Agenda Highlights 11/10/25
At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting to be held 11-10-25, the Board will vote on a lease agreement for radio equipment for the new River Valley Communications center. It would include a 190 ft tall communications tower and 10 radio systems. The total cost would be $5,333,048.50 with the five payments of $1,066,609.70 starting in February of 2027 and ending in November of 2030. Director of Public Safety Communications Milam clarified that the funding for 2026 would come from the Arkansas 911 Board. Starting in 2027, after funds from the State, the City would be responsible for 70% of the costs and the County would be responsible for 30%. Chief Financial Officer Richards said that starting in 2027 the cost to the City for the 911 center would come out of the general fund and be about $2.3 million per year and would be at about that same rate for the following 4 years. Milam acknowledged that the until the initial construction and equipment costs for the new facility are paid off that the City and County operating expenses would be a “strain on both entities’ general funds.” This issue was discussed and tabled at the 11-4-25 meeting. Motorola has agreed to extend the incentives they are offering on the project that were originally only being offered until 11-20-25 until 12-19-25.
The Board will vote on contracting with Timco Blasting & Coating for $17,741,761.50 for consent decree sewer work and Hawkins Weir for engineering services on the project for $658,300 and contracting with Morgan Construction for $9,111,352 for consent decree sewer work and Hawkins Weir for construction observation on the project for $344,250. These contracts were discussed and tabled at the 11-4-25 meeting. Though these sewer contract items are on the special meeting voting agenda so they may be voted on, there is a chance that they will only be discussed because at the 11-4-25 meeting when they were tabled they were originally intended to be included on the study session portion of the 11-10-25 meeting for discussion before being added back to a voting agenda.
The Board will discuss the Capital Improvement Plans (CIP) for water, non-consent decree wastewater, and consent decree wastewater. The cost for projects in the water CIP for 2026 totals $59,771,534, but there are only funds to cover $53,883,153 of that cost leaving the remainder still unfunded. The cost for non-consent decree sewer projects for 2026 total $21,260,000 and are fully funded through sales tax. The consent decree sewer projects for 2026 total $65,470,000 and are fully funded through sales tax. Contracts for $49,289,741 of the projects for 2026 were approved at the 11-4-25 meeting.
The Board will discuss the Police Department CIP. They will discuss two different options for vehicle replacement, Option 1 that would handle vehicle replacement the way it has been handled previously, through buying vehicles outright individually, and Option 2 that would handle vehicle replacement through a contract with Enterprise Fleet Leasing. The Enterprise plan was discussed at the 8-12-25 study session meeting. For 2026, Option 1 would have a total cost for vehicle replacement of $1,750,500 and would replace 17 patrol vehicle, 4 special ops vehicles, 5 CID vehicles, 2 K-9 vehicles, 5 e-bikes, and 2 motorcycles. For 2026, Option 2 would have a total cost of $1,104,140.96 and would replace 30 patrol vehicles, 28 CID vehicles, 2 K-9 vehicles, 5 e-bikes, and 2 motorcycles. Option 2 appears to be the option preferred by Police Chief Baker for his department.
While the CIP includes plans for a new police training facility at the former Crain Kia property, Phase 1 of its construction that would be slated for 2026 is still unfunded.
The Board will discuss the Fire Department CIP. Planned purchases for 2026 include refurbishment for 2 pumper trucks, a generator for the maintenance facility, an SCBA breathing apparatus tank filling station, a 2-post lift for the maintenance facility, new radios, and replacement of 4 staff vehicles.
