Agenda Highlights 2/4/25

At the Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting scheduled for 2-4-25, the public hearing required by State law to be held regarding sewer rate increases will be held. The proposed increases to the sewer rates (only sewer, not water) are an annual increase of 3.5% every year through 2030. In 2025, the sewer base charge would increase from $4.50 to $4.66 per month. The charge for 1 CCF of sewer volume would increase from $8.45 to $8.75 in 2025, to $9.05 in 2026, and so on at a rate of 3.5% per year through 2030.

The Board will vote on the appeal of the zoning changes for 5300 Heather Ridge that would allow for the 43 acre property to be developed into the Treetops of Fort Smith with a 5.78 acre mixed-use section in the interior of the property and the rest to be developed with residential (a mix of single family houses and multi-family dwellings). The entire plan for the property would include 26,000 sq ft of commercial space and 385 apartment units. A traffic impact study that was conducted indicated that the intersection at South 58th and Boston would likely need to be upgraded to a 3-way stop in the future to accommodate the added traffic from the development.

The vote at the Planning Commission meeting regarding the property was tied. That sort of zoning change is required to have a majority vote of the Planning Commission, 5 members, vote in favor of the change, regardless of how many members are in attendance at the meeting. 3 members of the Commission were absent at that meeting. 3 voted in favor and 3 voted against the zoning change.

This issue was discussed at the 1-28-25 meeting.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 3215 Old Greenwood Road that would allow for an additional land use, Barbershop/Hair Salon/Nail Salon, at the existing 3 unit multi-tenant building.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 4019 Towson that would allow for existing buildings to be utilized for a machine, welding, or sheet metal shop.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 12400 Glass Plant Road that would allow for the undeveloped property to be developed into Bloom Lake Estates and Park, a private gated subdivision including 9 lots for single family homes, a community recreation center, a clubhouse, a private park, walking trails, and an animal park. The animal park would be for axis and spotted deer, alpacas, and emus and would have a total of 8 animals maximum.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 7909 and 8001 Veterans Avenue that would allow for the construction of 6 mini-storage buildings for 59 units of non-climatized storage, conversion of an existing warehouse into contractor shops, and conversion of an existing building into an office building.

The Board will vote on a zoning change for 4401 Savannah that would allow for an existing metal shop building to be remodeled into a 437 unit climatized mini-storage facility.

The Board will vote on whether to approve the charter for the Utility Advisory Committee. The Board voted to create the Committee at the 12-3-24 meeting (after having voted to not create the Committee at the 10-8-24 meeting). The charter was discussed and tabled at the 1-7-25 meeting and a revised version of the charter was discussed at the 1-14-25 study session meeting.

The Board will vote on whether to purchase 2 water line valves for $140,800 from Consolidated Pipe and Supply. One valve will be installed near the Massard and Dallas intersection and would fix the oldest leak on the list of leaks to be fixed. It has been on the list since 2022. The other valve would be installed on Euper Lane just east of I-540.

The Board will vote on whether to contract with with RDG Planning and Design for up to $422,000 for the first phase of the creation of a masterplan for the former Acme Brick property purchased by the City to be redeveloped into detention ponds to reduce flooding and a park. The masterplan would include designing 3 different plan options for the property’s future that would include both the stormwater mitigation ponds and the parks amenities and offer options that included both dry ponds (that only fill up when storms fill them) and wet ponds (that remain lake-like year round). The Board voted against the contract at the 10-8-24 meeting, but the issue was discussed again at the 1-14-25 study session meeting . The contract up for a vote at the 2-4-25 meeting is for a less expensive contract than was voted down on 10-8-24 ($422,000 versus the previous $698,000) as it is a less comprehensive plan, only an initial phase out of 3 phases.

The Board will vote on whether to purchase two ACX64 CNG-powered front loading garbage trucks for commercial garbage collection from Autocar for a total of $970,953.20.