Efforts underway to seek dissolution of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority

The beneficiaries of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) – Sebastian County and the cities of Barling, Fort Smith and Greenwood – have turned their thoughts toward the dissolution of the FCRA.

Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz told members of the Sebastian County Quorum Court at its meeting Tuesday (March 19) that a draft resolution sent from the City of Fort Smith to the county regarding the dissolution of FCRA was included in their meeting packet.

“This is not on the agenda tonight. It is a draft resolution to bring FCRA to an end. It has been going for 25 or 27 years. This draft you’re probably going to hear about it. The City of Barling is going to vote on it later this month,” Hotz said. “I just wanted to put it in your hands, so you can be up to date. Basically, it’s an attempt to work towards tying up loose ends so that they can be driving toward the FCRA board and trust coming to an end.”

The FCRA was formed in 1997 to oversee redevelopment of more than 6,000 acres of land released by the U.S. Army from Fort Chaffee as part of a Base Realignment and Closure Commission downsizing.

‘WIND IT DOWN’
At the FCRA Board of Trustees meeting March 14, Barling Mayor Greg Murray told the trustees that a resolution regarding the dissolution of the trust was scheduled to be on the agenda for the March 26 Barling Board of Directors meeting.

“I want to thank everyone here for what you do and what you have done over the last 20 years. I think it’s about time that we wind it down from the City of Barling’s perspective, and in the next board meeting for the City of Barling there is a proposal to dissolve the trust,” Murray said.

He said he thought the other beneficiaries have something similar coming to the table in the coming months.

“What I would like to inform the board is that, if all four entities that are engaged in this, if they do have a resolution to dissolve, what I am asking this board to do is please allow their wishes to be heard and vote to dissolve the trust,” Murray said.

The entities were told a year to 18 months ago that it would take two to two and a half years to “wind (FCRA) down,” Murray said. He said he believes there is only about 400 acres of land that is “actually usable to sell” at this time.

“Going forward and looking at the budgets and everything, I think it is time to really consider winding this down and dissolving and letting the four entities go ahead and take over what is left over. That is coming from my perspective and what my board has said before,” Murray said.

Barling considered a resolution to dissolve the trust a year ago but voted not to pass it because of advisement, Murray said.

“This is not taking away from anything you guys have done. We just believe it is time to move on and to move forward at a little bit faster pace,” he said.

DISSOLUTION QUESTIONS
The proposed resolution included in the Sebastian County Quorum Court package for its March 19 meeting said that reports and other analysis of the trust property shows around 250 acres of developable land or “Economically Feasible Trust Land” remaining in the FCRA ownership. It notes that some of that land has been set aside or will be set aside for public use, such as the Deer Trails Golf Course, which consists of about 120 acres.

“From land sales, the Trust has accumulated significant funds (the “Trust Funds”) that should be distributed to the Beneficiaries along with the Economically Feasible Trust Land and other Trust Property presently titled in the name of the Trust located in each Beneficiary’s jurisdiction,” the proposed resolution states.

The proposed resolution states that such relatively small acreage of remaining Economically Feasible Trust Land and other remaining non-economic lands does not warrant the ongoing cost of administration of the Trust including annual salaries and FCRA operating expenses.

Representatives of the four beneficiaries of FCRA met Aug. 7 and agreed to a list of questions regarding the dissolution of the trust. An email was sent by Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken Aug. 8 to Daniel Mann, FCRA executive director and CEO, and the FCRA Board of Trustees with 10 questions pertaining to dissolution. The email was copied to Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz, Fort Smith Mayor George McGill, Barling Mayor Greg Murray, Greenwood Mayor Doug Kinslow and Barling City Administrator Steve Core. Those questions went unanswered for seven months.

On March 4, Mann sent an email to Geffken, McGill and the Fort Smith Board of Directors answering those questions after he learned about the resolution on the board’s agenda asking for answers to the questions asked in August. In the email, the FCRA answered the 10 questions regarding dissolution of the trust, noting that while it is too early to know exactly how long it will take to complete all that the trust needs to do and go through the process of dissolving the trust, they believe it will take less than 10 years to do so. It also noted that dissolution could be done in less than three years.

The emailed answers also stated that while Fort Smith states there are only approximately 400 acres of developable property in the trust’s control, FCRA “believes the true number to be approximately 961 acres.”

Though the Fort Smith Board of Directors has not passed a resolution regarding the FCRA dissolution, it passed a resolution March 5 requesting the FCRA chair attend a future Fort Smith Board study session and provide answers to the 10 questions regarding the projected timeline for dissolution.

“I know several Board members are bothered that a letter was received in place of the in-person discussion. That is why the Board continued to pass that resolution,” Geffken said.