Effort to negotiate FCRA dissolution could begin again in March

The sometimes contentious effort to dissolve the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) has been quiet in recent months, but it has not been discarded, according to Barling City Administrator Steve Core.

Core said representatives of the FCRA beneficiaries are “looking into” meeting in March to begin discussions again involving the dissolution of the trust.

Following the canceling of an Oct. 15, 2024, meeting, the representatives have not been able to find a time to meet due various personal and professional reasons, including illnesses and the December firing of Carl Geffken as Fort Smith city administrator, Core said.

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.

Questions around the trust’s future developed throughout 2023 and 2024 as many called for the dissolution of the trust. The cities of Barling, Fort Smith and Greenwood and the Sebastian County Quorum Court passed resolutions in 2024 calling for FCRA dissolution. Only the authority board can vote to dissolve the organization.

The FCRA Board of Trustees passed a resolution in May 2024 to continue forward “in its successful mission pursuant to the terms of the Indenture of Trust agreed upon by the Beneficiaries on February 19, 1997.” The resolution also stated that the trustees believe it is in the best interest of the trust to work in coordination and consultation with the beneficiaries to openly discuss operations of the trust until the trustees decide it is time to dissolve.

Greenwood Mayor Doug Kinslow, Barling Mayor Greg Murray, and Core, Hotz, and then Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken and now Interim City Administrator Jeff Dingman attended a meeting June 10 with FCRA Executive Director Daniel Mann and Board of Trustees Chairman Dean Gibson to begin discussing the process of a possible dissolution of the FCRA trust. At that meeting, beneficiaries expressed their desire to set a date for dissolution, but Mann and Gibson declined to discuss an exact date. Mann has in the past given a timeline from three to 10 years, based on the amount of trust land still available for sale, and recently said he is still comfortable with that timeline. He said being able to narrow it down more is not now possible.

At that meeting, the beneficiaries asked for a tally of land available for sale at Chaffee Crossing and other property details. The beneficiaries also said a pro forma projection of FCRA revenues and expenses expected in the next five years could better determine a dissolution timeline. Mann said that projection should take about two months to complete and everyone could move forward from there.

The group has agreed to meet again to review projections of revenue and expenses for the next five or more years and review what land is still available for sale at Chaffee. That meeting had been set for Oct. 15, 2024, but all representatives could not attend.