Sebastian County approves water park funding

After much discussion and delays, Ben Geren Aquatic Center is now officially funded by both the city of Fort Smith, which passed bonds to pay its portion, and Sebastian County, which voted to fund its $3.965 million portion of the project at Tuesday's (April 16) Quorum Court meeting.

Justice of the Peace Danny Aldridge, who asked Court members to bring the water park off the table at last week's study session, said he was committed to seeing the park become an attraction for visitors of all ages.

"We've all talked about making the park user friendly to all age brackets and that input will be presented to the design team and hopefully they'll come back with a project that everybody will be thrilled to death with, I know I am, just to get it moving forward," he said.

County Judge David Hudson expressed relief to have the county's portion of the project funded following months of discussions revolving around the county's finances and whether or not it should enter into such a project to begin with.

"We made a commitment to the citizens of Sebastian County in 2012 and this fulfills that commitment and I'm excited about moving forward on the project," Hudson said.

During the meeting, there was very little discussion about the project, amounting to less than 10 minutes.

Much, if any, discussion regarding the benefits or faults with the project were actually discussed openly as members of the Court cast their votes.

JP John Spradlin questioned Hudson about cash flow projections in the middle of voting, asking how confident Hudson was that the county would not go bust to pay for this project and absorb any possible losses.

"You know we've spent I guess the last two months working on the financial analysis, we went over this in great detail last week and giving you these cash flow analysis and making some adjustments to the budget,” Hudson responded. “I think we're going to have to work well as elected officials and as the Quorum Court to address the budget and I'm confident that we can move forward with this project as we've committed to the citizens of Sebastian County to do so."

Spradlin was one of five to vote no on the project, saying he could not vote for funding no matter how much he may have liked the idea of an aquatic center.

JP Linda Murry did not vote in favor of the project, either. But she did not cast a no vote.

"I'm going to abstain. I'm not against the water park but I do not believe we are financially in a position to do this and absorb any future loss, so I abstain."

Following the meeting, Murry went into further detail about why she was concerned about the county's financial position.

"My concerns are the financial future for Sebastian County and I don't see how we can move forward without additional taxes and I just feel like spending this much money and absorbing a loss will be very detrimental to county operations," she said. "Parks are not a requirement of funding for county government – the jail is, the courts are, tax collection is – those are the things that we have to do and those are the priorities. So I'm just concerned about the financial well-being, having been the comptroller and the treasurer. The judge and I don't see the numbers the same way, so I'm very concerned about that. He and I have had discussions about this."

Hudson responded by saying he would schedule a meeting with all of the Court members and the media so Murry's concerns would be addressed "in a public dialogue."

As for how the project now moves forward, Hudson said he hopes to get the project moving along beyond merely conceptual drawings.

"I've talked to the city administrator (Ray Gosack), we've talked to the design team, (and) we will look at going ahead and bidding this either as a general contractor or with a construction manager. We'll talk about which one is more advantageous with the extended lazy river and the dive well so we can come up with an actual number and see where that stands, so that's how we're going to move forward,” Hudson said.

Fort Smith Director Mike Lorenz said via e-mail that he was pleased to see the aquatic center fully funded.

"I am pleased to see that the Quorum Court has finally voted to approve this funding so we can get this project out for bid and begin construction on the aquatics center that the voters of Fort Smith approved over a year ago,” Lorenz noted. “It has been a long, and sometimes difficult, process and many citizens are ready to see some dirt being moved and their water park begin to take shape."

Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack issued this statement: “I’m pleased that Sebastian County is funding its share of the partnership with the City of Fort Smith to provide a regional aquatic center at Ben Geren Park. The quorum court’s commitment to the project will provide a much-needed recreational amenity for the citizens of Sebastian County and nearby areas. We’ll now continue our work with the design team to prepare the aquatic center for bidding and construction.”

In other business, the Court:
• Moved discussion of a new software system in the county treasurer's office to the Court's next regularly-scheduled meeting in May;
• Appointed Shirley Walters to the James Fork Regional Water District Board; and
• Approved an appropriation ordinance amending the 2013 budget to approve additional expenditures, including paying half of the salaries of two emergency management positions out of the county road department's funding.