Tag: Fort Smith Board of Directors

Downtown Fort Smith food truck rules not as open as city directors wanted

Interested downtown food truck vendors hoping for help on utilities from the city of Fort Smith will have to wait indefinitely after Tuesday night’s (June 21) meeting of the city’s…

Fort Smith Board urges less restrictive food truck policy, goes against city staff on purchasing card bank

Fort Smith Directors opened the door for a mobile food truck vending park in downtown Fort Smith near Cisterna Park and overruled city staff’s recommendation to go with U.S. Bank…

Primary election set for Fort Smith Board of Directors

An Aug. 9 primary election is in the works for the Fort Smith Board of Directors, with two candidates lined up to run against Ward 4 Director George Catsavis. The…

Work on Arkansas Highway 45 remains uncertain as traffic grows and adjacent businesses expand

The Arkansas Highway 45 intersection in the area of Planters Road is a hub for Fort Smith and Sebastian County employment. It’s also a traffic nightmare. Narrow lanes hinder truck…

Fort Smith Board not happy with $3.2 million budget surprise, approve interim utility director plan

The Fort Smith Board of Directors grilled the city’s Utilities Department over a $3.2 million appropriation request at Tuesday’s (May 17) regular meeting. Additionally, City Directors allocated $94,376 for a…

Contested races emerge for Fort Smith city director elections

It didn’t take long for two of the four Fort Smith city director races to be contested. Or possibly contested. Robyn Dawson submitted a packet for the Ward 4 seat…

Fort Smith Board agrees to settlement related to dispute over riverfront trail work

The Fort Smith Board of Directors agreed to a $130,171 settlement with SureTec Insurance Company and Dixon Contracting, over the city’s terminated contract with Dixon on the West River Front…

Fort Smith Director Lorenz to seek re-election, Director Good changes course to run again

Fort Smith City Directors Mike Lorenz and André Good have decided to stick around for another term on the Fort Smith Board of Directors provided voters are willing to have…

Fort Smith Board discusses diversity issue, whites make up 86.4% of city workforce

The Fort Smith Board of Directors finally got an opportunity to discuss department diversity across city government at Tuesday’s (April 26) study session, and they found common ground on one…

New Fort Smith boss to begin May 9, Board approves extension on sports complex

The Fort Smith Board of Directors voted unanimously Tuesday night (April 19) to approve newly hired City Administrator Carl Geffken for a May 9 start date, and capped his moving…

Fort Smith Directors frustrated with utility department financials, call it a ‘flaw in our system’

Editor’s note: Story updated to provide estimate of debt service ratio as of April 12. ––––––––––––––––––– The Fort Smith Board of Directors received updates at Tuesday’s (April 12) study session…

Fort Smith Board approves bonds for Glatfelter, plan for additional city office space

The Fort Smith Board of Directors authorized industrial revenue bonds in the amount of $75 million to pave the way for Glatfelter Advanced Materials in its bid to occupy the…

Director Catsavis’ plan to offset sewer rate hikes meeting with opposition

A proposal by Fort Smith City Director George Catsavis to add a new property tax exemption to offset sewer bill increases has been labeled “irresponsible” by a state legislator and…

Fort Smith Board to have at least one new name after upcoming election cycle

Four positions on the Fort Smith Board of Directors are coming up for reelection in November, and two are all-in for another campaign, one is out, and one is still…

Fort Smith Board OKs controversial rezoning issue, approves Riverfront park plan

The Fort Smith Board of Directors entertained a light agenda, but not one without conflict at Tuesday night’s (March 15) regular meeting from the Fort Smith Schools Public Service Center….

Former health budget director for New York City to be next Fort Smith city boss (Updated)

Editor’s note: Story updated with comments from Directors Keith Lau and Kevin Settle, and Mayor Sandy Sanders. ––––––––––––––– Carl Geffken has been tapped to be the next Fort Smith city…

Fort Smith Board gets look at proposed $35 million Riverfront Park master plan

Dave Roberts, vice-president of the planning department for Crafton Tull & Associates out of Little Rock, presented a $35 million Riverfront Park Master Plan to Fort Smith City Directors at…

Fort Smith Board approves Glatfelter bonds, more than $9 million in sewer work

The Fort Smith Board of Directors formally welcomed York, Pa.-based Glatfelter to the region with a series of resolutions Tuesday night (March 1) at its regular meeting from the Fort…

Fort Smith Board keeps hire-fire authority with city boss, reviews $4.6 million IT plan

Implementation of the Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) took center stage at Tuesday’s (Feb. 23) study session of the Fort Smith Board of Directors as Russell Gibson, head of the city’s…

Fort Smith Board narrows list of city administrator candidates to three finalists

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Thursday (Feb. 18) narrowed down a list eight qualified applicants for the city administrator job with one person making the short list being…