Agenda Highlights 4/14/26

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting to be held 4/17/26, the Board will discuss plans for the storm water mitigation ponds at the former ACME property. This issue was discussed and tabled at the 4/7/26 meeting.

The Board will hear a presentation from local resident Andy Posterick regarding a frontage levy approach to billing for water/sewer infrastructure. The frontage levy would charge for utilities based on linear feet of property abutting public infrastructure instead of solely by usage volume. The system is intended to align revenue with fixed costs of maintaining and replacing pipes. The frontage levy system has not been tested in Arkansas.

The Board will discuss freezing water and sewer rates for people over 65 years old. Recently Springdale has decided to freeze theirs for residents over 65 and Rogers has decided to freeze theirs for residents over 62.

For examples, the freeze would save a user who uses 1 CCF per month 49 cents a month in 2027, 99 cents a month in 2028, and $1.51 per month in 2029. A user who uses 3 CCFs would save $1.13 per month in 2027, $2.29 per month in 2028, and $3.49 per month in 2029.

The Board will discuss potentially changing the rule that during the monthly Citizens Forum residents may only speak on matters that are not on the agenda for the meeting to allow them to also speak on items that are on the agenda.