Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 9/19/23

The Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 9-19-23 began with a unanimous vote to demolish a dilapidated abandoned house at 2312 North 8th.

The Board voted unanimously to purchase 2 houses through the Flooded Residence Buyout program through which the City purchases flood damaged houses when it is cheaper to buy the house than fix the public drainage infrastructure that would fix the flooding. One house is 3420 Edinburgh for a price of $204, 000 and the other is at 2519 South L for $192,000.

The Board voted unanimously to accept a settlement from and end litigation with Mickle Wagner Engineering and Mobley Contractors regarding the damages for improper design and construction of Maybranch outfall culverts. The settlement paid to the City will be $100,000.

The Board voted unanimously to accept bids and enter contracts for purchase of water treatment chemicals including chlorine from Brenntag and potassium permanganate from Carus LLC.

Director Morton asked which chemicals are used most heavily. Utilities Director McAvoy answered that for drinking water the most used are hydrated lime, chlorine, permanganate, and fluoride and for wastewater paracetic acid is the most used. Morton noted the 15-18% increase in chlorine price over last year but also noted that not all the prices are going up this year, unlike like last year when most went up by up to 25%.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of amendments to two contracts with Burns & McDonnell for services for the Lake Fort Smith water transmission line project. One contract change will be for an added $481,102, which may be partially federally funded. The other is for an added $159,303.

The Board voted unanimously to contract with Forsgren to perform the relocation of the water pipe needed to accommodate the widening of Highway 255. The project will cost $784,295, but the entire cost will be reimbursed by ARDOT.

During the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Director Christina Catsavis suggested that the Board consider placing informational yard signs in the neighborhood when the City will be making changes in the neighborhood so that residents “don’t feel like they didn’t know.” The idea was suggested to her by resident Jo Elsken. City Administrator Geffken responded “We can look into that.”

Director Settle who was absent during last week’s meeting when roundabouts were a hot topic shared his opinion of roundabouts in general. He recently experienced multiple roundabouts in Conway and liked them. Theirs had green grass and ornamental lighting where traffic lights might have otherwise been. He suggested that the Board go visit Conway and see how they are incorporating roundabouts into their traffic plan.

Director Settle also motioned that next week’s study session be cancelled because of the Strategic Planning workshop meeting to be held all day on Friday. There was a concurrence. There will be no study session meeting held next week. The Board also concurred to move the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 31 to Monday October 30, 2023 instead to accommodate for Halloween.

Director Martin mentioned a homeowner having a solar speed radar sign installed in his yard without any advanced notice. He said “it is imperative” to notify people ahead of time about changes in their neighborhood.

Director Martin requested that a discussion about the Animal Haven audit be added to a future study session. He ideally would like to see the audit discussed together by the Board before there is a vote on a 3rd party review. There was an item on the agenda at the meeting regarding authorizing a third party firm from outside of Fort Smith to be hired but since a firm has still not been found (2 that have been approached were not interested) the issue was tabled. Director Martin said that he is “not wild about hiring somebody” to review the findings. But also expressed that his bigger concern is not really with the amount of the money to be paid back to the City but rather on other issues regarding how the shelter is being run. He said “Is the money really my concern? Probably not.”

Director Christina Catsavis recommended that State Legislative Audit in Little Rock could do the audit review. She said that she has been told that they would be willing to take the task on if the Board were to recommend it to them. Director Morton argued against using them. He called it “asking for trouble” and said “if you think this is a problem now, just turn them loose” and “their goal is to find something wrong.” Mayor McGill said “I don’t think we need to get the state auditors involved in local government.”

Director Rego expressed support for “virtually in all cases” having “a study session to discuss what an audit presented”.

Geffken suggested that a study session discussion could be had after the third party review of the findings. Director Rego advocated dealing with the financial findings first and then having a broader policy discussion regarding the other aspects of the animal shelter.

Director Morton discussed that residents who have a City sewer line within 300 ft from their house that use a septic tank are by state law required to pay a $50 per month Sewer Availability Fee. Then if their septic system fails, they will not be issued a permit for a new one and will be forced to run a line and connect to the City sewer system at their own expense. That can cost around $20,000. He expressed concern that many homeowners cannot afford that cost. He requested the issue be added to a future study session.

Director Morton also spoke regarding his concern about the plan for ARDOT to go forward with their major work on Towson without the utility improvements that were initially planned but that were postponed due to lack of available funds. He said it “makes no sense” to have to dig up all that new road work on Towson instead of doing the utilities first/in conjunction with the road work. He requested to see details about what funds are available at the strategic planning meeting to try to possibly find money to move forward with the project.

During the Executive Session portion of the meeting, Allan Marshall was appointed to the Future Fort Smith Committee and Dustin Collyge was reappointed to the Port Authority.