Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 1/20/26

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 1-20-26, the Board voted unanimously to demolish dilapidated buildings at 3222 Blair, 3925 Rowe, 1108 North 9th, and 510 South K.

The Board voted to appropriate $1,274,935 from the general fund for installation of the additional water slides purchased for Parrot Island water park. Recently 2 bids were received for the installation for $2,828,810 and $3,134,000.

After discussion at a Board meeting about these bids being unappealing, Director Kemp met with local company Royal Ridge Construction. Royal Ridge offered a proposal that will cost $1,059,934.12 for the plumbing, fittings, and concrete foundations and an additional $680,000 for pumphouse and electrical work, for a grand total of $1,739,934.12. That proposal will still leave an estimated $600,000 in work that would need to be done by other companies. The grand total for the Royal Ridge work and the work from other companies that will be needed to get the slides installed and operational would be $2,339,935. That price does not include fencing, sidewalks, landscaping, etc. Those items are estimated to cost an additional $350,000. So the grand total for all of the work needed to get the slides installed and operational and the fencing, landscaping, etc will be $2,689,935. With adding together the $655,000 remaining from the $4.2 million originally appropriated for the purchase of the slides and their installation and using the $760,000 interest from the account for the sales tax for Parks capital projects, the amount available from those sources for the project would be $924,935. The remaining gap in funding left would be $1,274,935.

This issue was discussed at the 1-13-26 meeting.

Kim Fodge, Eric Weidman, Chris Cadelli, Krystal Cadelli, Jerry Donaldson, Dan Williams Joey McCutcheon, Ken Lyon, Shane McKinney, Casey Millspaugh, and Victoria Harris-Hardy all spoke in opposition to the appropriation for funding for the slide installation. They mentioned concerns including the water park’s lack of liquid assets to pay their bills, additional maintenance costs, safety worries, and prioritization of spending (especially spending for police and fire).

Director Christina Catsavis suggested that because ARM should have known about the costs and that the City acted “relying on their expertise” when purchasing the slides that the City “should force” ARM “to buy us out out of the slides.” She mentioned other purchases that the money could be spent on instead of the slide installation including police and fire equipment, sidewalks, and the flood water retention ponds at the ACME property.

Director Rego mentioned that last year’s Police Department budget was the highest ever and that this year’s is in the top 5 and that this year’s budget for the Fire Department is the highest ever. He also mentioned negative feedback including name calling that he has received on social media recently.

Director Kemp said that the County sees the “parts laying in the yard” and that it makes Fort Smith look like they are “not being good partners” in the water park. He mentioned that Royal RIdge Construction was the subcontractor on one of the two bids submitted. He said that Burton Pools and Spas is also working on a proposal for work on the project that is outside of the work to be done by Royal Ridge. He said those local companies are “not trying to do anything but help.” He mentioned that the slide installation spending would drop the general fund reserve balance, where anything above 25% is to be used for one-time capital expenses, from 34% to 31%. In response to feedback received by the Board from the Police and Fire unions opposing the allocation for the slides, he said “Our first responders matter.” and “let’s be reasonable with each other” and suggested that “conversations might need to happen between the Chiefs and the unions.” Director Kemp voiced his support for an audit of the water park and said that he has a “lack of confidence in ARM.”

Director Martin voiced his opposition to the allocation saying that spending for the slide installation while cutting 71 positions in the recent effort to achieve a balanced operating budget “just doesn’t work.” He motioned that if money is to be allocated for the slides that it should come from the Parks Department budget instead of from the General Fund.

Director Kemp said that he was originally in favor of the money for installation coming from Parks but that he talked to Parks and found that that would force them to freeze all other capital improvement projects for this year so he is “not going to vote in support of it.”

Director Good said that he is not in favor of the money coming from Parks and mentioned that the Parks capital improvements plan is made based on citizen input and that neighborhoods have been waiting a long time on some of the planned projects.

The motion to fund the installation out of the Parks budget instead of the general fund was defeated with only Director Martin voting in favor of it.

Director Good voiced his support for an audit of the water park. He expressed support for making ARM take back the slides, but questioned whether that is something that they could actually be made to do. Acting City Administrator Dingman confirmed that there is nothing in the agreement with ARM that would easily allow for that. City Attorney Rowe said that without the agreement to have been breached, the other alternative would be to pursue a fraud claim and that he is uncertain at this time if there would be solid grounds for such a claim. The City would need to prove “affirmative misrepresentations” from ARM resulting in damages.

Director Christina Catsavis asked why Royal Ridge did not submit a bid when the project was originally taking bids. Dingman said that the other 2 bidders were specifically aquatics companies and that Royal Ridge did not feel qualified as an aquatics contractor. Director Christina Catsavis wondered out loud about them feeling qualified now. She also mentioned that 72% of visitors to the water park are from out of town. She called the spending a “subsidy for people who don’t even live here” and said that the data is not showing a significant impact on sales tax revenue from people visiting the park eating and shopping at local businesses.

Director Kemp said of the slides, it is “hard for me to work through the idea of selling them.” He mentioned that lower income people are visiting the park and that it is a cheaper alternative to expensive travel vacations.

Director Settle mentioned having enjoyed a season pass to Wet Willy’s water slides when he was a child and added that even 40 years later the cost of a pass for Parrot Island is very similar to the price for a pass to Wet Willy’s. He mentioned that the park celebrated its 1 millionth visitor this year. He said that the park was originally planned in 2012 to lose $150,000 per year and that instead it has brought in over a million dollars that have been reinvested in the park. He mentioned the $194,000 in free and discount days that the park offers for different non-profits, occupations, schools, etc. He said that the cheaper Dark Water Night events are “packed to the brim.” He said “We need to invest in the future of our city.” He said “Workers come her because there’s stuff to do.” He praised the employment opportunity of the jobs for teens at the waterpark.

Director George Catsavis voiced his concerns that there would be additional costs including for additional parking and underground plumbing. He said of selling the slides that it would be better to “lose a little now to get rid of those things.” He called the situation with the slides and the spending “sad.” He motioned for study session discussion of a resolution to ask the Arkansas Attorney General to review the slide cost situation. He said “Somebody knew installation cost and hid it.” and “I want the truth.” The issue will be added to a future study session agenda.

Director Good mentioned the community discounts at the park including for Boys and Girls Club and Bost sponsored by the Park and that corporations also sponsor discounts and free admissions. He also mentioned that the Fire Department uses the water park for training.

Director Kemp asked if legal action could still be pursued in the event that fraud is found if the slides are already constructed. Rowe said that putting up the slides would not diminish the claim, but warned that statutes of limitations might be a concern. Director Kemp suggested that if ARM is chosen to continue to manage the park that they should “sweeten the deal with us to help us recoup the cost.”

Before the vote on the issue, Mayor McGill announced that he would not be voting (presumably to signal that he was not considering vetoing if the measure were to pass via Board vote).

Bundled with the appropriation vote, the Board also voted to waive the required bidding process and award a no-bid contract for the installation to Royal Ridge Construction for $1,739,934.12. Chris Cadelli, Krystal Cadelli, and Joey McCutcheon spoke and voiced their opposition to the no-bid contract mentioning concerns including the lack of competition and the Royal Ridge’s lack of experience with the specialty construction.

The Board voted in favor of the appropriation for the slide installation and no-bid contract with Royal Ridge with Directors Settle, Rego, Good, and Kemp voting in favor and Director Christina Catsavis, Director George Catsavis, and Director Martin voting against.

The Board was slated to vote on whether to renew their services agreement with Main Street Fort Smith for downtown development services for $12,500 per month (the same amount as 2025).

Andy Posterick spoke and mentioned the value of downtown especially highlighting the strong return on investment from downtown’s very high property values compared to other neighborhoods.

Ken Lyon spoke and mentioned his dealing with 64.6 in the past regarding an art installation he wanted to do that was not met by them with strong cooperation and support. He also mentioned concerns about The Unexpected’s failure to negotiate the legal public fair use rights for the murals properly. However, he praised the great return on investment for development downtown and especially noted the potential of Miss Laura’s Museum and capitalizing on the neighborhood’s “fantastic history.”

Chris Cadelli spoke against the renewal calling it “non-essential spending” and questioning the return on the investment.

Krystal Cadelli spoke against the renewal and mentioned other expenditures budgeted for that go toward downtown development and downtown events and suggested that the money should be spent on other priorities.

Joey McCutcheon spoke against the renewal and said “we need measurables” from service contracts. He questioned the legality of the service contracts with outside non-profit organizations. He advocated for spending the money on other priorities.

Director Martin motioned to table the issue to a study session saying that he wants an “assessment of Main Street Fort Smith and how they’re performing.”

The Board voted to table the issue to a future study session with only Director Christina Catsavis and Director Rego voting against tabling.

The Board voted to renew the services contract with The Roosevelt Group for advocacy for grants and relationships with the federal government related to military affairs (especially the FMS project) for $12,500 per month. The lobbyist firm previously helped Fort Smith on the $4.3 million grant for noise mitigation at schools and the $600,000 Military Installation Readiness and Resiliency study grant.

Director Christina Catsavis wondered out loud what the City is getting from the firm. Dingman mentioned that the City applied for a Department of Defense grant before they were contracting with The Roosevelt Group that they were not awarded that he feels that they would have gotten with their help and said that the City intends to apply for that grant again with the firm’s assistance.

Director Kemp expressed that he is looking forward to the firm working on obtaining infrastructure grants.

The Board voted to renew the contract with all but Director Christina Catsavis and Director George Catsavis voting to renew.

The Board voted unanimously to renew services contracts for services to senior citizens with Sebastian County Retired Citizens Association for $175,000, Area Agency on Aging for $60,000, and Project Compassion for $9,500. The funding for these contracts will come from the County sales tax.

The Board voted unanimously to renew the services contract with Fort Smith Museum of History for $20,000 to assist with their utilities costs.

The Board voted unanimously without discussion to amend the contract with Burns & McDonnell for an additional $1,830,000 for additional work on the Lake Fort Smith water transmission line.

The Board voted unanimously without discussion to issue a non-residential solid waste permit to Redline Contractors. The 2 year permit will include a 5% franchise fee.

The Board voted unanimously without discussion to purchase replacement equipment for the Solid Waste department, a Caterpillar 260A Skid Steer from Riggs for $64,835.41, a Caterpillar 350 AK tracked excavator with hammer attachment and hydraulic tool kit from Riggs for $719,902.31, a Caterpillar D8-BR medium dozer with waste handling package and ripper attachment from Riggs for $1,036,654.67, and a Freightliner 1145D Plus truck with hoist and tarping system from Doggett Freightliner for $288,955.

During the Officials Forum section of the meeting, Mayor McGill mentioned that the first Foreign Military Sales Program aircraft from Finland arrived today, bringing the total number of aircraft in the program here in town currently to nine.

Director Settle mentioned that the Streets department is already working on pre-treating streets in anticipation of snow coming on Friday.

During the Executive Session, Raynee Pogue was appointed to the Audit Advisory Committee. Kimberly Rucker was appointed to the Community Development Advisory Committee. Jaque Cialone was appointed to the Historic District Commission. Aaron Borengasser was appointed to the Plumbing Advisory Board. Kasey Wilson was reappointed to the Sebastian County Solid Waste Management Board.