Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 6/9/26

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session meeting held 6-9-26 and led by Vice Mayor Rego in the absence of Mayor McGill, the Board heard the Police Department annual report for 2025. Highlights of the report include

• Overall Group A crime was down 10.6% versus 2024 and down 29.97% versus the 5 year average and down 32.88% versus the 10 year average

• Homicide was at 7 incidents, up from 1 in 2024. Sexual Assault was at 148 incidents, up from 145 in 2024. Aggravated Assault was at 557 incidents, down from 614 in 2024. Robber was at 68 incidents, down from 76 in 2024. Arson was at 13 incidents, up from 12 in 2024. Burglary was at 405 incidents, down from 470 in 2024. Larceny/Theft was at 2521 incidents, down from 2779 in 2024. Motor Vehicle Theft was at 212 incidents, down from 300 in 2024.

• The Office of Professional Standards conducted 491 investigations including 40 internal complaints (30 were substantiated) and 52 citizen complaints (5 were substantiated).

• The Office of Public Relations participated in 393 events, distributed 6400 meals through the Food Patrol program, launched the officer children’s story-time program, and launched monthly public crime prevention classes.

• 353 DWI arrests were made, a 40% increase over 2023 and a 3% increase over 2024.

• The Organized Retail Crime working group was established.

• The Crisis Intervention Unit responded to 2,319 calls and diverted 51 people from criminal charges and referred 72 people for mental health treatment.

• The Bicycle Unit responded to 1,320 calls.

• The Traffic Unit responded to 271 collisions, made 4509 traffic stops, and investigated 18 serious injury or fatality crashes.

• SHIELD Our Youth responded to 170 calls, participated in 109 community events, diverted 148 juveniles from prosecution, and addressed 5 suicide threats with zero of the suicides being completed.

• Crimes Against Persons investigated 1,919 cases with a 93.5% clearance rate.

• Crimes Against Property investigated 1,494 cases with a 79.8% clearance rate.

• Special Investigations investigated 785 cases with a 95.7% clearance rate.

• Narcotics and Intelligence participated in 127 drug related investigations.

• The K-9 unit assisted in 80 felony drug arrests.

• Methamphetamine was the top drug seized. Marijuana was the second. Fentanyl was the third.

• Animal Services responded to 6,696 calls and brought 1485 animals to the shelter (a 12% increase over 2024), reunited 170 animals with their owners, did 193 injured animal transports, and issued 451 citations.

• 911 Operators answered 180,434 calls including 121,159 non-emergency calls, 59,275 emergency calls, and 89,357 police patrol calls.

Police Chief Baker mentioned that employee retention is a challenge. He said that 26 officers left the department last year (16 resigned, 4 retired, and 6 were terminated).

Director Christina Catsavis asked how response times compared with the previous year’s. Baker said that they were about the same. Director Christina Catsavis asked how many fentanyl deaths occurred in 2025. Baker said that there were none and noted that that was a decline.

Director Kemp asked about efforts to reduce the number of sexual assault cases. Baker said the department “have taken many proactive steps.” Baker mentioned that some of the increase in sexual assault cases can be attributed to more people coming forward and reporting them and he said he is “gonna take that as a win.”

Director Kemp asked if there is an age group disproportionately responsible for the increase in DWI cases. Baker said that there is not an age trend, that the increase has been across the board.

Director George Catsavis asked how many officers the FBI recommends for our population. Baker answered 190 and that Fort Smith currently has 151 and is authorized to hire up to 160. Director George Catsavis said that the Board needs to act to get the Police Department “their manpower back.” He also asked Baker about establishing a Police unit for the parks. Baker said that they could not do that with their current staffing levels. Director George Catsavis suggested that the Police should no longer be responsible for animal control and that animal issues should be privatized.

Director Kemp wondered aloud what a privatized animal situation would look like. Baker mentioned that the biggest challenge would be the issuance of citations. Currently, the animal ordinances are enforced by criminal citations. For someone other than police officers to issue them, they would need to be civil citations or the police would need to be called in to issue every citation. Baker said of privatization or a hybrid public/private approach “I think it could be done.” He also voiced his view that the animal services duties are “not best suited” for the Police Department.

Acting City Administrator Dingman noted that privatization would not necessarily result in a cost savings as the programs would still have to be paid for.

Director Good asked about the number of crimes committed by youths in 2025. Baker said that there was a decline in youth crimes.

Director Martin asked for an update on seriously injured Officer Newman. Baker said “I expect him to go home this week.”

The Board heard the Fire Department 2025 annual report. Highlights include…

• The Fire Department responded to 16,000 calls, up 1.45% from 2024.

• There were 344 fire calls, 2.15% of all calls.

• There were 11,241 rescue calls, 70.26% of all calls. Those included 11,193 calls for emergency medical treatment.

• 92.41% of property involved in fires was saved. The total value of saved property was $44,581,215.

• The top 5 addresses with the most incidents for which the Fire Department was called were #1 Hope Campus, #2 Nelson Hall Homes, #3 Brookdale, #4 Sebastian County Jail, and #5 Morada.

• Fire Station 7 was the busiest station with 13.08% of all calls. Fire Station 11 was the least busy station with 2.8% of the calls.

Fire Chief Clark noted that the department has been challenged by budget cuts, employee retention, getting qualified applicants, and skyrocketing costs for equipment.

Director Martin asked how Fort Smith ranks among other cities in the region for Fire Department pay. Clark answered that “we can’t compete with” NWA with their salaries being dramatically higher.

Director Christina Catsavis asked about morale in response to the budget cuts. Clark answered “I was surprised how good it was.” He credited the way that things were restructured in response to the budget cuts resulting in a full company for the heavy rescue company that previously was not fully staffed with helping keep morale higher.

Director Settle noted that the Fire Department spends most of their time on medical calls. Clark added that NWA has “a fraction” of the fires that Fort Smith does. Director Settle suggested purchasing less expensive vehicles for non-fire calls to reduce wear on the expensive fire trucks.

Director Kemp asked if the Fire Department is going to high schools to recruit. Clark said that they are and that they visit schools all over the region to try to attract graduating students.

Director George Catsavis asked if the ISO ratings will be affected by the budget cuts. Clark said he “can’t guarantee they will or won’t.” Director George Catsavis suggested that the Board review the police and fire budgets. Director Martin voiced his agreement.

Director Rego asked if less people are applying to be firefighters or if the applicants applying are less qualified. Clark said that both are the case.

The Board heard an update on the revised scope for the Bass Reeves Legacy Loop Greenway. A federal BUILD grant for $24,987,098 was applied for in November 2024 and awarded in January 2025.

Parks Director Deuster said that issues identified since the original grant application include a large portion of the previous design being in backyards to the dismay of some residents, railroad crossings, acquisition costs, the cost for the original plan not being enough to be covered by the grant, and the terms of the grant requiring the project to have to “finish no matter what.” Some of the costs unaccounted for in the grant application include site prep, environmental studies permit fees, and price escalation. The new estimate to build the originally proposed project would be a total of $40,718,297.75. Deuster acknowledged that that much cost over the grant funding would not be feasible.

The new proposed design “creates a spine” down Old Greenwood. It is no longer a loop shape. It would be 5.5 miles rather than 8.8 miles It would not include a tunnel underneath Rogers Avenue. It would connect 30.2 miles of trails rather than the original connecting only 14.6 miles. It would connect existing trail systems from the Riverfront to Ben Geren and Chaffee. To build the project would cost a total of $29 million. The remainder of the cost after the grant funds would be covered out of the portion of the sales and use tax for Parks capital improvements that is already allocated in the Parks Capital Improvement Plan for trails.

Director Settle suggested considering an overhead crossing on Rogers Avenue. He voiced his support for the new proposal.

Director Martin asked if the trail would be off the road through wooded areas. Deuster said that the exact route has not been planned yet, but that it would be off-road and 10 ft wide. Of the total price for the trail, Director Martin said “This is crazy.” and “Man, that’s expensive.” However, he voiced his support for the proposal.

Director Kemp voiced his support for the project and it offering a safer option for bicycle riders.

Director George Catsavis voiced his opposition to the project citing worries about costs potentially ballooning. Director Christina Catsavis said that in the past Deuster’s estimates for projects have been “dead on.”

Director Christina Catsavis asked about changing the name of the project to “Bass Reeves Legacy Line” to reflect that it is no longer a loop shape so that the public does not feel misled. Deuster said that while the loop name needs to remain the same to avoid any disruptions in the grant process, when the grant process is finished and the construction is complete the trail can go through a naming process and could be named to reflect that it’s not a loop. Deuster voiced her preference for the “Line” version of the name. Director Kemp agreed on the “Line” name.

Director Rego voiced his support for the project noting that it would mean $25 million in federal funds being invested in our community.

Director Good said he is “a little disappointed that it’s not gonna be a loop.”

The Board discussed a water rate freeze or discount for senior citizens 65 years old and older. One proposed option would be to freeze rates for seniors at the 2026 rate for the base rate and the first tier (up to 3 CCFs) of usage. The other proposed option, the one recommended by City staff, would be to instead offer a 10% discount on water for seniors. for the base rate and the first tier of usage. Based on the US Census, 16% of Fort Smith’s citizens are over 65. Based on that percentage, the 10% discount would result in $331,000 in reduced revenue.

Director Good called helping the elderly “a wonderful thing.” However, he expressed concerns about other customers having to make up the difference in the lost revenue. He mentioned that Project Concern is designed to help those in need, while a senior discount or rate freeze would be for any senior whether they need the discount or not. He also acknowledged that with 2/3 of citizens qualifying for Project Concern that if everyone who was qualified applied that the City would be “in a world of hurt.”

Director Martin agreed with Director Good. He voiced his support for Project Concern because it is income based and “hits all age classes” rather than being age based.

Director Kemp suggested designing a senior rate plan that is crafted to cover the cost of providing water services but does not have a big ROI built in. Acting City Administrator Dingman mentioned the rates currently don’t cover the cost of operations, debt services on the bonds, and funds for the capital projects that are needed.

Director George Catsavis said “We have to do something for the senior citizens.” Director Martin suggested instead doing something to lower financial burden “across the board.”

Director Rego said that he did not support a freeze at 2026 rates because it would be a “logistical challenge to manage.”