Fort Smith Board objects to waterpark funding in Parks and Recreation budget

Fort Smith City Directors disapproved of a five-year capital improvement plan (CIP) presented by the Parks and Recreation Department at a board of directors study session Tuesday night (Oct. 15).

The CIP presented to the Board during Tuesday night’s meeting was modified from the one presented to the Parks Commission during their Sept. 11 meeting, said Sara Deuster, director of the parks and recreation department.

“These changes were made to provide a source of funding for the additional funding needed for the slide complex at Parrot Island Waterpark,” Deuster said.

The Board of Directors appropriated $2.1 million from the unobligated balance of the General Fund to fund 50% of a five-slide complex for Parrot Island Waterpark in July. At its Sept. 3 meeting, the board approved the purchase of the five-slide complex for Parrot Island Waterpark for an amount of $4.2 million because the Sebastian County Quorum Court did not approve funding their half of the purchase saying they did not have the funds to do so.

An additional $2.1 million is needed to complete the installation of the slides, Deuster said, adding that administration directed staff to include funding for this through the one-eighth city sales tax committed to parks.

The park’s CIP presented Tuesday eliminated $175,000 for improvements at John Bell, Jr. Park; as well as $750,000 for pickleball courts at that park and $250,000 for a neighborhood park at Riley Farms, Deuster said. She noted in a memo on the subject that the city will need to rescind its grant application to the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism’s Outdoor Recreation Grant Program for construction of pickleball courts at John Bell, Jr. Park, which if awarded would provide $250,000 in funds for the court.

Eliminating these projects would allow for $1.175 million for installation of the Parrot Island Waterpark slide complex.

“Funding for the full amount of installation is not available through that sales tax program because of projects being under contract, already reviewed/recommended by the Parks Commission, and/or ready for construction,” Deuster said.

The board did not agree with taking funding away from other projects in order to pay for the installation of the slides.

“Three projects have to be cut because now parks is being asked to help fund the expansion of Parrot Island water slides that we voted on and was approved by the board. I remember very frankly that in that conversation, the parks department did not have the money. If money was not in the general fund to make the purchase, then we wouldn’t have done it. I think there are ample funds in the general fund to make this purchase without taking away from the parks department,” said Director André Good. “I don’t know at what point the administration decided that there was enough money in parks that could be reallocated and could be used to make this purchase. But I think that was the wrong thing to do.”

Director Lavon Morton said the city’s general fund has a $30 million fund balance and can easily fund the installation of the slides without taking money away from the parks department budget.

“The general fund should pay this and projects taken off should be put back on,” he said.

There was consensus among the board members present at that meeting that they did not want to eliminate projects from the parks CIP, Deuster said.

The parks department asked citizens through a survey in June what their priorities were for parks in Fort Smith. Those results along with citizen conversations in Fort Smith parks and via email, social media and phone calls, helped to develop the original CIP approved by the parks commission, Deuster said.