Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 8/29/23
The Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting held 8-29-23 with Director Martin absent began with a discussion regarding the appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval to build a 158 ft tall AT&T cellphone tower at 3915 Newlon Road. The Planning Commission voted 7 in favor and 1 opposed to allow building the tower. The appeal opposing the approval was filed by Stephen Smith, attorney for SBA Communications that owns another cellphone tower less than half a mile away. SBA would prefer for AT&T to add height to and share the existing SBA tower instead of building a new tower. And while there were no neighborhood residents in attendance to oppose the tower at the public meetings previously held about it, the Planning Commission did receive a petition and multiple communications from neighbors in opposition to the tower. Director Settle did not participate in the discussion on this issue and does not plan to participate in any future discussion or votes on it because he did not feel it would be appropriate because his brother works for AT&T.
Director Morton asked how coverage would be affected if the tower were not built. Stephen Smith representing SBA responded that the new tower “is not necessary to provide adequate coverage” instead of co-locating on the existing SBA tower. Greg Pharris with Tillman and AT&T argued that SBA has a “vested interest” in co-location (the lease revenues to be made from AT&T sharing their tower) and that sharing the tower could not provide the improved coverage that is needed. He said that AT&T only cares about coverage and doesn’t care where they go and “would co-locate if indeed it would work” but that it won’t work.
Director Christina Catsavis asked why the “slick stick” tower design requirement suggested by the Planning Department staff was rejected by the Planning Commission. Planning Director Rice explained that though the Planning staff asked for the slick stick design if the tower was approved that the coverage provided by the slick stick style was not as good as the other style. The lack of improvement in coverage caused the Planning Commission to not vote to require that. Craig Cromley with AT&T added that slick stick style doesn’t provide the range that the other style does. Pharris added that a slick stick design would also not allow for any co-location opportunities at the new tower. Director Rego, noting the large number of people in the audience who were in attendance in opposition to the tower, asked them whether they were against the tower based on aesthetics (like that a slick stick design would impact positively) or if they were against the tower more generally. The audience indicated that they didn’t want a tower at all.
Director Morton expressed concern about the lack of land in the city and wondered if the 14 acres might be suitable for something else in demand. He mentioned that there is a tower 600-700 yards behind his house and that it took years to get used to and his cell coverage is still “terrible”. He acknowledged that a lot of people signed the petition saying they don’t want it in their neighborhood. Pharris mentioned that the tower site is a “wooded area” and to address concerns expressed by the neighborhood it is “shoved back into the trees.”
Director Morton expressed frustration at two different sets of engineers from the two different companies offering different opinions on the coverage and expressed his desire to have an independent engineer report to the Board on the coverage and coverage improvements provided by the different options before he could approve the tower. Pharris said that “AT&T never builds stuff they don’t need. It’s too expensive”. He said that AT&T evaluated sharing the SBA tower first and determined that would not do what they needed for it to do. A new tower would meet both current and future needs for the next 10-15 years. Director Good asked about whether having the two towers near each other would cause congestion with the radio frequencies. Pharris answered that it would not cause any issue. Director Christina Catsavis asked about the lease rate difference between a newly built Tillman tower and using the SBA tower. Pharris and Cromley did not know the lease rates for either plan Director Christina Catasavis said she’d like to know because she wanted to know if they were discussing putting up the new tower because it is cheaper than leasing the SBA one.
Director George Catsavis asked what Plan B would be if the new tower were not approved. Cromley said that nothing would happen, the idea would just “go away” or they would look at other sites, but so far other sites “just don’t seem feasible”. They would not opt to share the SBA tower as that is viewed by AT&T as not able to offer any of the desired improvement in coverage.
Director George Catsavis asked if they knew it would be controversial. Cromley said that they did, that controversy surrounding building new towers is “standard procedure” and “happens everywhere”. Pharris explained that to offer good 5G coverage inside of buildings and to be used for in-home coverage (like would replace a hard line provider like Cox or AT&T Fiber and could be used like regular home internet for things like streaming television) it is now requiring that more towers be built and be built close to homes. He said “I don’t do any towers anymore that aren’t controversial, aren’t close to residential.” He said that coverage going down the street with cell phones is already well taken care of but that what is needed for the future, including in-home capability, is not. Director Morton called the issue a “solution to a demand issue that doesn’t yet exist” and expressed his preference to not put up a tower until there is demand in that area. Pharris said that in addition to the future concerns, there is already not good coverage inside buildings in that area even for phones. Director Good asked with the speed of technology rapidly evolving if AT&T might have technology to place on an existing tower to give better coverage. Pharris clarified that new tech actually is kind of the opposite situation. That 4G LTE service, the older tech, coverage is stronger and broader (but slower). 5G signal has better speeds but can’t go as far.
Director Rego expressed his view that the issue is a matter of a “dispute between to private entities and also lots of residents not in favor of a new tower” . He said that the crux of the appeal by SBA is that SBA has made attempts to communicate with AT&T and received no response, but that AT&T was able to show emails that showed that they had communicated back and forth with SBA already. Director Rego stated he was “not comfortable” with overriding the Planning Commission recommendation over an “appeal without a lot of weight to it whose central tenet is under debate”
Mayor McGill asked what impact on public safety the new tower might have. Cromwell said that the new tower would have FirstNet wireless broadband equipment specifically for public safety and that good 5G signal is helpful to first responders. Deputy City Administrator Dingman added that all of the City public safety phones use the FirstNet network.
The appeal of the Planning Commission approval for the tower will return to the Board for a vote at the 9-5-23 meeting.
The Board discussed 4 houses on the 3400 block of Edinburgh Drive that flooded during the July 14, 2023 flood. When contacted about the City’s flood buyout program that buys properties when it is cheaper to buy the property than to fix the public drainage problem that would fix the flooding, one homeowner was interested in a buy out and the other 3 are undecided. City Attorney Canfield has clarified that the City is immune from financial liability for these houses because tort liability does not apply because flooding is not a result of negligence. Dingman clarified that while the City uses the buyout program to purchase flood-prone homes outright, it is not current policy for the City to offer any financial help for damages or lost personal property due to flooding. Engineering Director Snodgrass clarified that the buyout program is for property purchases only not for mitigating damages for occupants.
Director Morton mentioned that an improvement that would help reduce flooding in that neighborhood has been on the Capital Improvement plans since 2019 and that if it weren’t for Covid causing many projects to be delayed, the problem might have already been fixed. Snodgrass agreed that the planned project might have helped but that it was a once in a 100 years storm, so it may not have. Director Morton expressed concern about personal property losses incurred by people who rent rather than own the flooded homes. He mentioned that in 2020 the Board, in response to sewer work causing sewer overflows into homes, voted to change the old policy that was to never reimburse anyone for damages period to allow for $5000 to $10,000 for damages that are the result of action or inaction by the City. Dingman said that the situations are different between the sewer pipe issue and a natural event. He said that the City accepting liability is “not a direction we want to go” and would be a “slippery slope”.
Director Settle suggested that in addition to building a retention pond on land emptied after the homes are bought that Hole 14 of the former golf course behind there could also be purchased to build a bigger retention pond. He also suggested that creeks be cleared of overgrown trees and vegetation to allow for water to run through faster to help reduce flooding.
At the invitation of Director George Catsavis, Heath, one of the owners of a flooded house on Edinburgh spoke. He said that privacy fences on the flooded property were pulled up recently to provide access to the easement for a City project. He said that the fence was his yard’s only defense against a flood and that the removal helped cause the house to be flooded. He also expressed a feeling of pressure for homeowners to sell even if they don’t really want to so that the land could be used for detention pond and drainage because their only other option was to just be out the costs of all of their losses.
Director Good said that he “hates what has happened to the properties” and that he doesn’t “want to see anyone left out or hurt” but that sewer back ups were City caused issues rather than a natural event. He expressed his view that the flooding does not fall into a category for the City to do anything about monetarily. Director Morton agreed that cities have zero liability per the Tort Immunity provisions in the Arkansas Constitution, but said taking no liability “does not sit well with me”. Director Christina Catsavis agreed with Director Morton saying the City “can’t be worried about protecting itself at the expense of the citizens.” She expressed her view that the City pulling the fences up does make a difference and that the “City does have some liability here.” Dingman argued that privacy fences are not storm drainage infrastructure and were pulled for an actual storm drainage project in that area. He said that it wasn’t negligence, but a storm, and that while it was a limited number of houses affected this time, it might be more next time. He said the City “can’t be all things to everybody.”
Director Good said that he “appreciates the compassion my fellow Board members have.” He also said that he has heard for decades that the City can’t help the frequently flooded properties on the North side of town and that they have not been “given a dime for their properties”. He mentioned the need for frequent flood help for many homes from Grand Avenue to 6th street. He said that the City “can’t do everything” and said “This we didn’t cause.” He said that the flood water would have found a way in between the boards of or under the privacy fence.
Director Morton motioned that the Administration bring to the Board an ordinance for a new policy allowing for the City Administrator to use their discretion to offer amounts from up to $2500 to $5000 dollars to mitigate losses not covered by insurance in response to extraordinary events. He said “I recognize the door this opens” and that if it was 100 houses affected it would cost $5 million and the City can’t spend $5 million, but it “could spend a few thousand dollars.”
Morton’s motion will return to the Board for a vote at a future meeting.
The Board discussed planned streets projects to be done using the Streets, Bridges, and Drainage sales tax. Because of staffing shortages hampering projects, $8.8 million more in the account at the beginning of 2023 than anticipated, $1 million more in projected revenue for the year than anticipated, and $2.2 million in grants being able to be used for the Excelsior Road project, there is more than originally planned for in the department’s 2023 Capital Improvements Plan. So there are plans to move forward with more projects instead of waiting. One project is a 2000 ft expansion of Spradling Avenue connecting John Bell Jr. Park with North 23rd at a cost of $5 million. Another project is a $1.5 million repair of South 91st between Rogers Avenue and Dallas Street. Another project is a $16 million 7200 ft expansion of Planters Road past Gerdau Steel providing a direct route from Highway 45 to Massard Road.
Director Rego said that he is “very much in favor of” the Spradling extension especially to improve access to John Bell Jr. Park and “fully in favor” of the Planters Road expansion especially in light of the new police precinct to likely be built on Burrough Road.
Director Morton asked about how the Spradling extension would fit with the trail system. Snodgrass said that it would incorporate a multi-use path on one side of the street and a sidewalk on the other. Director Settle asked how quickly the Spradling project could be completed. Snodgrass answered that it could be expected in the middle of 2025.
Director Good asked if the necessary wetlands and drainage related work is included in the $16 million estimate for the Planters Road project. Snodgrass said that the Planters Road project is more of a time issue rather than a cost issue. The plan is to move forward with the design and planning phases and fit in the actual construction not this year or next year, but later on in this decade when the project fits the budget.
Director Morton asked about the Planters extension and its impact on trails and Ben Geren Park. Snodgrass said that much of the area it cuts through is primarily owned by Sebastian County, with some near the landfill owned by the City and a sliver under control of the FCRA and reserved to be a corridor for the Planters Road expansion project. He said that there are 2 mountain bike trails and 1 highly used paved trail that the new road would cross. There are plans for a box culvert, tunnel, or bridge for the crossings. Director Morton mentioned that Fayetteville has many places where bike trails cross streets and that they have buttons to push to activate a light.
Director Morton called all 3 proposed streets projects “excellent projects” and said that he didn’t want to wait until the end of the decade on the Planters Road expansion. He praised its potential to take traffic off of Zero Street and potentially a little bit off of Rogers Avenue.
At the invitation of Director George Catsavis, J. Randolph with Ben Geren Park spoke in opposition to the Planters Road expansion. He said that the park, business owners, and homeowners are against it. He said Gerdau doesn’t want it. He expressed concern about two threatened species, the American Burying Beetle and Bell’s Roadside Skipper , that live in the area. He said that while trails would be directly affected by the road itself coming through, they also would be impacted negatively by the road traffic disturbing the peace and quiet of the undeveloped nature. He said that homeowners in the Riata and Cisterna subdivisions don’t want the noise and traffic. He advocated for trails as a powerful force for economic development in attracting employees and employers and in higher property values.
Director Settle said that the Planters Road project has been “in the works since the way Massard was designed from the get-go”. He said that easier access from the South side to the East side of town is important for public safety. He said that the concerns being voiced about the expansion are the same as the concerns expressed when development at Chaffee Crossing first started. He said “I get people’s concerns” but also said that “growth will happen”. Director Morton agreed with Director Settle that they “have to look at the long run”. Director Rego said that he “mildly bristles at the suggestion” of anything incompatible with trails. He said he wouldn’t support anything that would make trails no longer accessible and “we see the value in those things.”
The Board discussed updates on the Parks department’s Capital Improvement Plans. Increased revenue from the sales tax for Parks and funding for the Creekmore bath house out of the excess sales tax collection have resulted in the ability to move some projects forward sooner than planned.
Director Rego called the current time “probably the most exciting era for parks since they were first constructed.” He encouraged the Parks Department to keep new playground equipment for Tilles Park “on the radar screen”. Interim Parks Director Deuster responded that she spoke with Mayor McGill about the Tilles Park play equipment yesterday and that as soon as the initial improvements there including the walking path and basketball court improvements are finished they will start to plan the playground improvements.
Director Morton said the bath house plans looked more complex than he thought they would be. Deuster said that they expect the pool and bath house upgrades to be completed and open in June of 2024. Of parks improvements, Director Morton said “Go as fast as you can.” Director Morton also expressed his view that there is a need to be mindful of the ongoing maintenance of the parks.
Director Christina Catsavis praised the plans’ inclusion of a shade structure around the pool.
Director Settle asked if the Creekmore basketball court would include lights. Deuster said that it wouldn’t in this phase, but later when the interior sidewalk phase of Creekmore improvements is done it will include the lights and also a sound system. Director Settle questioned the proposed location of the court in the middle of the park near the playground. He expressed concern for the basketball playing adults using the court near the children’s area and their adult behaviors and language. Deuster said that the court to be built in this phase is a youth sized court with 8 ft goals and is not aimed at adults, but that a later date they also hope to add another full adult-sized court elsewhere in the park for adults farther away from the playground. Director Rego said he has “no issue” with where the court is proposed to be placed. He said that as a parent of young kids himself, he doesn’t see a need for basketball players to be sequestered to another area.
Director Settle suggested that Parrot Island expansion plans be added to 2024 for funding for 2025 completion. He said “You have to expand every other year or you lose momentum.”
The Board heard an update on the Police Department’s Capital Improvement Plan. In 2023, their portion of the sales tax was used to fund 23.87% raises for the Police Department staff. Police Chief Baker mentioned that the raises likely have contributed to the fact that they haven’t had a voluntary separation since January and that they are now fully staffed, even 2 people above the full staffing level. They also purchased 12 patrol vehicles, an animal services truck, and 4 unmarked investigations vehicles. They made improvements at the firing range at the landfill and pouring concrete for significant improvements there will begin soon. A tankless water heater and new cooling tower will be installed at the police station and will come in at $200,000 less than the price originally budgeted for those items. They look forward to the new precinct on Burrough Road.
Director Settle called the on demand hot water system that is more efficient than a boiler a “great move.”
Director Good asked about the training facility that was discussed in recent years’ CIPs. Baker said that the Burrough Road building cannot accommodate a training facility as it is, but eventually it could be added onto easily to add the training facility and the property being located near the firing range would be an advantage to that location.
The Board heard updates on the Fire Department Capital Improvements Plan. The Fire Department has been struggling in 2023 with rising costs and inflation and supply chain issues on equipment and apparatus. It has been more costly to replace things than hoped. And the time between when trucks are ordered and when they are delivered has become longer. A ladder truck currently takes 3-4 years now to arrive.
In the original 2023 CIP, the department hoped to build a much needed maintenance facility, but costs to build a new shop greatly exceed the budget available. The department is now hoping instead to find an existing building to purchase for less that could meet the needs.
Speaking about addressing the department’s needs while trying to stay within the budget, Director Settle encouraged Fire Chief Waters to come to the Board rather than cutting things that are needed and said “If we gotta find funds for public safety, we’ll figure it out.”
The Board heard updates on the sidewalks projects. The Streets department was on track to complete all of the 2.72 miles of new sidewalks and .95 miles of repairs planned for 2023 by the end of the year, but they were set back 7 weeks while assisting in the storm debris cleanup.
Director Christina Catasavis asked Streets Director Meeker about his department’s staffing since in the past they’d struggled with labor shortages and high turnover. Meeker said that turnover is still a challenge but that it has improved and they are “doing okay” now.
Director Settle suggested that drainage areas need tree and vegetation clearance and instead of tying up City staff that a contractor might be contracted to do that job. Meeker supported the idea, but questioned the ability to find a local contractor with the special equipment to do it.
Director George Catsavis praised Meeker as being compared with all of the previous Streets Department heads he can remember “by far, hands down, the best we’ve ever had.”
The Board heard Capital Improvement Plan updates from the Solid Waste department. A bulldozer, land fill compactor, and compost grinder were all purchased in 2023. The department will have 3 residential collection trucks, a commercial collection truck, and one large service truck delivered on 12-1-23. A new drive-through wash bay will be completed by February 2024. Instead of purchasing a roll-off truck as planned, they will use that money saved for a sod project on a slope of the landfill and for a downtown beautification related trash can project.
Director Good encouraged the department to increase worker pay at the lower end of the pay scale. Mayor McGill agreed saying “Please do that.”
The Board heard updates on the Transit Asset Management Plan. 2023 saw the arrival of 7 big heavy duty low floor buses that should be good for the next 12-15 years, a new awning at the downtown transfer station, multiple new bus stop shelters, and a natural gas powered emergency generator at the headquarters. Construction design plans are being made for an access road off 28th Street to reach the headquarters building. Because the Transit is funded mostly through federal grant funds, over the next 5 years, the department expects to need to spend about a million dollars on facilities and equipment from City funds.
Director Christina Catsavis asked about using the recently refurbished trolley bus for a holiday trolley program. Transit Director Savage agreed that his department is “hoping to do more” with outreach when they can but they are limited pretty strictly in what they can do for that sort of thing by the limitations of the Federal Transit Administration grant system they operate under.
