Fort Smith board may pursue a ‘Vision 2025’

Creating a “Vision 2025” plan that includes an economic development strategy, beautification projects and quality of place amenities appeared to receive support from the six Fort Smith Directors attending a Monday evening (May 23) planning retreat at Lake Fort Smith State Park.

Prior to focusing on setting priorities, retreat facilitator Ron Holifield re-examined the differences between strategic and tactical actions of a public board, to include the different role between and governance body and the executive staff.

Holifield facilitated a 7-hour retreat with the Fort Smith board on April 16. At that retreat, the board agreed to a follow-up meeting to focus on setting priorities. Holifield, with Keller, Texas-based Strategic Government Resources, was paid $5,000 for his work prior to the retreat, his facilitating the retreat, and follow-up work.

City Director George Catsavis did not attend the Monday retreat or the April 16 retreat. He cited business obligations as reasons for not attending.

GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
As he did April 16, Holifield talked about the city being a ship, with the city staff operating the ship. He said the governing body should be “on the bow pointing to the horizon” and “not down in the engine room tinkering with the ship.” A governing body may think it is in the engine room to gain control, but when it tinkers “a board loses control,” he said.

Also, Holifield said a board should have a long-term focus. For example, many corporate boards are focused on a 90-day earnings cycle instead of the long-term good for the company. Likewise, a publicly-elected board may be focused on the next election instead of what’s good long-term for the community.

“You have to consistently discipline yourselves to be long term,” Holifield said, adding that it’s easy to get “distracted by short term issues that take your eye off the ball.”

Most citizens, according to Holifield, want city board members to make the hard decisions that will result in long-term gains. He said many of the hard decisions are often” between what’s right and what’s right.” Two budget options have advantages but the the board should consider which option moves the city closer to its broader strategic goals.

“Most of your citizens truly want you to lead. They typically understand … that there is a ton of stuff that goes into every decision. They want you to do that for them,” Holifield said.

To that end, Holifield said the relatively minor board decisions must help the city progress toward achieving the broader strategic goals.

That being said, some citizens will complain because they often come in late “and just see the tail-end of the process and they don’t know what all went into that (decision),” Holifield explained.

PRIORITY ITEMS
The top items the board reviewed Monday were riverfront development, Interstate 49 funding and construction, collaboration with Sebastian County on development plans for Ben Geren Park, the idea of a Vision 2025 plan, the need for a new fire station, and wet weather/sewer improvements.

• Riverfront Development
City Director Kevin Settle began the discussion by saying the city needs to build infrastructure on the riverfront and to clean up areas around the riverfront near downtown Fort Smith.

“I’m saying we put that (water and sewer connections) in place now,” Settle said, suggesting the city use the street tax fund to help support infrastructure and visual improvements. “It’s not inviting for the public to go down into that area.”

City Director Pam Weber agreed, and added that community leaders should also focus on recruiting a corporate headquarters operation to locate on or near the riverfront. She said the area must “look a lot better” before a corporation would want to locate in the area.

Holifield said the board must work together to push a plan.

“The key question is, ‘If you want riverfront development, what are you willing to do to start the ball rolling?,” Holifield said in a challenge to the board.

The board consensus was to first bring riverfront property owners in on developing a master plan, then determining design standards and then creating an infrastructure and financing plan.

• Interstate 49
Board members said the city’s ability to obtain funding is limited to its efforts to successfully lobby state and federal agencies. The board agreed the city should do more to lobby the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department to pursue federal highway grants and other funding, lobby appointed and elected federal officials and define time frames for expectations of specific funding and construction goals of I-49 through the Fort Smith region.

• Ben Geren Park
Fort Smith and Sebastian County officials formally met in early 2009 to discuss how they could partner on expansion of facilities at Ben Geren Park. Some of the ideas and possibilities discussed include: A water park; The immediate need for girls’ softball fields to replace those lost at Andrews Field for expansion of the National Cemetery; Coordination of the city’s and county’s trails plan so that they interconnect seamlessly; and, Annexation of Ben Geren Park into Fort Smith.

However, the plans were delayed as the Fort Smith board worked through a change in city administration and several changes in plans to fund convention center operations.

Board consensus Monday night was to restart the effort by renewing talks with county officials and developing a park expansion plan agreeable to both parties.

• Fire station, wet weather
Discussions were short and simple related to continued work to improve the city’s wet weather/sanitary sewer system and a new fire station to provide coverage for south Fort Smith and Chaffee Crossing.

The board asked City Administrator Ray Gosack to work with Fire Chief Mike Richards on a design and cost estimate for a new fire station. The report will include financing options for construction and operations.

As to the wet weather improvements, the city is under a federal order to make improvements. Citizens in 2009 approved a $30 million sales tax supported bond project, in addition to more than $70 million of completed or ongoing improvements. The 1% sales tax — initially approved in 2006 — was extended from June 2012 to December 2013.

Gosack said the city has made “significant progress” on the work, but there is much work to do. He said an option is for the board to again seek voter approval to extend the tax. The board asked Gosack to report on remaining work and financing options.

• Vision 2025
Settle quickly promoted the idea of the board and city staff working with many groups in the city to focus on “what we want the city to look like” in the next 10 years or more.

“That really encompasses everything we’ve talked about here in one big plan,” Settle said.

The directors agreed, but were somewhat divided on the approach. City Director Steve Tyler preferred updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan, now almost 10 years old. Settle and City Director Philip Merry Jr. disagreed, preferring instead a fresh start on a new plan. Settle said the board “might get a totally different perspective” if it starts fresh, considers the findings in the Comprehensive Plan, but doesn’t let the older plan determining “the framework” for a new plan.

Whatever the board decides to do, Holifield advised they seek broad community input through a process that may last several months. He said the downside is it will take time, but the upside is the board likely receives more community support to carry out the plan.

“It could be incredibly productive if you devote adequate resources to do it right,” Holifield said, adding that if the process is rushed, the 20% who are against almost any new ideas “will drive it into the ditch.”

He said the board must find a way to get input from the 60% who typically don’t get engaged and avoid frustrating them with “the headaches of the process.”

OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST
• Economic development policy
The board also agreed to develop policy and vision as it relates to the city’s role within regional economic development. The board and top city staff will work with other regional entities — to include the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority, the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith — to develop, adopt and execute a more formal economic development policy.

• “Opportunity Fund”
Discussion of an “Opportunity Fund” resulting from the soon-to-be collected 1% prepared food tax was also a hot topic.

The tax was enacted Feb. 24 by the board to resolve a more than 10-year search to plug an annual deficit with Fort Smith Convention Center operations predicted to occur when state turnback money dried up. The state turnback program ended for Fort Smith in June 2010 from which the city received about $1.8 million a year. Barring a successful lawsuit stopping the tax, collection will commence June 1.

The Fort Smith Advertising and Promotion Commission will have the ultimate say over how the money is spent, although two members of the commission — Mayor Sandy Sanders and City Director Don Hutchings — are members of the city board.

The board consensus was that any extra revenue from the tax proceeds may initially feed into parking lot improvements, capital improvement funds, a new ticketing system and promotion and marketing. Mayor Sanders said it may be 2-3 years before an Opportunity Fund has enough money to support local tourism facilities and venues like the planned U.S. Marshals Museum.

Those details, Weber noted, are not common knowledge with the public.

“I think we have done a very poor job of communicating what is happening with this surplus money,” Weber said.