Fort Smith Board of Directors Study Session & Special Meeting – July 15, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Fort Smith Board of Directors Study Session & Special Meeting – July 15, 2025
The Fort Smith Board of Directors held a study session and special meeting on July 15, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. in the Blue Lion, back room. The study session covered three major items: a request from Fort Smith Cemeteries, Inc. to transfer three historic cemeteries to municipal oversight; a discussion on policing and funding of community special events; and a review of the parking meter fee waiver. The special meeting included an executive session to interview candidates for Director of Internal Audit.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Crystal Cadelli: Expressed concerns about city administration preparedness, transparency, and spending priorities. She criticized rising sewer and water costs, the consent decree, and a proposed $43 million water meter technology project, arguing it is unnecessary. She urged the board to focus on attracting private businesses through low taxes and workforce development.
Discussion Items
1. Fort Smith Cemeteries, Inc. Request for Municipal Oversight
- Marty Clark (President, FSCI) and Ed Ralston (Vice President) presented the financial and operational struggles of Roselawn/Holy Cross, Forest Park, and Washington Cemeteries. They noted that the nonprofit model is unsustainable, with a $100,000 annual deficit, $150,000 in deferred infrastructure at Forest Park, and $600,000 in debt (First Security Bank, non-accrual). Perpetual care trust funds of $800,000 are largely inaccessible under state law. They requested the city assume full operational responsibility.
- Bobby (Washington Cemetery volunteer) described Washington Cemetery as the last African American burial ground in Fort Smith, run entirely on volunteers and donations, with minimal income and no reserves. She cited a recent citation for overgrown grass and the need for ADA accessibility, tree trimming, and gravel drives.
- Director J. Rego moved to direct city administration to continue discussions with FSCI and report back at the second regular meeting in August with options, including maintenance and capital cost breakdowns. The motion was seconded and supported by the board.
- Mayor McGill and other directors expressed strong support for the city taking over the cemeteries, noting the need to honor the dead and preserve history. Director Kemp raised concerns about overburdening the city but suggested potential partnerships with faith communities.
2. Policing of Community Special Events
- Police Chief Danny Baker explained that the current ordinance allows charging event sponsors for police and other city services, but has never been enforced. He recommended against operational changes but requested clearer guidance on which events the city should sponsor (i.e., bear costs). He noted that 40 protests since 2020 had no property damage or injuries, and that free speech events should be distinguished from for-profit events.
- Director J. Rego expressed concern about equity: some events (e.g., Fort Smith Marathon) receive city-funded police overtime, while others (e.g., FCRA runs) pay for off-duty officers. He sought a consistent policy.
- Director Christina Catsavis suggested that events generating income (entry fees, alcohol sales, vendor fees) should pay for their own security. She referenced Rogers, Arkansas, which covers all nonprofit events with taxpayer-funded overtime and requires for-profit events to hire off-duty security.
- Director Kemp favored a tiered approach with a capped city fund for onboarding new events, and a clear set of criteria (e.g., economic impact, cultural exchange) for sponsorship.
- Director Settle proposed that the board annually pass a resolution listing city-sponsored events and allocate funding through the board's budget for transparency.
- Mayor McGill directed staff to develop criteria for city sponsorship of events.
3. Waiver of Parking Meter Fees
- Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman summarized that parking meter fees have been waived since November 2023, extended through August 1, 2025. Revenue from meters ($61,695 in 2022, $68,481 in 2023) was far less than enforcement costs ($96,746 and $103,002 respectively). A survey of downtown property/business owners showed 76% opposed to meters, and 73% said their customers are daily users. The Central Business Improvement District unanimously supports removal.
- Officer Julio Solis (new downtown liaison) observed that parking around the courthouse and Baker District remains congested, but Garrison Avenue has ample spaces.
- Director Christina Catsavis moved to remove the meters, except possibly around the courthouse. Director Rego seconded, requesting cost options for removal. Several directors suggested the county could manage meters around the courthouse if they wish, with no city expense.
- The board expressed consensus to permanently remove downtown parking meters, with a formal resolution to be presented at a future meeting.
4. Preliminary Agenda for July 22, 2025 Regular Meeting
- No comments were made; the agenda was reviewed and accepted.
Key Outcomes
- Fort Smith Cemeteries: Motion passed to direct city administration to continue discussions with FSCI and report back at the August 12 (second regular meeting in August) with detailed options. No formal vote was recorded, but consensus was clear.
- Special Events: Staff directed to develop criteria for city sponsorship of events. Board to consider a resolution listing sponsored events and a funding mechanism.
- Parking Meters: Consensus to permanently remove downtown parking meters, except for areas around the courthouse (to be discussed with the county). A formal resolution will be brought for a vote.
- Special Meeting (Executive Session): The board interviewed one of two candidates (James Carter) for Director of Internal Audit; the other candidate did not appear. No action taken.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Mayor. The first item on this evening's agenda is a discussion regarding the Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. request regarding Roselon, Holy Cross, and Forest Park Cemeteries. As the board will remember, in each of the past two years, the operations of the cemeteries could not sustain the cost of maintaining the vegetation on the properties to the point that the city's demolition and cleanup fund was used to abate the nuisance resulting in liens on the properties. This continues to be a difficult task, uh leading to a request from Marty Clark, president of the Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. that was included in your packet for this evening's meeting and request to address the board the city's board of directors about this item. So uh Mr. Clark, if you'd like to you can come and sit at the table if you like, but I think you have to turn the microphone on. Are we good? Okay. That's the long-term care and the management of three of Fort Smith's most historic cemeteries. Rosalon and Holy Cross are sort of one. Rose uh Forest Park is another, and then Washington Cemeteries uh we're also including in this request. Um Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. was created I think in two in 2020. Um or maybe 2021 by Bill Wilson. And at that time it was created to take over Forrest Park uh and Roselawn and Holy Cross, which was previously owned by the Codner family. Um the economics of running a cemetery are pretty terrible. And so at that time uh Bill Wilson approached the Codner family about taking these over, and and they did that. They w they gladly um dispersed of their ownership of that. And uh it got rolled into this uh nonprofit called Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. Bill Wilson, some of you may know, may remember he was the former CEO of Pradco. Um he was passionate about the project, and he's a very persuasive person. And he created this nonprofit to um essentially um take uh take over and improve those um cemeteries which had been greatly dilapidated by the lack of financial means and they had fallen into some significant disrepair. Um Bill like I said, I think he had great intentions. He he borrowed a lot of money, he put a lot of money into the projects. Most of that went into Roslawn and not into Forest Park, which actually has the greater needs. Um I believe, and Bobby, you may speak to this as well. Uh Bobby runs the the Washington cemetery, and she was actually part of that initial group. Bill had uh visited with her and recruited her, but she kind of saw the direction in which his management style was going, and it wasn't to her benefit, and she basically removed herself from that arrangement. And so that's why Rosalind Holy Cross and Forest Park are the only two two different three different cemeteries that are part of Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc. currently. Uh let me keep reading this. Uh Bill Wilson was motivated primarily by the fact that he had family buried at Roselon, so he put most of his resources into that. Me personally, I was extremely impressed by what he did because my father, Larry Clark died in 2020 and he was buried at Roselawn. And when he was when he was buried there, um it was in really bad shape. The roads were washed out, it was terrible, you know, the maintenance was horrible. My brother Scott and I had to go out and weed eat the area before the night before the cemeter before the funeral. Um, you know, so it was not in good shape. And then I go out three months later and it's it looks great. It's got paved roads, it's got a new fence, um, the maintenance is good, and I found out that Bill had had been involved in this project. And so I actually saw Bill out in the public one time at uh shortly thereafter, and I went up and thanked him because I was like, you know, this is this is awesome, it looks great. Um, you know, and I I didn't really know. I'd heard he'd put a million dollars of his own money into it. That turned out not to be exactly correct. But um I thanked him for that, and then he started to sort of recruit myself and Ed Ralston over here to kind of be on his board. But we met with him a few times and we we decided we shouldn't join the board at that time. Um story short is there was meaningful progress that was made at Rose Lawn, but the reality is that the business model for op operating cemeteries today is broken. And Ed's gonna talk about that. It's the economic realities of the situation that we're in and more importantly, how that would affect Fort Smith.
openpublica.com