Fort Smith seeks $20 million grant for Towson Avenue water line work

The city of Fort Smith is asking to apply for a $20 million grant through the Department of Defense (DOD) to fund water line work along about four miles of Towson Avenue. The city says the work will provide a stable water supply for Ebbing Air National Guard Base.

The application sent by the city on June 23 is a request to be allowed by the DOD to submit a formal application for the grant funds.

Grant funds would come from the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot (DCIP) Program, which is “designed to address deficiencies in community infrastructure, supportive of a military installation, in order to enhance military value, installation resilience, and military family quality of life.” The program provides funds for a wide range of civilian infrastructure that is located off a military installation but supports a military installation.

Ebbing, home to the 188th Wing of the U.S. Air Force, is located adjacent to the Fort Smith Regional Airport. The base was selected in March by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Initial estimates are that 1,500 military personnel and family members will be associated with the new center once it is fully operational.

U.S. Air Force officials have said the earliest planes and pilots from foreign nations could arrive at Ebbing would be in late 2024, part of the military’s fiscal year 2025 beginning in September 2024. The full complement of 12 F-16s and 24 F-35s from various nations could arrive in fiscal year 2026 at the earliest.

According to the city’s application for the funds, the city’s existing water system will not provide the redundant capabilities needed for an expanded operation at Ebbing and additional housing and other developments expected to result from the new pilot training center. Fort Smith Utilities Director Lance McAvoy has estimated the cost to relocate and replace water lines along about four miles of the Towson Avenue rebuild will cost $24.03 million. The DCIP program limits requests to $20 million.

“The current redundant water system utilizes a water tower to provide limited water capacity, which may not provide sufficient water protection in the case of a major calamity. In addition, the current system will not aid in providing the necessary infrastructure for expanded housing and business development surrounding the Base,” noted an excerpt from the city’s application filed on June 23. “The project will ensure the Base and community at large has an adequate supply of water that will ensure seamless operations at the Base around the clock.”

The application was sent to Patrick O’Brien, director of the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. The application included letters of support from 188th Wing Commander Col. Dillon Patterson, U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers.

Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said they hope to know by Aug. 4 if they have been approved to submit a formal application for the $20 million grant.

In the previous fiscal year, the DCIP awarded 19 grants totaling $90 million. The largest award was $14.9 million to the city of Boiling Springs Lakes, N.C., as part of a $51.845 million project to restore four dams damaged in 2018 by Hurricane Florence. The work supported Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, operated by the U.S. Army.