Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 11/10/25

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 11-10-25 and led by Vice Mayor Rego in the absence of Mayor McGill and with Director Christina Catsavis and Director George Catsavis leaving early, the Board discussed 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 operations 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.

Milam said that the radios currently being used are 20 years old and there has been talk of needing to replace them for about 10 years. He called the renovation of the facility at Burrough Road the “first option” and said that there are “other things to look at” instead of Burrough Road at least temporarily but said that they will need new radios regardless of where the facility is located.

Krystal Cadelli spoke and asked whether there had been formal bids for the renovation at Burrough Road. Acting City Administrator Dingman answered that Beshears Construction has been hired as Construction Manager for the project and that they are working with the design team and architect and then when those plans are ready things will be put out for bids. So bids for construction have not been opened yet.

Director Christina Catsavis said that the facility being proposed at Burrough Road is “going far beyond what is required” by the State’s demand to consolidate the public safety systems. She expressed concern about the radio contract putting the long term risk on the City and not the county and asked why the County was not on the radio lease. Milam clarified that the City is the manager of the State E911 funds (that come from charges collected by the State on cell phone bills to pay for 911 services). Then any costs over the $1.8 million per year that the City gets from that State E911 fund are shared by the City and County with the City responsible for 70% and the County for 30% (based on population). Director Christina Catsavis said that the County has already said that they can’t afford it. She called the current situation a “negotiation failure not a statutory requirement” and reminded that the State does not require a new facility, a hardened facility, or new radios. She asked if the consolidated facility could be at the police station and use the existing radio equipment there. Milam said that there are only 8 work stations at the Police department and that it would be a “tight fit” but that “that’s one option” that could work temporarily. Director Christina Catsavis called it “an option we should pursue.”

Dingman mentioned in addition to the temporary police station option that another option for an alternative location would be the basement of the Carnall Building (the former public library building). He said that some of the offices that have been in the Carnall Building are planned to be moved into the City office building on Garrison so there will be space left behind and that the basement would be a hardened facility offering protection against service interruption from a tornado.

Director Martin asked how much is being paid for 911 today. Milam answered a little over $2 million. Director Martin mentioned that with the financing for the building renovation and the radios it would be $4.3 million in the future. Milam confirmed that math and also clarified that the building renovation is estimated to cost $410,000 per year on a 20 year mortgage. He expressed displeasure that the County is “getting everything” but not paying for it saying that “The risk is all on us.” He acknowledged “We can’t go without 911.” but voiced concerns about the long term consequences of the decisions regarding the costs.

Milam mentioned that another potential option might be for the City to find their own financing on the radios rather than using Motorola’s financing. The cost for the radio equipment before including the financing is $4.6 million. Director Christina Catsavis suggested instead locating the consolidated facility in an existing building and using that saved money to pay for Motorola’s financed radio system.

Director Kemp said the Board is “putting the cart before the horse” with the radios before the building. He suggested locating the facility at the Carnall Building rather than the Police Station and putting the “dated” equipment in the Carnall Building temporarily and replacing it with new equipment in the future. He asked Milam if that would be feasible. Milam answered that he will find out. He voiced his support for selling the building on Burrough Road and buying radio equipment with that money.

Director Settle said that the State law requiring consolidation was intended to reduce costs, not to increase them. He requested that Milam look into if the consolidation in other areas has caused similar cost increases. Director Settle mentioned that the City gets 64% of the countywide sales tax and suggested that the City should either get 70% of that sales tax or a lower percentage of the financial responsibility in the interlocal agreement for the 911 center. Director Christina Catsavis reminded that the interlocal agreement has already been agreed to.

Director Good mentioned that originally there was more hope about tax revenues and congressionally directed spending that would help fund the 911 center that did not come through. He said that he is “not opposed to” the Carnall Building.

Milam voiced his concerns that the current radios are in use 24-7 so there would be strain on the remaining half of the radios while the first half are being relocated to a different facility if the existing radios are relocated rather than buying new ones. Dingman also mentioned that the cost for the radio equipment will likely be different for a facility at the Carnall Building than the one quoted for Burrough Road because the needs at each facility may be different.

Director Good asked if approving the currently proposed Motorola lease would lock the City into the Burrough Road location. Director Christina Catsavis said that the plan and pricing for the lease were designed specifically to match that location’s needs. Director Good mentioned that some new radio equipment would be needed anyway regardless of location.

Director Rego said that no matter where the facility is located the radio equipment would need replaced as it fails. He suggested that the State E911 fund amount be set as the target number for 911 costs, not “habitually higher.”

The Board voted to table the issue to a future study session.

The Board discussed 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.

Joey McCutcheon and Krystal Cadelli spoke on the issue. Lavon Morton spoke and advocated for breaking up the Timco project into 2 smaller projects. He also expressed concerns about contracting for amounts so far over the original engineering estimates. He called the out-of-state bids “really high.” He expressed concerns about being able to complete the consent decree projects as agreed to on time if too much is paid for the early contracts.

Larry Yancy with Hawkins Weir said that they track current similar projects and historic bids when making estimates. He mentioned that some of the projects bid had winning bids at or below the estimates. He said that the Timco and Morgan projects were the last two of the 9 projects and that no local companies bid on those and said that those things “could be contributing factors” to the difference between the estimates and the bids. He said that on the Timco project there is a natural East/West split that could be done to break it into two projects. He said breaking it up and rebidding it could result in either better or higher bids.

Director Kemp mentioned that after talking with local firms he thinks that with those being the last 2 of the 9 projects a wider window for bidding would have resulted in more local bids and that the large sized Timco project was “a lot” and that it would be a lot to bond resulting in the lack of local bids. He suggesting splitting it and rebidding to get closer to the estimates.

Director Settle said that having 9 projects up for bidding all at once is bad for the bidding process. He suggested that the Timco project be split in two and then the each half of the Timco project be bid on and awarded separately with the second bid on after the first is awarded and then the Morgan project be bid on.

Director Martin mentioned that the local companies he spoke to mentioned that they would have bid lower than the out-of-state companies but did not have the capacity for the project.

Director Good expressed support for splitting the Timco project. He asked if the bids would likely be affected by the bids being public already. Yancy said that while the totals are out there the full tabulations are not and that they could “hope to get more response and lower bids” but that there is “no guarantee.”

Dingman reminded that the bids already submitted are only good for 60 days.

The Board voted unanimously to table the issue to the first study session in January.

The Board discussed 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.

Director Rego noted that in the water CIP as a whole, there are $200 million in needs identified. Dingman mentioned that starting in 2027 all water revenues will be needed for operations and that there will be no revenues available for any CIP projects. Director Martin asked where the previous years’ funding for CIP projects came from. Deputy Utilities Director Johnson answered that it came from the 2018 water and sewer revenue bonds. Director Martin asked about options for funding for CIP projects. Dingman said “that looks like rates” suggesting rate increases to fund long-term debt for the projects. Director Martin expressed his displeasure at the idea of “pass an increase or no projects whatsoever.” Director Christina Catsavis said that it would mean no projects until 2028 when the 2018 bonds could be refinanced. Dingman said that the best schedule for issuing new bonds would be to start in 2030. Director Rego said that “huge needs” are never able to be funded by rates and will always rely on using bonds. Chief Financial Officer Richards confirmed that. Director Rego questioned if there is any purposed in approving a CIP with no funding attached to it. Dingman said that it will still prioritize the projects for the future and that 2026 already has projects underway. Rego reminded that 2026 has dollars available for projects.

Director Kemp asked if after water leaks have improved and become under control if some water line construction could be done in-house to save money. Public Works Director Meeker said “We might could do some” of the smaller projects but not the major ones. Director Kemp asked if the bench testing of large meters for accuracy could be done in-house to find potential missed revenue from underbilling inaccurate meters affordably. Johnson said that an “extremely large facility” would be needed to do the bench testing. Meeker said that the testing can be done in the field without needing a bench. Johnson said that low-flow testing can be done in the field.

The cost for non-consent decree sewer projects for 2026 total $21,260,000 and are fully funded through sales tax. Director Martin asked why the projects in the non-consent CIP are not a part of the consent decree. Johnson said that treatment plants are not a part of the consent decree and everything at Chaffee Crossing is not consent decree because the water there is treated by Barling. Utilities Director McAvoy said that funding for the projects in the non-consent CIP are available from the sales tax because it is also for compliance with the Clean Water Act and that because the projects prevent problems that are/would be linked to the consent decree.

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 CIPs for water and wastewater will all be added to a future meeting to vote.

The Board discussed the Police Department CIP. While they were originally slated to discuss two different options for vehicle replacement, one option that would handle vehicle replacement the way it has been handled previously, through buying vehicles outright individually, and another option 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), Chief Baker withdrew his request for the Board to consider the Enterprise Lease option. He said that while he is still hoping for a “pathway for fleet leasing” the leasing as previously discussed does not still make sense at this time. So the Board only discussed the CIP that plans for vehicle purchasing. For 2026, it includes a total cost for vehicle replacement of $1,750,500 and would replace 17 patrol vehicles, 4 special ops vehicles, 5 CID vehicles, 2 K-9 vehicles, 5 e-bikes, and 2 motorcycles

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.

Baker said that while he understands the need to balance the budget he would “really ask” the Board “to think hard before cutting salaries and personnel from the Police Department.”

Director Kemp asked about why the Police Department has not used a Fort Smith based company for vehicle outfitting rather than Van Buren based Omega. Baker answered that he thought that Omega was “the only game in town” that could handle the number of vehicles and wasn’t aware that there was another vendor available. He said he would be “happy to consider them.”

The Board discussed 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.

Director Kemp asked if the purchase of smaller SUVs to send out to some non-fire calls to reduce wear on fire trucks was still being considered. Fire Chief Clark said that the Fire Department has asked for them for a couple of years but that they “keep getting cut” from the budget.

The Police and Fire CIPs will be added to a future meeting for a vote.

During the Citizens Forum section of the meeting, Glen Forte spoke. He expressed concerns about his neighbor waking him frequently with calls for fire trucks and ambulances. He voiced dissatisfaction with a high bill for towing that was towed by a local business he said is involved in organized crime. He expressed concerns about Patriot Utilities leaving debris on the streets where they have been working on sewer lines.

Eric Weidman asked for an update on Arkoma owing Fort Smith for utilities. Director Martin said that they are in mediation and “we’re working with them.” Dingman said that a third party is evaluating the rate proposal proposed by the City that Arkoma did not accept. The rate currently and going forward that is being charged to Arkoma is $8.75/CCF. Arkoma has been paying a portion of their bill, but not all of it. They have an outstanding balance currently. Dingman anticipates that in a week or so the third party will have a rate for both municipalities to consider that will be brought to the Board. Weidman asked about why the City is having ARDOT do work on Towson and then taking over ownership of and responsibility for the street from ARDOT. Director Settle said that the State is reducing its number of streets throughout the entire state and if the City did not agree to the deal regarding Towson, the State intended to make Wheeler their State Highway and that the City would still be stuck responsible for Towson without anything being done with it first. The agreement makes sure that it gets paved before being handed over. Director Kemp also mentioned that the State will be adding flood mitigation improvements and sidewalks down all of Towson.

Carl Nevin spoke to advocate for breaking the Timco project into 2 contracts in hopes of getting better bids closer to the engineering estimates. Director Rego said “That’s what we’re endeavoring to do.”

Chris Cadelli spoke and expressed concerns about a conflict of interest regarding Director Rego’s connection to his brother-in-law who owns a construction company connected to the proposed indoor sports complex. He voiced his displeasure with Director Rego’s posts about the FOIA request related to the issue on social media.

Krystal Cadelli spoke and expressed concerns about Director Rego’s conflict of interest. She mentioned concerns that Director Rego voted as a member of the A&P commission on a matter related to the sports complex at that committee’s meeting and that he did not submit any text messages related to the matter in response to her FOIA request. She expressed displeasure with Director Rego’s posts about the FOIA request on social media.