Mayor Baker back in hospital; board approves sewer rate bump

Acting City Administrator Ray Gosack confirmed Tuesday (Dec. 21) that Mayor Ray Baker is back in the hospital.

Gosack said during the regular meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors that Mayor Baker “very much wanted to be at the final meeting” of his mayoral terms.

Baker, 71, sought a sixth, four-year term as mayor, but was defeated by Sandy Sanders who received 53.98% of the vote. The mayoral campaign found Baker — who successfully underwent surgery and chemo for colon cancer in late 2007 — in the hospital for several weeks prior to the election. He entered St. Edward Mercy Medical on Aug. 18 with severe dehydration and was released around Sept. 13. He did not attend city board meetings for several weeks after the Sept. 13 release.

Prior to the Aug. 18 infection, Baker was in the hospital several days in November 2009 after becoming weak from an infection.

Gosack said Baker “is issuing orders from the hospital” about how to clean out his mayoral office. Gosack said many of the items are being collected by the Fort Smith Museum of History.

During the meeting, the board voted 5-2 to approve a 5% sewer rate increase to cover debt covenant requirements related to bonds for sewer system improvements. On Dec. 7, the board approved a 5% water rate increase for the same purpose.

The rate increases will help cover a 110% debt covenant threshold on about $15 million in debt service requirements. The city is now below the threshold, and City Finance Director Kara Bushkuhl has warned that remaining below the threshold will endanger the city’s credit rating.

Estimates provided by Fort Smith Utilities Director Steve Parke show the 5% increases would result in a monthly increase of $1.40 for water and sewer use of 5 ccf (each); a monthly increase of $3.02 for 10 ccf; and a $6.31 monthly increase for 20 ccf.

City Directors George Catsavis and Kevin Settle voted against the water and sewer rate increases.

City Director Andre Good, who supported the rate increases, said many of his constituents on the north side of Fort Smith support the rate increases because they have sewer problems and want to support the ongoing projects designed to resolve the issues.

The board also approved $202,700 in funding for outside agencies. To determine the 2011 outside agencies funding plan, a 9-member panel spent 151 hours reviewing 28 applications. The applications requested $461,391, with the panel cutting the recommended allocations to $202,700.