Highlights of the Fort Smith Board of Directors Meeting 9/2/25

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting held 9-2-25 with Director Rego absent, the Board voted unanimously in favor of zoning changes for 1400 and 1404 South 11th to allow the undeveloped lot to be developed with 2 duplexes.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of zoning changes for 5200-5226 South 33rd to allow for the undeveloped lot to be developed with 7 duplexes.

Mayor McGill asked about the rents planned for the units. The applicant said that they would rent for $1100-$1200 per month.

Director Christina Catsavis asked if the property is in the Military Compatibility Area Overlay District where the buildings would need to meet strict sound attenuation standards. Planning Director Rice responded that it is and that they would.

Director Martin asked if there are other residential properties nearby in that neighborhood. Rice confirmed that there are.

The Board voted unanimously to deed the former Bost building property at 1801 South 74th back to Methodist Village. The property was donated by Methodist Village to the City in 1966 as a vacant lot with intention of the property being for Bost to build their facility on. The property was deeded to Bost by the City and Bost built the building and operated on the site until 2024. Then per the original deed terms the property reverted back to City ownership when Bost was no longer operating on the site. So the property is currently City owned. Methodist Village would like the property back  to operate a daycare center there.

Director Kemp asked if the deed restrictions would require Methodist Village to only use it for a daycare. City Attorney Rowe confirmed that they do require it only to be used for a daycare and if it were to no longer be used for a daycare that the property would revert back to City ownership.

The Board voted unanimously to hire Amanda Strange to be the new Director of Internal Audit. The position has a salary of $115,000.08 per year.

The Board voted unanimously in favor of a Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Values Statements.

The new Mission Statement is “The City of Fort Smith is committed to providing resident-focused services, maintaining reliable infrastructure, and creating an environment that fosters economic advancement and a thriving community.”

The Vision Statement remains the same as the current one, “Fort Smith strives to be a dynamic, business, family, and military friendly destination that welcomes people from all over the world.”

The new Values Statements are

• Safety – We seek to continuously improve the safety of all areas of the city. We value a safe environment for all residents, employees, and visitors.

• Quality Core Services - We work to deliver the highest quality services to our residents, customers, and visitors. We endeavor to understand the needs of residents/visitors and treat everyone consistently, fairly, and responsively.

• Quality of Life - We strive to implement policies that increase the attractiveness of our community to businesses and job creators to improve economic opportunity for all. Furthermore, we recognize the importance of supporting recreation, entertainment, and cultural amenities that make Fort Smith a destination for new and continuing investment.

• Opportunity- We seek to provide a path for all citizens to capture their full potential by achieving their individual goals. The City of Fort Smith seeks to be a community filled with the spirit of growth, success, and fulfillment. Our desire is to nurture, retain, and attract talent to make a positive difference in our future.

• Financial Responsibility – The City of Fort Smith is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars. Transparency, integrity, and honesty guide our financial conduct. We respect and recognize the importance of citizen-led accountability as well as outside audits to review our efforts.

• Hard-working Community – Our citizens are persistent and willing to roll up their sleeves to do whatever it takes to put in the effort to provide for their families and improve the community. The City of Fort Smith celebrates the hard work, innovation, intelligence, and contributions our citizens make each and every day. We highlight and support the life-changing difference they make in our city.

The Board was slated on the agenda to also vote on a set of Strategic Priorities, but voted to table the Strategic Priorities to a future study session meeting. Director Kemp motioned to table the issue because it was “at the end of our day” at the day-long meeting held to craft the statements and the Strategic Priorities and he thought that the issue might benefit from “fresh energy.” All of the Directors except for Director Christina Catsavis voted to table the issue.

The Board voted unanimously to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fort Smith Public School District to allow them to access the federal grant money that they were awarded to perform noise mitigation improvements on Orr Learning Academy and Carnall Elementary to reduce the noise from military jets flying overhead. The grant is for $4,350,617. The City will pay $435,063 for the required local contribution, but the Fort Smith School District will pay that entire amount back to the City, resulting in no City funds being spent.

Dan Williams spoke and expressed his concerns about the schools being able to pay the cost. He said that he asked the School Board and that they “couldn’t clearly tell me where they’re getting the funds.” Acting City Administrator Dingman said that the schools have agreed to pay the cost and that where they source the funds from is something for the schools to deal with.

The Board voted unanimously to contract with Baker Tilly to perform an internal audit risk assessment for $25,000. The risk assessment will be completed in 2 months. The Board voted unanimously to end the contract with Baker Tilly for $10,000/month for outsourcing the Director of Internal Audit duties to them since a Director of Internal Audit will be hired.

The Board voted unanimously to accept bids for water and wastewater treatment chemicals from AR Lime Co, Brenntag Southwest, Carus LLC, Chemtrade Chemicals, Donau Carbon, Enviro Tech Chemical, Pennco Inc, Thatcher Company Inc, and USALCO.

The Board was slated to vote on waiving competitive bidding for liquid chlorine and purchasing it from Brenntag Southwest.

Director Christina Catsavis said that she noticed the high price difference between the US liquid chlorine price index and the price being charged by Brenntag Southwest. She voiced her opposition to waiving competitive bidding on the chlorine. She acknowledged that the contract with Brenntag for the purchase of potassium permanganate also would waive competitive bidding but that the potassium permanganate price seemed to be “reasonably an average price.” Chief Financial Officer Richards said that bidding was to be waived because Brenntag was the only company in the region that offers the chlorine but said “I agree this is high.” Director Christina Catsavis mentioned that she did some internet searching and calling around and found Hawkins (that has a company representative with a 479 area code phone number) that also appears to sell the same liquid chlorine product. She said “We have a Purchasing Department for a reason.” and suggested that the Purchasing Department should be “actively soliciting bids” from all over the country. Utilities Director McAvoy mentioned that the liquid chlorine is packaged in a one-ton cylinder and that the costs for transportation for it are high and that to ship it in from further away would require paying extra hazardous materials fees. He said that the Department of Homeland Security is also involved in the liquid chlorine industry and that regulations have caused companies that used to produce/sell it to go out of business or to consolidate. He agreed that the “cost seems high” and said “I am happy to look elsewhere.” Director Christina Catsavis suggested that other cities in our region be contacted to see where they buy their liquid chlorine from. McAvoy mentioned that Hawkins carries another water treatment chemical that Fort Smith took bids for and that Hawkins did not choose to put in a bid for that chemical.

The Board voted unanimously to table the liquid chlorine issue to attempt to get more bids.

The Board voted unanimously to extend the lease with American Tower for them to have a cell tower in Carol Ann Cross park for another 35 years. American Tower has leased for the tower from the City since 2014. The lease extension will come with a $13,000 up- front extension bonus and will over the course of the 35 years bring in a total of $805,985 in revenue for the City.