Riff Raff: Seeking a responsible dissolution solution

It is now time, if not yesterday, for the responsible persons in our local governments and authorities to be responsible and take responsible actions toward the responsible dissolution of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA).

The FCRA was created in 1997 – the year Princess Diana died, McVeigh was sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing, “South Park” first aired on the Comedy Channel, and three years before we heard of hanging chads in Florida – to manage the more than 6,000 acres returned to the region when the U.S. Army reduced the Fort Chaffee footprint. The authority’s primary purpose was to ensure the property was developed in a manner approved by federal and state officials, and the four “beneficiary” governments – Sebastian County, and the cities of Barling, Fort Smith, and Greenwood.

Jobs. That was the big promise of all that land. Of all that free land.

That primary purpose, to be sure, was not only the creation of jobs, but also to provide space for quality-of-life stuff; amenities in which we could play and frolic and unwind and learn and live. There was a hope that we’d ensure the democratization of such amenities so they would be enjoyed by persons from all socio-economic backgrounds.

I’m one of those folks who believe the FCRA has, for the most part, met that primary purpose since 1997. Sure, there are a few folks with a bone to pick about something or other when so-and-so did such-and-such or didn’t do this-and-that. And yeah, I wish they’d have done more to protect some of those large and tall beautiful pine stands and acres of greenspace. But I challenge you, Kind Reader, to drive around Chaffee Crossing and not be impressed with the more than $2.5 billion in residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure development that stretches from Barling, through the east side of Fort Smith and down toward the north of Greenwood.

You’ll see homes and apartments for thousands of folks, restaurants, coffee shops, a brewery, a fire station, medical facilities, offices for professional service firms, several modern manufacturing plants, huge warehouses/logistics centers, an incredible nature center, a little Elvis history, new roads, an RV park, clean and open spots for food trucks, convenient areas for a large farmers market, and a stretch of Interstate 49 pining to be connected to parts north and south. The most amazing thing you will see is a medical college – the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE).

With much younger ears I heard, during pre-FCRA meetings about the planning to figure out how the former military land should be developed and how the authority should be structured, a few folks predict with varying degrees of confidence that something unexpected and wholly transformative could emerge from those 6,000-plus acres. With ACHE, their wishful-thinking foresight was rewarded.

Back to the point.

There is a growing consensus that the FCRA has all but run its course. There remains land to be sold and developed, but the momentum desired in 1997 is a reality and what remains to be managed does not require a special organization. Even FCRA leadership has agreed, finally, that the time has come to talk about how to close the doors.

There are at least three good reasons to applaud the FCRA’s decades of success and dissolve the authority – something only the authority can do.

First, the four local beneficiary governments have the resources to manage and responsibly develop the remaining acres. Second, revenue from remaining land sales could be placed into accounts managed by the local governments to pay for infrastructure and other improvements instead of supporting costs associated with the authority. Third, decisions about remaining property would be subject to local governments with elected officials accountable to the public rather than a non-elected entity that has at times been non-responsive to elected officials. As an addendum, the local governments provide utilities, fire and police protection, development codes, and other basic services.

Collaborative discussions among responsible people should begin soon, with the focus on a common goal of the authority ending as soon as possible. Also, as another addendum, such discussions should be open to the public – after all, the authority was set up as a “public trust.”

FCRA officials say it will be darn near impossible to unwind the authority in less than three years. Those wanting the authority to go away yesterday believe it can be wrapped up in a few months, or maybe a year.

A practical, responsible dissolution solution likely lies between the three years and a few months.