Water park recalculation

Take a wrong turn while using some of the popular GPS-based travel instruction devices and a pleasant female voice will immediately say, “Recalculating.”

That’s the essence of our recommendation to the Fort Smith Board of Directors about their involvement with the planned water park at Ben Geren Regional Park. The $8 million park that was proposed to voters and approved by voters is now priced at $11 million. Wrong turn. The increased price also raises the question of how much of the park promised to voters will be built. That could be a possible wrong turn.

Recalculating.

Fort Smith’s Board is to be commended for their effort to partner with Sebastian County. It was a noble effort, but the management of the process by Sebastian County Judge David Hudson has proven less than effective. Hudson has been the primary manager of the process because the park was to be built on county property. To their credit, the Fort Smith Board has been patient as they sought to respect the previously agreed upon roles and responsibilities.

Recalculating.

It may be that the Board now asks city staff to consider and propose alternatives for the use of sales tax money approved by voters. We don’t need to pay a consultant and spend months studying the options. The staff simply returns with a few options, the Board selects an option and then submits the plan to voters. Fort Smith voters should have the final say in any recalculation.

Any number of options are possible. It could be that city staff recommends extending the tax collection to fill the funding gap needed to build the promised park at Ben Geren. The city staff may advise extending the tax and fully funding a park on city property. It may be that the new water park is located in downtown Fort Smith, or Chaffee Crossing or in north Fort Smith.

Such ideas are noted here only as examples, not as preferences. Heck, we may discover a better use for our collective energies and monies than a water park.

Recalculating doesn’t mean you are completely lost. It may just mean you are near your goal and need to take a right, left, then right instead of a left, right and then left.

The clear preference is that the Fort Smith Board of Directors pull off the road, pause and recalculate. This process is not just about building a water park. It’s also about respecting the trust of voters so that future socio-economic needs placed on a ballot are given fair consideration.