Fort Smith Board OKs trash rate reduction

Trash collection will cost less in the city of Fort Smith thanks to a vote by the Board of Directors at Tuesday night's meeting (May 7).

During Tuesday's meeting, the Board heard from Fort Smith Department of Sanitation Director Baridi Nkokheli, who said the fee reduction passed by the Board would amount to an average total bill reduction of about $1.10 per month for the city's 35,000 residential trash customers. At that rate, savings of about $38,500 across all residential customers will be realized, or more than $460,000 a year.

"The reduction in monthly fee is only derived as a result of the efficiencies realized since the automated program's inception in 2006," a memo to the Board by Nkokheli said. "We have instituted fully automated collection of residential recyclables with future plans of automating the collection of yard waste in an effort to buffer escalating future operational costs inherent to solid waste management."

The trash issue has been a big issue of contention during the last year, with votes to automate and then reversals by the Board of Directors before the voters of Fort Smith voted overwhelmingly in favor of moving to a completely automated trash collection system in November of last year.

But at a town hall meeting in April of 2012, Nkokheli said the decrease was possible, but not a sure thing.

"My hope is that after completion of the program, I can come back to the board with a possible rate decrease, but that remains to be seen, and depends on whether or not we are going to stay with manual collection,” he explained.

‘KEEPING THAT PROMISE’
Vice Mayor Kevin Settle commended Nkokheli and the Department of Sanitation for the work that has been done in order to save citizens money.

"Baridi, I want to thank you and your staff for doing this. This is a long road and today is one of those days you can look back at all of the things you did to get to this point and I'm very happy today's happening," he said.

Settle said coming to the Board and asking for the rate reduction was the right thing to do after the long and contentious battle over collection.

"We told you when we did this that we would reduce the rates, and Baridi is holding to that and we're staying true, so we made a promise that we would reduce our rates when we voted for it and today we're keeping that promise," he said.

With the entire trash collection system now automated, Nkokheli said no workers had been let go. Instead, staff has been moved to other operations within the department and changes in collection methods will spread to rest of the department.

"Now that I've got trash out of the way, of course now we're doing recyclables, and as I mentioned this evening, we'll eventually do yard waste," he said. "Now all that means is where two men or two people are doing the work, one will replace them. And not only one replacing the work of two, but in the case of recycling and yard waste, one replacing the work of three."

COST ISSUES
Even with cost savings to come over time, residents should not expect to see drastic reductions in spending within the department, Nkokheli said.

"When you say significant, I hesitate because the costs for solid waste management, all our associated costs for the steel, the containers, the trucks, the personnel, the ever-increasing cost of the fuel and all that, what we're doing is just a hedge. It's an offset. We're maintaining an equilibrium. Our costs are not escalating to the point where we have to approach the Board and ask for a rate increase."

And while the rate reduction is joy to many residents, the reduction may only stay in place for a period of time should the costs Nkokheli mentioned rise during the next several years.

"It is putting a certain constraint on us but we think we'll be able to maintain that reduction for a minimum of two years, a minimum," he said. "Now I'll just say, I'm speculating, we're good probably through 2016 and maybe beyond. I don't know, but the costs are ever-increasing."

PLANNING COMMISSION APPOINTMENT
The Board also approved rezoning approximately 11 acres of land and approximately 1,200 feet of street frontage at the northwest corner of Chad Colley Boulevard and Roberts Boulevard at Chaffee Crossing at Tuesday evening's meeting.

The property will eventually house the Phoenix Metals facility, which was announced by the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority at its March 21 meeting. The company plans to employee about 40 individuals at its Fort Smith facility.
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"I think this is more good news. … Since December, nearly 700 jobs have been announced in Fort Smith, so that's good news to hear," said Mayor Sandy Sanders.

Executive session was also a part of Tuesday's meeting, where the Board discussed an appointment to the planning commission.

Bob Cooper Jr. was eventually announced as the Board's appointee.

"He's been in development and real estate and the Board thought he would be the best choice to be on the Planning Commission," Settle said of Cooper.

In other business, the Board:
• Approved an ordinance amending the 2009 Unified Development Ordinance to allow planned zoning districts, which provides more flexibility in the rezoning process;
• Voted to reduce the size of the Oak Cemetery Commission from nine members to seven;
• Accepted bids and authorized a contract with Forsgren Inc. for the repairs of Dallas Street at a cost of more than $230,000;
• Adopted a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for processional services with MAHG Architecture for the Belle Grove Center at a cost of $25,225;
• Adopted a resolution authorizing execution of an agreement between Fort Smith EMS Inc. and the city for use of a portion of Elm Grove Community Center;
• Adopted a resolution accepting donation of Lot 12 Block 36 located at 701 N. Eighth Street adjacent to the Belle Grove Center property;
• Adopted a resolution authorizing a lease agreement with the American National Red Cross; and
• Adopted a resolution accepting a bid for a land fill bulldozer. The dozer will be purchased from J.A. Riggs Tractor Company for $568,124.10.