Chaffee provides more land for Greenwood schools

story by Marla Cantrell
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The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority voted Thursday (Feb. 18) to set aside another 28 acres for Greenwood Public Schools.

The FCRA recently donated 22 acres at the northwest corner of Chad Colley Boulevard and Massard Road for a new elementary school for the Greenwood District. Greenwood residents will vote next month on a 2.8 mill increase to fund the construction of the new facility.

The additional 28 acres will be held for five years for a proposed intermediate school and will be subject to a first right of refusal. Ivy Owen, FCRA executive director, said a letter to that effect has been sent to Greenwood Superintendent Kay Johnson.

“If someone came along in a five year period and wants to buy it, they (the Greenwood School District) would have to take action and take the land within 30 days and would have to negotiate the development of that with the board,” Owen said.

The board is also negotiating with Blake River LLC to develop 85 acres across from the site designated for the Greenwood school. The plan is to develop 10 acres on Massard Road for commercial use and another 75 acres behind that site as residential. No action was taken.

Owen informed the board of last week’s meeting of the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority. He said the group submitted a request to U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, to fund development of two 50 acre sites, one on Chaffee land north of Graphic Packaging, and another near the port in Van Buren.

“Van Buren wanted to get a site shovel-ready,” Owen said. “We wanted to get an industrial area, the Mars area, the Mitsubishi area, served by rail. So we compromised and decided to request $6 million to do both. Their site would get them water and sewer. Our site would get us rail to that site and it would have to go by Mars and Mitsubishi to get it there, so it would serve two purposes.”

Fort Smith Deputy City Administrator Ray Gosack was on hand to talk about next week’s meeting to Washington, D.C. to meet with the congressional delegation and federal agencies to solicit funding for local projects. Owen said his staff has been working with the city on its presentation. He’s hoping this year’s trip will be as profitable as last year’s.

“Believe it or not Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” Owen said. “We got $300,000 for appropriations request for water improvements. Haven’t seen it yet, but it’s floating around somewhere between there and here.”

The board also discussed the Barbershop Day on March 25, which celebrates the first U.S. Army haircut received by Elvis Presley during his induction. The son of the barber who cut Presley’s hair will be on hand, along with a reporter who covered the 1958 event, and, of course, an Elvis impersonator.

The next FCRA board meeting will be held March 18.