Agenda Highlights 5/13/25

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting scheduled to be held at Fire Station 11 on 5-13-25, the Board will discuss the City’s Limited Claims Policy in which the City chooses to take financial responsibility for some damages to personal property. The discussion will include talk about potential changes to the policy to include paying for damages caused by unrepaired water leaks.

Claims paid out through the policy since 2019 total $83,776.10. The highest volume of the claims have been for sewer backups at a total of $68,090.74. The second highest volume of the claims have been for water damage at a total of $13,535.34 with $7,992.38 coming from a single incident in which a water line damaged by the City caused a driveway and surrounding landscaping to have to be repaired. One claim was placed for damage from a fallen tree for $2000. One claim was placed for issues caused by a manhole for $150.02. One claim was placed from flooding resulting from overflow of a drainage ditch.

The Board will discuss water and sewer services for Arkoma. Currently, Arkoma buys water and sewer services from Fort Smith and is billed as an industrial customer. Their sewage usage is measured and billed based on a flow meter that tracks the actual amount of sewage entering the Fort Smith system for treatment. Currently Arkoma is over 3 years delinquent on their water and sewer bill and has a balance due of $120,000.

With the increased sewer rate set to go into effect June 1, 2025, the 618 customers in Arkoma would see dramatic increases. Currently Arkoma customers pay $2.69 per CCF for sewer. With the new rates, it would increase to $8.75 per CCF. The average Arkoma customer’s utility bill would go from $69 per month to $176 per month. The amount paid to Fort Smith by Arkoma would increase from the current $511,000 per year to $1,311,000 per year.

Arkoma is facing challenges with their water delivery system. Only 20% of the water purchased from Fort Smith is being billed to Arkoma’s customers with 80% of the purchased water being lost through unaccounted for water loss. Arkoma proposes changing to having their sewer volume charged based on what Arkoma bills their customers for. For example, if Arkoma buys 10,000 CCF of water and bills their customers for only 2000 CCF, they would only need to pay Fort Smith for 2000 CCF for sewer wastewater. Arkoma also proposes Arkoma paying a 5% surcharge as out-of-town customers. Currently, the extra 50% charged to out-of-town customers is not being applied to Arkoma because the sewer flow meter that is located just outside the Fort Smith city limits is read at the same time as Fort Smith water meters.

Arkoma proposes paying their delinquent bill with an additional $2000 monthly payment which would allow for it to be paid off in 5 years.

The Board will hear an update on the Ride For Smilies bike share program. The program started in 2022 has been funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation. That grant is about to run out. The City has been looking for private partnerships, sponsorships, and grants to continue funding the program. The program costs $140,000 annually. Tandem Mobility that administers the program does have a proposed plan for reduced service if new funding is not found to continue the program at the current level.

The e-bikes have been overwhelmingly more popular than the traditional bikes. The e-bikes cost $1 to unlock plus $1 for every 30 minutes of use. The traditional bikes cost half that. Usage has increased year over year. There have been a total of 2,500 unique users and 9000 total trips. Through November 2024, there were 3,552 trips from the Riverfront, 2,263 from Chaffee Crossing, 1,456 from the Convention Center, 1098 from Kinkead & Waldron, 807 from 32nd & Grand, 676 from Martin Luther King Park, 532 from Woodlawn Park, and 494 from Nelson Hall Homes. Recreation was the top use for trips on the bikes with 74% of trips from all users being for recreation with 65.7% of trips from users from carless households being for recreation. 15.3% of all trips from all users were for shopping/dining with 22.3% of trips from users from carless households being for shopping/dining. 4.6% of trips from all users were to go to or from work with 2.3% of trips from users from carless households being to go to or from work.