Fort Smith board to consider $1.27 million from fund balance for water slides
The slippery controversy that began in July 2024 when the Fort Smith Board of Directors approved $2.1 million to buy five new slides for Parrot Island Waterpark will continue Tuesday (Jan. 20) when the board votes on more money to install the slides.
The board initially voted on spending $2.1 million on the slides and installation, with Sebastian County expected to also spend $2.1 million. The Sebastian County Quorum Court would during two separate meetings vote against the deal. The Fort Smith board would in September 2024 vote for picking up the other $2.1 million and continue with purchase and installation of the slides.
It was learned in October 2025 that the cost to install the five slides would push beyond the $4.2 million approved for the project.
THE NEW PLAN
Voting on more money to install the slides emerged from the board’s Jan. 14 study session during which Directors Jared Rego and André Good approved placing a funding plan on Tuesday’s agenda.
Specifics of the plan, as noted in a memo from Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman, would pull $1.274 million from the city’s general fund reserve, use $760,000 from interest earnings on accumulated sales tax revenue dedicated to parks and recreation capital projects, and $655,000 from unspent funds already approved for the water slides.
That total, $2.689 million, would pay for the following:
• $1.059 million for water slide installation by Royal Ridge Construction;
• $680,000 for related pump house and electrical work;
• $600,000 estimated for related pool equipment and piping; and,
• $350,000 estimated for landscaping, fencing, sidewalks, etc.
“On the agenda for the regular meeting on January 20 is an ordinance appropriating $1,274,935 from the General Fund Reserve to the Parrot Island Waterslide project,” Dingman noted in his memo. “This amount, combined with the interest earnings in the Parks SUT fund and the unobligated portion of the original $4.2 million appropriation will get the waterslides operational.”
INPUT FROM POLICE, FIRE GROUPS
In an unusual move, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #39 and the Fort Smith Firefighters IAFF Local 33 issued a joint statement opposing the plan to spend more money on the slides. The two groups argued that the spending would reduce funds available to support “competitive compensation, benefits, and staffing levels necessary to recruit and retain the personnel who protect our citizens every day.”
“We firmly believe that community safety must take precedence over non-essential recreational projects,” the groups noted in the statement.
Director Jared Rego responded with a social media post noting that spending reserve fund dollars does not impact operational budgets from which police and fire budgets are supported.
“It’s inaccurate to suggest that the challenges related to compensation, benefits, and staffing would be solved by simply ‘redirecting’ $1,274,238 to the Police and Fire departments instead of using that money to complete the water slide project,” Rego wrote.
WATERPARK EXPANSIONS
The slide addition would be the third major upgrade since 2019. The park added that year a Flowrider two-lane surf system at a cost of $1.282 million. In 2021, the park added the green single/double rider tube slide and tower at a cost of $1.088 million. Costs in the 2019 and 2021 expansions were split evenly by the city and Sebastian County.
The waterpark was opened in 2015 at Ben Geren Regional Park, which is owned by Sebastian County. Its initial construction cost was shared jointly by the county and the city. Grand Prairie, Texas-based American Resort Management (ARM) has managed the waterpark since it opened in 2015.
Not on Tuesday’s agenda is a vote on if the city and county will continue to jointly manage the waterpark. The Sebastian County Quorum Court voted to relinquish waterpark control after the city moved forward with the slide purchase after the county voted against the deal. The county is proposing the city take over full control of the park, including covering any annual cost overruns, maintenance costs, and any future expansion costs.
The city and the county also are considering five proposals for waterpark management for the 2026 season. Dingman said he and Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz signed a temporary management agreement with ARM to ensure the facility would be managed through March 31.
OTHER AGENDA ITEMS
Following are other items, all on the consent agenda, to be considered during Tuesday’s board meeting.
An additional $1.83 million to Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., for the design of the first phase of an additional 12 miles of new water transmission line between Lake Fort Smith and the city. The increase, which resulted from changes by the city in the scope of work, boosts the total payment to Burns & McDonnell for the design work to $5.303 million.
Approval of agreements to pay $175,000 to the Sebastian Retired Citizens Association, $60,000 to Area Agency on Aging, $20,000 to the Fort Smith Museum of History, and $9,500 to Project Compassion. The payments were included in the 2026 budget.
A $150,000 payment, approved by the board in the 2026 budget, to Main Street Fort Smith for support of its efforts to seek grants and work with other groups on downtown Fort Smith improvement projects and events.
A payment of $137,500 to The Roosevelt Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, for lobbying services primarily related to the foreign military pilot training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith.