City Directors OK $4M office purchase, pave way for flood and military grant plans
In a short meeting, the Fort Smith City Directors voted Jan. 21 to approve the purchase of the building already utilized as the city offices.
Several functions for city services already were located at the building, including city clerk, engineering, human resources, citizen services (utilities) and administration.
The building costs $4 million and will come from the city’s unobligated year-end funds.
The board also approved of the resolution and ordinance to move forward with Military Installation Resilience Grant. The initial assessment will take up to 12 months, with another 12 months to get the grants approved for any of the projects that may be needed.
The MIR was established to ensure military bases can remain operational for 14 days in the event of utilities being cut off or not operational.
The board approved of the consent agenda, which including the appropriation of funds for the design of the mitigation ponds at the former ACME Brick property.
The city directors expressed concerns about the nature of the ponds, if they would remain dry or wet. It was stated that the designs would give them flexibility if going from a dry pond to a wet pond depending upon the future development of the property.
Dry ponds are designed to temporarily hold excess stormwater during heavy rainfall or flooding. These ponds tend to be shallow and bowl-shaped, with gentle slopes to allow easy water flow and drainage. Dry ponds tend to be cost-effective and low-maintenance.
Wet ponds permanently hold a pool of water and provide additional storage capacity for stormwater during heavy rainfall. Standing water helps improve water quality by trapping sediments and pollutants. These ponds are built deeper with varying depths to accommodate a permanent water level and additional stormwater. These ponds are effective for areas with limited space where the goals are water filtration, habitat creation or commercial value.
During the recent study session, Travis Brisbane with Halff and Associates stated that the ponds would alleviate the homes in the surrounding area from a 10-year floodplain to a 25-year. It would remove 39 houses from the 25-year floodplain and 11 from the 100-year floodplain.
In other action, Shawn Gard, director of neighborhood services, stated that there were 43 structures within Fort Smith that he will seek approval for demolition “due to their created non-safe conditions.”
The directors approved an ordinance to demolish the structures at 3301 Neis St., 407 N. 17th St. and 920 N. 10th St. within 30 days.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Fort Smith board advances projects for city services, food protection
#City #Directors #office #purchase #pave #flood #military #grant #plans