FCRA beneficiaries outline initial plan to dissolve the authority

Representatives from the four beneficiaries of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) met privately April 23 to discuss ideas about the dissolution of FCRA and agreed upon 15 conditions to move forward on ending the authority.

Only the authority board can vote to dissolve the organization. The FCRA was formed in 1997 to oversee redevelopment of 6,000 acres of land released by the U.S. Army from Fort Chaffee as part of a Base Realignment and Closure downsizing. The trust has four beneficiaries – the cities of Barling, Fort Smith and Greenwood and Sebastian County. The cities of Barling, Fort Smith and Greenwood have passed resolutions calling for FCRA dissolution.

Barling Mayor Greg Murray, Barling City Administrator Steve Core, Greenwood Mayor Doug Kinslow, Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz, Fort Smith Mayor George McGill, Fort Smith City Administrator Geffken and Jessica Underwood, executive assistant for Fort Smith attended the April 23 meeting, according to meeting minutes provided by Geffken.

It was agreed in the meeting that the beneficiaries would develop a set of conditions to be met for the FCRA dissolution. Following are the list of conditions, according to the meeting minutes.
• Deer Trails remains a golf course and is removed as a parcel for sale by the trust.

• The remaining acreage left to be sold at dissolution would be allocated to the city in which the land is located.

• The FCRA trust will dissolve on Dec. 31, 2025.

• No new projects will begin as of a date to be determined, and all projects must have the approval of all four beneficiaries. New projects mean projects with an outlay of funds by the FCRA.

• FCRA shall not borrow any funds.

• The trust shall remove the express authority to negotiate all real estate contracts and offers from the executive director.

• FCRA will stop all repurchases of property.

• Extensions will be for information only and at a frequency of one per year. The cost of an
extension shall not exceed $100.

• All land use decision making shall be relinquished to the city in which the land is located. The
FCRA Design Review Committee shall cease.

• Business owners who are property owners within the FCRA boundaries, including employees of those businesses, are limited to one seat on the FCRA Board of Trustees.

• All properties listed for sale by FCRA shall be listed with Ghan & Cooper and Nunnelee Wright. The terms of the agreement to list the property shall be negotiated with both parties and the agreement approved by the beneficiaries.

• The four beneficiaries must approve all future commitment of budgets, funds, and projects by a date to be negotiated.

• By July 1, FCRA shall provide a timeline to dissolution with dissolution no later than Dec. 31, 2025.

• At all future meetings of the beneficiaries that include representatives from the FCRA, the
executive director and one member of the FCRA Board of Trustees shall be present.

• When FCRA contacts the beneficiaries, the eight people listed under “attendees” and “not
attending” shall be contacted and no meetings with individual beneficiaries where the dissolution or topics related to dissolution are discussed.

Minutes noted that beneficiaries discussed plans for anything remaining after the dissolution.

“The initial thoughts were to conduct an auction of all remaining property. There was also a discussion about FCRA staff and whether to keep an employee or two for continuity. Fort Smith offered to employ any agreed upon staff, funding to be determined and agreed upon,” the minutes noted.