that moved on as a result of the program. Rego said that consistent aggressive policing of the laws already on the books not only affected the active deliberate criminal element, but also the drifters who just didn’t want to be so policed.

Rego also expressed his view that in our city with a quarter of the population near the poverty line it is necessary to be cautious about cutting services. Director Settle talked about wanting to help families and people from the River Valley that want to get back on track. But he expressed frustration at that some people do not want to be helped. He said that there are plenty of jobs in Fort Smith including $17-$18/hr manufacturing jobs available and mentioned recent interactions with 4 homeless and panhandlers who said that they did not want to get a job. Settle suggested that “maybe it’s time to rethink what we’re doing”. Director Morton suggested that a team be sent to Colorado Springs to learn about their program. The idea was very well received by the Board.

Brenda Altman of Fort Smith Animal Haven gave an update on the animal shelter. She started by addressing some concerns that had been voiced about the shelter. She said that the Trap Neuter Release program ladies had resigned because after 18 years of volunteering they wanted to be paid. Fort Smith Animal Haven decided against paying them because TNR is not paid for as a part of the city contract nor is it a part of the shelter’s mission. The shelter mission is to deal with abandoned and lost animals, not feral ones. Altman said feral cats brought disease into the shelter citing the drop in respiratory infections since June when the TNR program stopped.

Altman said that allegations of animal abuse, medical issues, and falsifying information were investigated for 2 days by the Fort Smith Police Department and all of the allegations were found to be inaccurate. Director Catsavis asked about an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint brought against the shelter. Altman said that the EEOC is not taking any action on the complaint. She added that an Arkansas Department of Labor audit is currently ongoing.

Altman explained that Fort Smith Animal Haven is no longer using Kitties & Kanines Clinic for their spay and neutering because the price at Kitties & Kanines increased in addition to a change to be being required to pay daily. Dr. Randy Hubbs joined Fort Smith Animal Haven making it possible to do spay and neutering in-house for a significant savings.

Altman mentioned that a new contract for dog food has been secured with Hills Science Diet that provides high quality nutrition and will save $30,000 this year.

Dr. Hubbs clarified that while the shelter meets the nationally accepted definition of “no-kill” it is occasional required to euthanize animals to give them a pain-free and dignified death. Altman said the shelter’s 4% euthanasia rate is lower than the 10% national shelter average.

In response to concerns about the animals during this extreme heat, Altman mentioned that awnings have been installed for animals outside, the animals are sprayed with cool water from hoses, and there is 30mg of zinc added to their food to help with heat stress. Large fans are set to arrive August 10.

Barrier cloths were recently added for aesthetics.

Altman said that while doing the books she noticed that transport labor had been charged to the City and that that is not a city responsibility as part of the animal services contract. So $14,291.99 for that erroneous billing was taken off the City’s December bill.

The shelter currently has 391 animals in their program, with 160 dogs and 67 cats in the shelter (at maximum capacity)and the rest housed with foster families. Best Friends in NWA soon will be paying for one employee to set up the system for a foster based program at Fort Smith Animal Haven.

Fort Smith Animal Haven has taken in 28 animals from animal cruelty cases since July 1st.

They have had no distemper since last year.

With inflation and recession, a need is foreseen to improve services to help people who are in financial hardship keep their pets. Programs have been started to help low income people who don’t want to have to surrender their animals but can’t afford them have a way to take care of and feed them instead of surrendering them. In response from a question from Director Settle about about the percentage of animals at the shelter that are owner surrenders, Altman answered that 14% are and the rest are picked up by Animal Control. Dr. Ashworth hopes to soon be able to offer free veterinary services to homeless pet owners once a month.

Director Catsavis mentioned having visited the Fort Smith Animal Haven facility recently and that he noticed that they need more room. Altman agreed and said that design planning has begun for a new 20,707 ft facility with 180 double sided kennels (that while not a preferred situation, could hold up to 360 animals in single sided kennels if it was necessary) and floor drains that would allow for power washing the kennels (the cleaning currently has to all be done by hand). Concept results should be finished soon.

Director Dawson asked Chief Baker is he is more pleased with the current administration at Fort Smith Animal Haven than the previous Kitties & Kanines administration. Baker answered that there is a marked improvement and that he is pleased He said the shelter is “doing a good job given the circumstances” and that they need more space. He said that the city is “getting a pretty good bargain” on their spending for the animal shelter. Baker advocated for work to be done on licensing and spay and neuter laws.

Director Dawson said the animal problem is “not a shelter problem, this is a community problem” and also advocated for licenses, microchips, and mandatory spaying and neutering. Director Morton reminded that the more complicated existing animal licensing ordinances that the Board carefully crafted were not accepted by the company that was to handle the licensing. He said that to go with what the licensing company was willing to do “the only party that would have benefited would be the licensing company”. Director Martin called for a creative solution as opposed to blanket licensing so as to give flexibility to be heavy handed when needed but still be light when needed and to incentivize good pet ownership while still dealing with problems.