Plan moves forward for water park, ball fields

The aquatics facility at Ben Geren Regional Park is back on the table.

After removing the earmark at the last Committee as a Whole meeting, the Sebastian County Quorum Court voted 8-1 in favor of moving forward with the larger $8 million facility to be added to Ben Geren Regional Park in conjunction with the City of Fort Smith. Four court members were absent at Monday night’s (Dec. 12) joint meeting.

The straw vote, to be finalized at the Dec. 20 quorum court monthly meeting, was enough catalyst for city directors to do the same.

The city also supported, by show of hands with only one abstaining, two separate softball complexes totaling approximately $2.8 million. Along with the city’s $4 million share of the aquatics facility, that’s around $6.8 million in new recreational projects contingent on a bond refinance vote set for the March 8, 2012, election.

Both softball facilities will be city-funded with the county’s only commitment at this time for $4 million to the large-scale aquatics facility. Both city and county officials estimate operation of the aquatics facility will project a total loss of $125,000 each year, to be divided equally by the two entities.

The first softball facility project would include two new fields at Ben Geren Regional Park with restrooms and concessions at an overall cost of $1.25 million. The project has been championed by the Ben Geren Softball Association (BGSA) and the Sebastian County Girls Softball League (SCGSL). The SCGSL was displaced from Andrews Field when the field was taken for expansion of the National Cemetery.

The second project, spearheaded by Arkansas Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, and the River Valley Sports Complex Association (RVSCA), would be set for Chaffee Crossing and include the addition of eight new fields plus one championship field built to NCAA Division I regulations. The eight standard fields will run an estimated $1,242,200 plus $300,000 for the championship field.

Fort Smith City Director Kevin Settle addressed city directors Monday night, stating Fort Smith had a commitment first “to give back to the groups out at Ben Geren (SCGSL and BGSA)” the fields they lost to the National Cemetery.

Files and the RVSCA presented multiple plans to directors with a $2 million, 11-field complex as the main goal. Ultimately, the group agreed to shave off two fields at a reduction of around $400,000 to warm directors to the project.

City Administrator Ray Gosack noted that, at Tuesday’s (Dec. 13) Board of Directors Study Session, members will discuss whether to present these three recreational projects as a lump sum to voters in March or to itemize as separate voting issues.

When asked why this is important, Gosack noted if voters choose to refinance the $55,380,000 bond initiative, then all planned improvement projects will be on the table and could be voted for or against individually. Planned improvement projects include (as of Dec. 12, 2011):
• Fire service improvements ($9,110,000)
• Wet weather sanitary sewer improvements ($71,070,000)
• Water transmission system improvements ($28,120,000)
• Recreational improvements, which include the aquatics and two softball complexes (approximately $6.8 million)

If voters choose to go against the bond refinance, all of the above improvement projects would be scrapped automatically, Gosack said.

Should voters vote yes to the bond refinance, then the 1-cent tax that is used for bond repayment would continue through 2022 and would give the city power to fund all projects. Voting yes would ensure sales tax rates remain at 9.25% through 2022. Voting no could see a 1-cent reduction in the sales tax once existing bonds are repaid in 2014.