Fort Smith set to fill vacant department heads by Oct. 1, zoning approved for Arkansas Colleges of Health Education

City Administrator Carl Geffken said Fort Smith is still on pace to meet its early October deadline for filling three vacant department head positions in human resources, police, and utilities.

During Tuesday’s (Sept. 6) meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors, Geffken named the six people serving on the interview panel for the round of interviews for the position of HR Director. The panel consists of area business leaders Denise Giambalvo, executive director of Employers’ Health Coalition; Jason Green, vice-president of human resources at Baldor; Pat Powell, vice-president of human resources at Golden Living; Monica Gore, human resources manager at Weldon, Williams & Lick; Leon Thompson of Controlled Access Systems; and Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders.

“We should have a notice soon for the Board and the public,” Geffken said, adding the city was still “in the process” of building interview panels for the police and utilities finalists.

Interviews will begin Thursday (Sept. 8) for the utilities director position. Police chief candidates will follow on Sept. 15. Talk Business & Politics recently provided biographies for the finalists in all three positions at this link.

HR director has been open since Richard Jones vacated the position in September 2015. Former Police Chief Kevin Lindsey left in March amid controversy for a racially charged remark he was overheard making. Utilities Director Steve Parke retired from his post on April 1.

‘LIVE, WORK, PLAY’
In other business, City Directors voted to unanimously approve a planned zoning district (PZD) for the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE). The request was originally brought before the Board in an Aug. 23 study session.

According to ACHE President and CEO Kyle Parker, the goal of the PZD is to develop all 228 acres at 7000 Chad Colley Boulevard in the Chaffee Crossing development as a traditional neighborhood development (TND), which allows for residential, retail, and mixed-use settings. The ACHE PZD booklet expands on this purpose, stating it will “promote a sense of community and health awareness in a landscape of natural surroundings that complements the educational missions of the school and of the organization.”

Parker pointed to a Texas A&M study showing a life expectancy two years higher for occupants within TNDs. Such developments, he said, mean residents “don’t get in the car to go to the bank; they don’t get in the car to go to restaurants or take their kids to childcare.”

“You essentially exercise without knowing that you’re exercising,” Parker said, adding that TNDs promote a real “community approach” and allow you to “get to know your neighbors in a live-work-play setting.”

For the design phase, ACHE is working with consultant Michael Watkins, who worked on the TND for Seaside, Fla. With the Board’s approval, Watkins and Pat Mickle of Mickle Wagner Coleman will now forge a specific plan for ACHE.

The request was previously approved by the Barling City Council for the 113 acres of ACHE land located on that side. The 228-acre total is already home to the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and in August Mercy Clinic-Fort Smith broke ground on a $7.9 million facility that will serve as ACHE’s first tenant.

FINAL AUTHORIZATIONS
Also Tuesday night, City Directors approved final payments on two projects. The first was in the amount of $62,280 on the $1.8 million Riverlyn Pump Station. Built in 1968, the Riverlyn facility upgrade was a requirement of the $480 million consent decree leveled against the city by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The upgrade must be completed by the end of 2017.

The second was done in three separate votes totaling approximately $41,000 for the $473,000 Library Annex building for use as city office space.

The next regular meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors will be held on Sept. 20.