Agenda Highlights 3/17/26

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting to be held 3-17-26, the Board will vote on whether to reinstate the mosquito fogging program. The program will cost $84,008.70 in 2026. This issue was discussed at the 2-24-26 meeting.

The Board will vote on contracting with SSI for the construction of the additional water slides at Parrot Island at a total cost of $1,751,910 and contracting with Clarity Pools for the aquatics work related to of the installation of the new slides at a total cost of $664,200. This issue was discussed at the 3-10-26 meeting.

The Board will vote on renewal of the management agreement with American Resort Management (ARM) for management of the water park. In December, five proposals were received from companies interested in the management contract in response to the Request for Proposals. The proposals were reviewed by County Judge Hotz, Fort Smith HR Director Eric Garvin, Fort Smith Chief Financial Officer Richards, Sebastian County purchasing official Charity Gregory, and Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman. They found 2 of the proposals to be “worthy of further discussion”, including the one from ARM. Because of concerns that the timeline until the park is set to open for the 2026 season in May is too short to transition smoothly to a new management company, they recommend contracting with ARM to continue to manage the park from April through the 2026 operating season and issuing another Request for Proposals no later than July 2026. This issue was discussed at the 3-10-26 meeting.

The Board will vote on whether to approve the Water Capital Improvement Plan for 2026. The initial CIP submitted was defeated at the 12-2-25 meeting so a revised version was presented to the Board at the 2-10-26 meeting. The version up for a vote 3-17-26 is a smaller version with only projects for which funding has already been identified. The projects are the I-540 and Euper Lane water line crossing, Midland Bridge transmission line repair, Racetrack Road water line improvements, and I-49 & Hwy 22 transmission line encasement.

The Board will vote on contracting with Trekk Design Group for $766,933.03 for a consent decree required sewer assessment study for an area containing 76,933 ft of sewer line and 318 manholes.

The Board will vote on contracting with RJN Design for design services for $99,960 for the replacement of 2 sewer mains on South B.

The Board will vote on entering a Memorandum of Understanding with Methodist Village Senior Living and an Agreement of Understanding with ARDOT as the required government sponsor to accept a grant from the  Arkansas Transportation Alternatives Program to build a paved path from the Methodist Village facility to Carol Ann Cross park. The Board agreed to sponsor the grant at the 3-4-2025 meeting. The grant would be for $196,000 . The required local contribution of $49,000 will be paid by Methodist Village. The City would pay $38,500 for the engineering costs not covered by the grant out of the revenue from the Carol Ann Cross park cell tower funds designated for the benefit of Carol Ann Cross Park.

The Board will vote on purchasing 2 replacement 1 ton Chevy Silverado trucks with utility service beds for the Public Works Department from Orr Chevrolet for a total of $117,520.

The Board will vote on contracting with Steve Beam Construction for $1,212,950.70 for improvements of the tennis courts at Creekmore. The project would include resurfacing 4 courts, reconstructing 4 courts with concrete instead of asphalt, adding spectator seating, replacing fencing, and converting the lights to LEDs. It also would include converting 4 lights at the pool to LED.

The Board will vote on contracting with Goodwin & Goodwin for $138,968 for pump house improvements at Cisterna Park.

The Board will vote on purchasing 17 Police patrol vehicle Dodge Durangos. 4 are to replace existing worn out vehicles and 13 are additional new vehicles that would enable greater implementation of the take-home patrol vehicle program. The vehicles would come from Breeden Dodge at a total cost of $1,298,630.69. $173,336.24 of the cost would come from court funds for police and the rest would come from the sales tax designated for the police.