Two topics of public focus will be discussed Tuesday evening by the Fort Smith Board of Directors.
The board will first discuss the city government s possible role in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process in the city, which was requested Jan. 5 by Ward 3 Director Lavon Morton. Directors will then discuss its plan for water leak mitigation in the city.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Fort Smith Convention Center.
Vaccines
Ward 3 Director Lavon Morton at the Jan. 5 meeting said he wants Fort Smith to help roll out the COVID-19 vaccine efficiently, and the city is responding.
City and county officials on Tuesday will assess how they can use their resources to better distribute the vaccine. These resources could include providing facilities for vaccine administration and communicating to the public which groups of people can get the vaccine and when.
Times Record
The precursors for several prominent decisions in Fort Smith were set in 2020. The city will see them play out in 2021.
City officials in 2020 made decisions related to the extension or implementation of taxes and the federal Consent Decree. Outside of the city government, state and federal officials vouched for Fort Smith as the location of a fleet of fighter jets for a security initiative in Pacific Indochina.
The Times Record has compiled a list of five significant decisions to be made or further considered in 2021 for Fort Smith.
Fighter jet fleet
Ebbing Air Force Base at Fort Smith Regional Airport is in the running with four other locations throughout the country for the location of F-16 fighter jets for the Republic of Singapore and F-35 fighter jets a decision officials expect to be made early in 2021.
Times Record
Editor s note: This story has been updated to accurately state the kinds of businesses that were shut down for 74 days in Arkansas because of COVID-19.
Bar and restaurant owners in Fort Smith who say they re already suffering under the COVID-19 pandemic are worried about an incoming 5% alcohol tax hike from the city.
Slated to go into effect Dec. 1, 2021 with a study session to reconsider in October, the capped-out alcohol sales tax would push adult beverage taxes in Fort Smith up to 19.75% for beer, 23.75% for wine and 33.75% for liquor when purchased in a bar or restaurant. While it was presented to the Fort Smith Board of Directors at Dec. 15 meeting as a tax upon the gross proceeds or gross receipts derived by such private club, City Administrator Carl Geffken on Wednesday said the tax would apply to all bars and restaurants in Fort Smith that serve alcohol.
Times Record
Estimated costs of constructing the I-49 bridge and a possible bridge to reroute traffic away from downtown Fort Smith aren t cheap, but one state official says there s a lot to be considered in the projections.
Halff Associates estimated the cost of constructing a bridge in eastern Oklahoma to reroute trucks off of Garrison Avenue would be $225 million. It s less than the estimated cost of the I-49 bridge to connect Chaffee Crossing to Alma, which Arkansas Department of Transportation District 4 Engineer Chad Adams estimated would cost between $300 million to $400 million.
These estimates come as ArDOT has launched an 18-month traffic study that will assess how to best alleviate truck traffic in downtown Fort Smith, including the possibility of a bridge. It also comes on the heels of the passage of Issue 1, which Arkansas Highway Commissioner Keith Gibson said will secure $270 million in the next 10 years toward I-49 through the extension of the state s 0.5% sta