Here, our special meeting for our strategic workshop.

The mayor is still ill.

He was stuck on Tuesday.

Still is under the weather today.

So I think we have all we're gonna have here to start with.

So we do need to I'll nominate Kevin.

I'll just like it out.

Anyone all in favor of Kevin as our chair for today?

Opposed.

Kevin doesn't count.

Okay.

I did want to another one I'm gonna watch.

I'm gonna call this strategic work talk to order on June 26th at 9 15 a.m.

Welcome everybody.

With that, we'll turn it over to Jeff.

Yeah, I just wanted to uh I did of course we do have uh some staff in the room, share your course.

Uh Maggie is here, Josh is here to pay attention to listen, and I did ask Andy to come and sit in and listen, participate just because you know dollars are the thing, so we might as well have the dollars guy here, of course.

Um with that, I'll turn it to uh Dr.

Biggs.

Good morning, everybody.

Thank you for having me.

Welcome, welcome.

Yeah, good to be here.

Um if you haven't had me before, I'm Dr.

Mickey Vogel.

I am from UAFS Center for Economic Development, and so uh I always like to do the 30 second elevator pitch for Center for Economic Development.

Basically, we are the business outreach arm of the university, and so uh we do we have four centers that are housed there.

First, we have the Center for Business and Professional Development, which is what I've been a part of for many many years.

Uh, we do uh public workshops and contract training for businesses as well as consulting.

Everything from leadership to LinkedIn Sigma quality to uh industrial maintenance to just computer classes.

So we do a lot of different things.

Uh we also have the Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center in that in that center, which is a series of programs for family businesses, large and small.

Uh we also have a branch of the Arkansas Small Business Development and Technology Center, which helps people be skin small businesses and expand small businesses, and then our newest center is the Center for Nonprofits, which we just started this year, which uh allows us to offer training and programs for nonprofits and their employees.

So that's what we do.

Um so I'm happy to be here.

I got to a chance to do this with you guys about four years ago, and so I am happy to be back doing this.

Uh so let's talk a little bit about what our plan is for today.

And uh I'm pretty loud, so I may end up sitting during some of this just because I like to talk to people face to face.

Um, but let me know if you can't hear me.

So basically, we've just done our welcome, and we are going to go through quickly the already established values, mission, and vision that you guys set.

Uh, I know it was updated as recently as August.

So we're gonna go through what those are just to remind everybody that's what's guiding us today.

Uh then we are going to go through a result of a SWOT analysis or environmental scan now to allow us more time today to actually spend time planning strategies for the year.

We have actually done that SWOT analysis through email.

So uh about a week and a half ago, we sent out the prompts for that.

Uh we've been getting the information back in, and so what we'll do is review what those answers were, and then we'll give uh the board members an opportunity to vote on their priorities, and then we're gonna use that as the basis to figure out what we want to do for the next year.

So, does that sound like a deal?

Awesome.

Okay, so to uh start this, let me give you just a couple of guidelines as you go through the day.

Your lens is that you are the voice of the citizens.

So uh you have your personal opinions, which you are as a citizen obviously entitled to have, but you you're representing not only your points of view but also the point the voice of all the citizens that you represent.

Um, also think about this as not a to-do list, um, it's not a wish list or Christmas list or a honeydew list.

Uh it's basically all about setting a direction for the next year and then a roadmap of how to get there.

Okay, so I always like to think about it as you're setting a direction with a compass, and then you're making a map to figure out what the steps are to get to where you're going to go.

So, as we go through the morning and the afternoon, some strategic thinking guidelines are to start with a blanks late, so be open to new ideas.

No idea is too outrageous, even if something isn't workable.

Sometimes you can get a piece of an idea that sounds a little crazy and make something sane and more creative out of that.

We want to generate a lot of ideas.

We want to monitor our biases always, and we want to stay away from task oriented thinking and more about strategic thinking.

Like what are the things that we're going to be doing to guide us towards where you want to go?

So, I'm gonna start by reviewing your values.

Okay.

So I'm gonna sit if you can't hear me in the back, let me know.

So you guys approved a list of values back in August, or at least from the meeting that you guys had in August, and uh the way that strategic planning works is it's based on a pyramid model.

So values are at the very base of the pyramid.

Values should be the reason that we do everything we do.

So you guys have a list of values, and from those, you guys have already developed a vision and mission, and so we're gonna look at that, and then we're on going to be doing today the strategy step, and then over the next year, you and your designees will be doing the actions that get you where you want to go.

That's the idea.

So, what are the values?

And I've also given this to you in a handout to have all the values in them.

So the first value is safety.

We seek to continuously improve the safety of all areas of the city.

We value a safe environment for all residents, employees, and visitors.

Next one quality for services.

We work to deliver the highest quality services to our residents, customers, and visitors.

We endeavor to understand the needs of residents, visitors, and treat everyone consistently, fairly and responsibly.

The next value is quality of life.

We strive to implement policies that increase the attractiveness of our community to businesses and job creators to improve economic opportunity for all.

Furthermore, we recognize the importance of supporting recreation, entertainment, and cultural amenities that make Fort Smith a destination for new and continuing investment.

Next is opportunity.

We seek to provide a path for all citizens to capture their full potential by achieving their individual goals.

The city of Fort Smith seeks to be a community filled with spirit of growth, success, and fulfillment.

Our desire is to nurture, retain, and attract talent to make a positive difference in our future, then financial responsibility.

The city of Fort Smith is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars, transparency, integrity, and honesty guide our financial conduct.

We respect and recognize the importance of citizen-led accountability as well as outside audits to review our efforts, and then the final value hard working community.

Our citizens are persistent and willing to roll up their sleeves to do whatever it takes to put in the effort to provide for their families and improve the community.

The city of Fort Smith celebrates the hard work, innovation, intelligence, and contributions our citizens make each and every day.

We highlight and support the life-changing difference they make in our city.

So, my question to you is I understand these values were actually voted on in a meeting.

Do you still feel that these values are representative and the values that you want to work from going forward?

Yes.

Yes.

I would say yes.

The one thing that I thought of as we're sitting here reading it is I thought we were going to have those printed and posted in the blue line.

And I'd love to see that done, you know, because I think it continues to stay in front of us in some other visual way, besides just reading it now.

Well, not only us, but the people that walk in that building every Tuesday.

Yeah, and maybe even in the main room, like on the walls.

Very big.

That's a good idea.

And I will I will say that most non-profits and most businesses will put their values someplace visible and then also make the mission and vision.

And we we wanted to do that.

And we're prepared to do that.

I think Josh even has a quote on getting that done, but I but yeah, I think I think when we got to the point of you know, we had a pause for a minute on you know those the strategic priorities and whatnot.

I think when we had that pause, which is sort of a positive whole thing, but we're certainly having to talk about that.

Well, because we we adopted the mission statement, the value statement, and then we also got to use the values uh all by resolution.

We'd also have a resolution to adopt the strategic priorities, which we that one was paused, and we didn't move it over that.

So, that was because there was some things that honestly.

I think it I'm so glad we're doing this today, because now that I've seen the outline of this, I would agree that we we spent so much time on this page and the next page that there was not ample time to really work through the strategic project at the same level, but this stuff is ready to go, in my opinion, for my vote, and I would love to see it posted.

I think they're strong, and if they're in the inside, I want to be able to be able to read them from where I sit.

Yes, in the blue line without slightly, I agree.

And everybody that's around there, so we do want it to be fine.

Yeah, okay.

I will tell you, for example, the Center for Economic Development has our values, our mission and our vision on a handout that's inside every classroom that we have and in our office space.

So we see in every room that we work in.

And that's a it's it that's a good practice.

Director Sounds you good with that?

Yeah, okay.

We'll make sure we're okay.

So I assume that you guys were probably still good with these.

I think they're strong, but I wanted to make sure before we go on that this was still where our heads are.

Okay, so the next are mission and vision statement.

So the mission statement is a statement about who you are and what you do, right?

So the mission statement is the city of Fort Smith is committed to providing high quality resident focused services for the advancement of the thriving community.

It's high quality.

Is that significantly?

Yeah.

So is it hang on?

Maybe I unless I typed it wrong, let me see.

We got resident-focused services.

Oh, absolutely.

Let me change your vocal.

I think that was the old mission statement.

That was the old mission statement.

Okay.

That's we're right.

Okay, let's fix it right now.

Okay, so the one that's on my handout is the correct one, right?

Yes, yes.

Okay, the city.

Um, what's the committed to providing residents focused services, maintaining reliable infrastructure, and creating an environment that fosters economic advancement and a thriving community?

So apologies for that.

So let me put that back on the overhead properly.

Come on.

There we go.

Okay, so Fort Smith strives to be a dynamic business, family, and military.

Oh, that's the division.

Sorry.

Fort Smith is committed to providing resident-focused services, maintaining reliable infrastructure, and creating an environment that fosters economic advancement and a thriving community.

Okay, good.

And then the vision statement is meant to let me make sure this one's correct.

Strives to be sorry.

Yeah, okay.

The vision statement is sort of what do you want to be when we grow up, right?

So it's it's a future vision.

And this is Fort Smith strives to be a dynamic business, family, and military friendly destination that welcomes people from all over the world.

Okay.

So we want all those vision, mission all posted, correct?

Okay.

Okay.

So that's good.

We agree that this is what the base of what we're working on.

So now we're gonna go to the SWAT process, which we are more than halfway through.

So let me show you what we've got so far.

Yeah, I will tell you I got a couple of last minute ones yesterday.

One of them made it into the slides.

One of them I got after the slides were printed, so they are on the list that we're gonna be voting on here in a minute.

So uh the ones that I added last minute, I will point out when we go over there to vote.

Okay, um, so basically we're gonna do a check on what we got back from uh the SWAT data uh to remind you SWAT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

We're gonna start with strengths.

Strengths are good things that are internal, that are internal to the city.

So what I have here is uh the FMS project, uh, talking about the possible impact of that.

Um, and I've someone else with F 35, which is basically the same thing.

So I grouped those together.

There were several mentions of the geographical location and how we are a transportation hub, and also a regional hub, so I grouped those together, abundant water supply, uh history and cultural relevance, the riverfront, strong education and military anchors, and mentioning specifically UAFS, uh, the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education and the Ebbing Air Force Base.

Um, we also have emergency services added onto there, sanitation department was mentioned, senior staff, and the fact that it is relatively affordable compared to some of the other areas.

So this is what I've got over here.

Let me make sure I got everything that was added to the last minute.

So let me look at my list over here.

Okay.

So those were the strengths.

It's a good list.

Yeah.

Okay, so what we are gonna do then is, if we do use that, uh just make a recommendation to change solid on change sanitation solid ways.

Oh, okay.

Um, let me change it on the chart that you're gonna be voting on.

Who did uh this said good environment for small business?

Is that you?

Do you do you believe that to be true?

Okay, I agree.

Yeah, I think just uh from my own experience as a small business person, I feel like community support is really strong for small business, and because Fort Smith is you know still kind of a small town, it's easy to network, it's easy to build your business through more town.

Okay, people have a little bit of there is, yeah, and I feel like people really prioritize shopping small and shopping somewhere where they can build a relationship.

Well, that's that's good to hear.

Uh I know we have like a permitting and things like that.

So I think maybe not necessarily getting started in a small business, but once you're established, I think um, you know, because when I open my business, I like to say it's all I could have opened it there, but they don't have the same sentiment that Fort Smith does around small business.

Yeah, it's really um I opened my business in October of 2019 and then COVID hit, March of 2020, and I was so new, but people made it a point to buy gift cards or shop early for Christmas or really rally around me and make sure that we got past that hurdle.

I mean, the first year's hard enough.

But um, and just since then I feel like um I don't think I could have done this anywhere else.

Okay.

So it's the it's the people that this is the community support.

Okay.

And I I don't want to you rail that, but I do want to kind of ask if you know you mentioned the permitting and such, and you know, from from our perspective, we think we're doing the things we need to do to be easy to work with and accommodating and help people through a process and such, but uh I mean, staffing from doing that.

You think we have the tools in place to be able to do that, but if the and I don't know if there's a difference between what is reality, what people actually experience, or is this just a perception that it's hard to open the business?

I never had issues with with the city getting open.

I think more of the issues I hear are around restaurants and inspections, and they told me I needed this three-compartment sink and I put it in, and now they're telling me to rip it out because it's not the right one, or fire suppression or things like that.

So I mean, my business, you know, we kind of went in and painted and you know, it was kind of turnkey, whereas people who are gonna build out the restaurants or things like that that are a little more involved, uh that's where I hear from other people.

It wasn't my speech.

But on the but on those things, I mean those are those are requirements that would apply regardless of what they're typically state or department type of regulation.

I feel like what I what I consistently hear, take that with a grain of salt is the goalposts kind of get moved.

Yeah, this is this doesn't happen all the time, but that's that's kind of the consistent theme I hear when somebody's complaining about it.

But I've also talked to people that have done this before and that like home builders, and they're like, well, you just once you kind of know it, you you kind of know it, but a lot of these these people like these small businesses are only doing it one time, right?

They only get it that one time and it's they're confused, right?

They're confused by what happens.

Now they're saying I should have done something different.

Right.

Or not even that.

As you go on through the processes, it's one thing after another.

So it's a perception issue.

You know, I mean, I've been onto beauty shops, uh, all the detailed shops, small businesses.

Uh it's just one thing after another.

I think again, being new in the business, they're not expecting to have to dump all these cars around.

So then when they get past this one, then it's another solution.

Somebody else comes in.

Yeah.

So I think it's just perception.

Because like what what what Jeff was talking about?

I mean, all these things are actually based on guidelines that we have to go by.

Yeah, everybody in the state goes by.

Right.

So uh so I I wonder when I first when I first joined the board, one of the things I talk about is having somebody that walked through with a small business and said, okay, here's this is what you're gonna have to do.

You call if you if you have any questions, you call me.

I'm your central point of uh, your point of reference.

And if you if you have questions or whatnot, but I'll I'll lay it out for you.

You'll know what happens, who who does what, when, how, all that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

And we really have those people do.

And they do get assigned to projects and they work with the project directly from start to finish.

And so they have a point of contact directly through the planning department, you know, we and like I said, I mean, it's always this the earlier you get started with the planning department or building department who's processes, the easier it is.

What but but they have we have people assigned to projects to help walk them through that.

I guess my question would be, do you know that?

I didn't know that.

I didn't know that.

But when I when I think about like harvestment, they bought the building down over here with the rat on the side, and they um they said, you know, they're making an investment that's an empty building.

I think they took somebody through the city with it before they purchased it to say what of this is usable that's here, and that person said, Yeah, this fire suppression works, this thing works, all these things work.

Then they buy the building, and then now the city's coming in and saying, Oh, well, none of this works, you're gonna have to rip it all out, and they put all their money in the building thinking they weren't gonna have to do a lot of renovation or things like that.

So that's just some of the feedback I've gotten recently, uh, which I do believe.

I reached out to Maggie and she worked with them on that, but I know they were really disheartened.

I it's it's I want people just to have they're they're they're investing there, and not to get too far off here, but they're they're I mean this is their lives, this is their livelihood, and it's scary enough, and they the perception that the prevailing thought is it's hard to do business here now.

I don't know if that's true or not.

I don't I mean we might be hearing the one percent, and you know, the nine nine, everything's going great, but I and I would add one thing.

I mean, like from the church perspective, years this is years ago now, but when we were gonna add the residence part to the facility, we were gonna have to sprinkle the entire facility, and we were like, but why?

And then well, then no, so our architect goes and lobbies, and then now you just have to sprinkle this portion of the building, and then the architects look, well, why?

And then he well, now you'll just have to sprinkle this part of the building, kind of worked them back, yeah.

He kept working on back, and it was like you know, if I had not had that architect to go and kind of lobby the process, we would have just stopped at the first statement.

But it took like, and I think there's a little bit of a mindset that well, we're gonna have to figure out how we can overcome this, and if we can continue to work on, hey, we are pro-economic development and we want to do that.

I mean, we did get it done, but I'm just saying Tim Risley was a bulldog, you know, and he did not take it over answering.

But being able to say from a small business owner that it's a good environment working, I think is it's really good.

We've got to make it on the front end we have to work through it, but I I like I'm I'm glad she put that on.

Yeah, some of what I hear is that it depends on what inspector you get.

I hear that a lot.

But overall, I've been very um happy as well as building my business here.

I think there's good community support for small business, and I think it's a strength we have that almost feels a little bit unique to us.

I'm going to before we go, I I'm I would like to add one other strength.

Sure.

I think we should add the parks system as a strength.

Park system?

We are blessed to have 30 plus parks.

Most communities, most walkable.

So we say parks, trails, and spaces.

That's fine.

Parks, trails, and green spaces all together.

Okay.

I just think that that's uh how do I think we stack up compared to you can't compare it to the Fort North because they got they got massive funding.

Well, it yeah, millions of dollars.

But when you compare to other cities in the areas, we're you know, I've traveled Houston, Dallas, Kansas City, some of these places have parks everywhere.

I mean, my brother lives in north of Dallas.

You go see what they're doing there.

You got housing development park, housing development park.

It's literally every mile, mile and a half you sound a park, and we're and we're blessed at what we have already, but you know, Creekmore Park is a gym.

Ben Garrett's the county, but look at how many people go to Ben Garrett.

You got the internal parks of you know Martin Luther King, Wilson Park, Tillis, a public swimming pool, which was very rare, public swimming pool, splash pads.

You know, you think about those amenities that we take for granted because we've seen them over the years, but if you remember back when we were in high school compared to today, a different park system.

Well, let me let me say this that all of these are important.

They're all strengths, but since we're only human, you can't do everything, you can't do something with everything.

Uh not in one year, probably not in one lifetime.

We can't remember.

Right.

So we have to prioritize.

So I have given each of you, though Kevin went off and left it.

So we got one.

Okay, good.

Um, I'll do two.

I take that back.

Okay, so we're gonna use the green dots for strings.

And I have my little poster over there with strings.

You get three dots to spend.

Now you can spend all of your dots on one item, or you can choose three separate items to go for.

I have even had people tear their dots in half, so that they can split their votes a little bit.

It's it's your budget, your three dots, your three green dots to spin as you wish.

So, uh go put your three, go put your three dots by the items.

That's like a point.

I think it's a two point five options.

I had somebody who actually split hers into four one time.

Three feels like you could not make up your mind.

That's pretty good.

Four.

No, he wasn't.

I was supposed to use a code.

Kingle is my boss.

I know for a fact you can give you more dots.

You guys have different college?

It doesn't mean the stuff that isn't ranked ties isn't important.

It just means this is a way of prioritizing what you do first.

I have a half.

I did a half.

You said the note, I did it.

I had to do it.

Okay.

I think the last time was here.

Um for this.

It would be good to be a pretty much.

We have to have a big time here.

You can watch all the fireworks.

Yeah, so uh the sealed floor, so it's one of the public, first of all, so we'll do it.

Yeah, it is.

So we can't have a little bit of a little bit of a consistent of that.

Yeah, I never had anybody going to do it until this year, but I've had three or four groups that started dividing the dots.

So we've got the little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a picture of this.

So, whatever number is.

You know, who's made a big investment.

We don't look like, oh, we you know starved the area agency, well they sold the nursery players.

Or what is that?

So that's all these nuts.

How many?

Public dollars, I think what's wrong with that.

Yeah, there's we can be a risk and maybe we should have support if they're successful.

I mean, it's helpful.

Okay, here you here are your results.

We have a tie for number one first priority, which is the FMS project, and also uh the fact that we have strong education military, those are the two highest ranked.

The next highest rates is our geographical location and the fact that we're a hub for uh Western organization of one on the and geographically transportation hub.

So those are your your top priorities.

It doesn't mean the others aren't important, but it means those would be a good place to start.

We're starting to think about projects.

I mean, those the FMS project, okay.

I mean, those are those are kind of some long and education.

That's that's kind of some long-term things that we need to capitalize.

Yeah.

Well, we're talking about priorities, though.

I mean, the FMS project isn't anything we really do.

You know, it's something we're really involved in.

Well, but it but you take them, put all the economic impacts.

How do you make sure you have housing?

How do you make sure you have a system for all the visitors?

I can make sure you got the growth here because they're coming.

I mean, but that's what they're coming, no matter what.

Well, you want to foster the things like Lockheed is doing by asking more people to stop.

Yeah, I know, and I I appreciate that.

I appreciate that long heat is expanding and adding the jobs, but all we've heard from the builders for years are we've built and no one has come.

Well, they're coming, they're coming, right?

They all knew it was going to be 27 2029.

When I was and I saw Mark uh Rouse just the other day, and he was headed to Luke, I mean, this week to talk with people out there who are will be moving here in the fall.

I mean, the the Singapore F 16 contingent is moving here in the fall.

I mean, so that's you know, that itself is 400 people.

So you was going out there and make a specific people are are in the fall of 26, 26, 400 households or 400 people.

Well, I don't that I don't know.

Well, I mean, but I mean what I'm saying is that where we want to spend a lot of our time when okay, so really we're not necessarily talking about FMS, we're talking about housing.

Well, I think we're talking about the things around FMS.

I mean, not just the project itself is going to happen, but there's a lot of impact around them for the opportunities.

I kind of wondered about for me was that like, and I voted on it, but like take and use, is that they do have a board behind them that is moving.

Like if the city fought, they'd still be here.

You talking AC.

Well, my point would be like I just I don't know.

I was I was like, well, I'm gonna vote because it's important, but I'm like you know, like the three stickers, I've just well I I think the thing with all of these FMS, with mil uh military education, all that kind of stuff, um they they've got their own thing, but we've got to like what are the things around it that we can come alongside of we should be establishing strong partnerships with them.

Yeah, but as far as us sitting down and talking about what our strengths are and working towards it, I mean, is it not as simple as establishing strong partnerships?

Should we not be focusing on I think that's a part of it?

We offer some guidance on how we're gonna use strengths.

We identify the strengths, and then we say, okay, how can we use our strength in this to take advantage of this opportunity?

Or how could we use our strength in this to overcome weakness in this?

So that's what kind of tie, these are the things that's kind of tied.

Yeah, so these are these are going to be keys to helping us overcome weaknesses and take advantage of opportunities.

So that that's how I frame it.

Uh and also don't forget you're not restricted to just the highest ones.

I'm just saying we're prioritizing it so if you have to pick the order you're going to work things in, this you should vote at this moment in time.

But it doesn't mean that the other things aren't important and aren't something you can do something with.

Yeah, the lens that I was looking for using was questioning whose strengths when we say we, are we talking about the city organization?

Are we talking about the city of the big week?

I'm talking about the big week, not the city.

No, I mean that that's what I was thinking too.

But you know, last time we spent a lot of time talking about FMS, but really we have nothing to do with that.

So I just didn't want to allocate a lot of time to something that is not ours to shape.

But it's ours to claim because they are here, they are part of us.

That's the way I was looking at it.

Like I'm I'm like, yeah, the FF5 is going on, but it's an offer, it's a strength for the city, and then how can I capitalize on that strength?

Like what what's what's around it that I can capitalize on, we can capitalize on the problem.

Well, let's let's let's come back to that conversation when we get to the what are we gonna do part, and let's let's go to the next thing, which is weaknesses.

Um again, um, I got one of the the late things onto the slides, and another one I only was able to capture on the flip chart, so I will make sure that we have all these put together.

So, first of all, the first weakness mentioned was no financing mechanism identified for the water capital projects, and then other things that said similar or short of the same things were the transmission line and water plant upgrades, age and water infrastructure, water needs so water was considered a weakness, uh next consent degree obligation, decree obligations to 2038, um next was instability toward and among elected officials that was also mentioned by a second person and is described as lack of cooperation for a shape on the board.

What's the reporter?

Just the report.

Just the report.

Is it what people sent?

No, I get it.

Okay, uh cost of services, communications, lower than expected population growth, lower salaries or income compared to peer cities, downtown performance, government trust, lack of community engagement, lack of a multi-purpose fitness or sports complex, competing general fund priorities, alignment of future Fort Smith to the budget and visible actions, and the fact that the city administrator process has led to a lot of uncertainty whether we're gonna stay that way or not.

There's uncertainty, and then inconsistent cross-department alignment, and there was I think an addition or two that I will get from my list here.

Did Director Rigo?

Uh, did not give me any feedback.

The city wasn't coming.

Okay, um, homelessness was an addition, and budget cuts and police slash fire.

You got and you've got those the last two on there.

Yes, they're on the they're on the that I'll put them on the official list too.

So did any of these is this a lot since we're going to only get three votes.

Do any of these collapse into each other?

Is that worth talking about?

Absolutely.

So that we can hit.

Uh so um I I don't think I put consent degree on my list of weaknesses this go around because I feel like with the funding that the the citizens allocated, solved it.

That's not the right word, but but you kind of said okay, we we've we've got funding for it, now we just gotta get the work.

And started on the modifications, right?

And the modification and started a process, it's processed right.

So we want to take that off the list.

Well, I don't want to take it off if somebody somebody thought.

I mean, it it is gonna be.

I mean, I still think people are very frustrated and and they still have concerns about it, but I feel like we've we've addressed it, and that's not I'm not just gonna say flippantly, we've we've solved the problem because we've got to do the work, funding's been addressed, and the funding's been addressed.

Well, the funding hasn't been addressed in its entirety because we're even after the bonds we've done, we're still gonna spend what 300 more million that we don't know how we're gonna fund.

Well I think that that 300 million is part of the overall uh sales tax reallocation of the bonds.

I think when we when we first when we first went through this, the goal the the plan was to secure six hundred million dollars in bond proceeds and pay that out over 30 years, not just not just 300.

So I mean when we get to 2030 or 31, there will be we will have to answer the next question as to where that would be the country.

So I mean there still is a there still is a a point looming out there where we'll have to identify.

But we but we're hiring a firm to do value engineering right now that will help mitigate people's costs so that 2031 will be as hopefully not as bad as it was.

But it will still be significant, but we don't know.

The 385 does not solve the problem.

385 doesn't solve the problem, but uh my impression that 385 and another 300 after.

But that's how we're gonna get the other three hundred, would that not come through the bonding refinance?

It's identified as being water sewer revenue bonds.

Right.

But and that's tentatively the plan.

Right.

But we haven't had we haven't done it yet, we haven't committed it yet.

Right.

There's no additional dollars.

Like no additional sales tax dollars, or anything like that.

We just gotta go through the process, I'd say just refinancing bonds.

Refinancing bonds.

Right.

I mean, yes, and that is the plan, and that is what we have on our put on our tenure projection.

We share with the EVA, 2029, so it's just it's just as a moving question.

Whatever we need to do, what's in our mind, that is the tentative plan, but we haven't put it in place yet.

Are these specific to just this year?

Are we just thinking in this is the general this is the feedback I got from disciples?

So I don't know what each person was thinking.

The idea was right now, in this moment in time, what do you see as the weaknesses?

I know we've got funding.

So if we're thinking of it in terms of just short term, then maybe that's not an issue, but if we're thinking longer term, then we well, and I'll say I'll admit I put this one on my list.

But I mean and I'm thinking I'm looking at it in terms of not that the funding needs to be identified, but we have I mean we have a staff then that needs to direct these projects, and we have a significant number of projects, it is a staff obviously.

You like the work, yes.

I wouldn't necessarily call that a weakness.

That's where I that's where my head was when I wrote out of it.

My understanding was that the sales tax reallocation provided money for the first 385 million.

When we get to the next tronche of money we need, we don't have funding for that.

Refinancing the current bond.

Refinancing the existing that would be 2018 bonds.

Part of that, yes.

That would be water sewer revenue bonds, is what the next plan is.

I think that's what was that's what was communicated through those maybe something that the the law important was kind of heading up.

Now, on another one though, like when I mentioned competing general fund priorities, I was thinking about the police and fire.

Okay, and things of that nature.

So to me, I would love to somehow combine those absolutely.

Because when we talk about an increase in a budget, the one thing we're gonna have to figure out is how to balance the increase of items that tie to the general fund.

Yes, uh well, then we always have competing priorities.

I put budget cuts to police and fire uh very specifically because I'm concerned about public safety, I mean every city has competing priorities.

I don't think that's unique to us.

Okay, so do you want me to do it the other way around?

Just keep them separate.

Keep them separate.

I think there are two different ones.

Okay.

Is there anything else that can collapse?

Because man, these are your lugs are gonna get voted on if they don't collapse?

It's a big list.

Well, you could collapse government trust with incivility and communications.

We can do that.

I don't agree with that.

No.

Certainly, certainly I have a number of them.

But you don't have a full community.

Oh, complement.

I feel like this community is more engaged than uh, you know, when I looked in Northwest Arkansas.

I put in there my three or three or four, lower than expected population growth, lower salaries, income and peers.

I think downtown performance is mine.

We could we could sort of combine those as lower than expected uh populations, salaries, income, performance.

Well, we've downtown those are very specific differences.

Yeah, we've got we'd downtown separate.

You have downtown separate?

Yeah.

Do you want me to put these two together?

We yeah, we can.

Okay.

I mean, I just obviously when you look when you look at our salary overall salads, they're they're less than but our affordability is less good.

Or affordabilities less.

So that's the reason why.

I'd like to see I'd like to see where that uh how that compares.

What salary are you talking about?

I think when you when you look at the the back end of our budget or our our uh city police or private sector private sector, you see, uh, when uh you look at the back of our actor, thank you.

Um I don't know, we include we include county data.

That's correct.

Four counties, which is I don't know if I necessarily agree with that because you try to do an apples and apples comparison of the pay bill, they're they're different.

We count the two counties of a call.

Did we?

So two different.

That's what our MSA is.

I don't know if we should have you bring that up.

Do we have a discussion?

If you think about it, we're comparing Fort Smith with Crawford County and before it's a point.

But what if what I uh is their format is exactly their actor, their four of us is ours, does theirs.

But theirs is only theirs is only payable.

Yeah.

I would like to maybe consider collapse in the last two.

They're ones that I added on.

I think they're they're one and the same.

The city admin process uncertainty, inconsistent cross-department alignment.

One of the things that I've seen is uh because it's an acting role, right?

It creates uncertainty.

It creates uncertainty among those certain departments or something like that.

It can create like a cell on my expectation.

Okay, so what I'm gonna do to make sure that the voting is not just a big old mess.

I'm gonna revise the weaknesses.

So let me make sure we get all these properly.

Do it runs as well.

Yeah.

So we could go ahead and run it up and work.

No, I didn't need it now.

I think it's but give it a few months of the dollar.

I do wear my headline.

Did that say that?

I wear my headline.

Six boss staff.

Yeah, that's what we're gonna highlight.

That's what it is.

We didn't get some of the things.

You'd like more than the fucking one.

You brought me the minute.

Uh brought another.

We were wrong.

Um, I'm another one, they're just like the top of it, like this thing is on the ground.

So if you have a camera, you know, or can I say I went uh, it's the XY, but we should have so anyway they found it.

You'll put in all this stuff down or we need something.

It was really.

I'm walking her up, so I use this where she's talking about.

Okay, whatever we don't know, it's one of the heads.

Oh, yeah.

I love it.

We're gonna have to see it.

You will have to look at the door.

And the door they have actually and or kind of model, you know.

I click on the headline, she's the hot tails.

It's freaky.

It's like six o'clock in the morning.

That's a little freaky when people are at that.

I'm kinda hiding in the so it's a weird video.

So I think there's a like that and there were snakes.

I I could tell they were looking right.

It's a wild deal.

Yeah, I think they call it a little bit.

So that's what we're talking about.

Oh really?

So we use our expression.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Is she on your own shirt?

She is on that.

Okay.

Like literally her house back, so her house breakfast is more than this.

Oh no, that's not why.

So that white green house rather than the option, she's right.

Yeah, I did.

Well, I don't think I would have always loved that.

Yeah, that's what we can have rooms out of the house, I think.

I think it's a project.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's really pretty.

Oh, I think we can just see it.

Oh, yeah.

Almost done.

So good.

So we ordered some full have a bond.

And we're gonna refinance those eighteen.

Should provide two, three hundred million dollars.

So additional smoke.

No additional looking sales tax.

Sales tax.

What's the project that we have to make?

Yeah, but I think we can do it once forty, and forty, because it's not.

You know, the official list right now.

The official list right now is water projects, the budget part of that.

Uh the consent decree, government trust, and civility, and poor communication kind of all combined into one little package.

Cost of services, uh, lower population growth and lower salaries in this area, downtime performance, lack of community engagement, lack of a multi-purpose sports complex, competing general fund priorities, police fire cuts, future Ford Smith, and uncertainty due to the city administrative process, and homelessness.

What's the box?

It's pretty yellow.

Yes.

Yeah.

I just thought of that.

Yep.

Okay.

And um, yes.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I don't know.

I like to lean back.

Yeah.

Oh, I don't know what I think.

I want to think about it.

Oh, I'll let you know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

So I think it's a little bit of what I was doing.

So we got other people.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I should do that.

Oh, yeah.

I don't know if I don't know how to do that.

Yes, yes.

Okay, we have everybody know?

We did have since this time.

Thank you.

Okay.

Oh, right.

Is that good?

I think that's a good so well.

Our results are clear number one are the water projects.

Uh and number two is a tie between the competing general fund priorities and homelessness.

Again, not that it means that the others that didn't get voted are not important.

It just means that's those are the starting point.

You guys okay?

Let's move it along then.

Opportunities.

Opportunities.

Um first one is citizens recognize the need to invest in infrastructure.

Uh increased economic activity due to the growth, FMS related and otherwise, and that included several different comments, including attracting investment, continuing development relations with FMS and one eighty eight, recruiting defense aviation, and advanced manufacturer suppliers for the area.

Next is momentum, more than just uh FMS new development projects are happening all over, and evidence listed was things regarding I-49, the leverage of how near Northwest Arkansas is and growth with UAFS, A commercy and other industries.

Geography was listed as an opportunity, riverfront development, better relationships with state and federal leadership, retail commercial development and small business, and related to that was international restaurants and markets and cultural businesses.

I presume that's uh related to the FMS.

Yes.

And then uh treat housing availability as part of the work for is workforce in economic development and then reconnect future Fort Smith to today's strategic priorities, and there's there was I think there's an extra or two.

What was uh who had to treat housing availability as part of workforce and equal?

That was me.

We're just kind of like when we talk about well, we need more jobs and and uh you know we need more people, and I keep thinking, well, where are they gonna live?

I mean, the apartments in town, like I forget the occupancy that we have, but it's very very high.

So I mean, you know, you're just really a lot of yeah, I mean, just oh I mean housing and rental.

I'm just saying in general, like if you had two plants built out here or something, they created a thousand jobs each.

Where do these people live?

And it's gonna probably be surrounding areas, not city of Fort Smith.

What uh what is it?

I mean, do we have numbers around occupancy?

Of our 35,000 residential structures.

I'm not sure what kind of 31,000 plus uh residential water.

So that's what you're asking us.

Yeah, how many of those are actually running at any time, right?

Yeah, I think you're obviously right.

That would that would that would tell us?

Yeah, 31,000 and the other again.

If you want to go to like a hundred and ten thousand people, and you want them in your city, where are they living?

Right, well, I've heard um from a realtor uh celebration in the real estate from a long time that our rental um capacity is at an all-time high.

Oh, good.

I mean, that's good, homeownership's good, all that stuff's good.

Oh yeah.

I don't know if they were telling it to me is a good thing.

It was there's not enough.

No, there's too much.

Oh, there's too much, yeah.

Oh, you're you're saying you're saying there's a lot of the capacity at sees demand.

Okay, I've always heard the opposite of that.

I I would like to know how that's it with the numbers.

I'd like to see those numbers.

I don't know, that was just a conversation I had recently with somebody that's been in real estate for twice a time.

You probably can capture data based on the you know, meters of the house, and we have they can be.

I think in any particular month, we may have six or seven hundred you know, meters that show zero, and you know, hopefully those aren't appropriate meters, but I mean ones that are registering usage because nobody's living.

But either way, it'd be a great discovery because you've got another broken meters.

Well, sure.

And then if you buy the system, well I think we're eliminating a lot of those.

I think what they're seeing on the market as well are people selling big complexes, which is a typical, like if they is it, I think it's kind of an indicator of things aren't good.

If you're seeing big apartment complexes up for sale, those are usually things people want to hold on to, they're gonna pass.

We have one that was added, uh, and that was the potential shift in the city governance model.

I'd like to add one more.

Yeah, the board places it.

Umpportunities are the continued growth of our industrial manufacturing base.

How is that growing?

Um, you're saying that there's opportunities there for it to grow.

I guess my concern is they are growing.

AI and but automation around but growth means automation.

Growth means expanding, growth means Fort Smith is becoming a central hub for products to flow out of here.

Yeah, kind of agree with you.

I think we should have that.

I think that's a good one.

Because if you gotta look at what companies are look at look, you got civil plastics, is feeding more spec care.

You know, you got other companies, other other places are expanding.

How many tax bet programs have we done over the past five years that are now you start to see fruition of those companies are investing?

They might create AI jobs automation, so those those you're not looking at a you know uh low income wage person doing you know, putting a bowl somewhere, you can need a uh robot technician or something like that.

So you're elevating uh, who's covering?

The hope is that those those folks are the ones that are they're graduating into you know kind of that that job, and then we're not we're not you're not always doing something most of the time it's a most of the time you're bringing in one, but you're upgrading 20 or 30 at the top of that and I think that also works with our strength with UAFS who has the manufacturing center now.

The governor was just here cutting the remote for that.

I think that's an excellent one.

Is geography collapsible to something?

Or I don't know who put that on there.

Geography to me is an opportunity and we and you're starting to see somebody you got the port coming in collapse with momentum from well that's what I was wondering because you said I forty nine said the NWA library to say I was like wondering if the collapse in the end of the guys okay with that or do you want to be I don't know who put it in out of David.

I think I have a geography I'm good with like I 49 over there.

Okay.

What I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna line through it here and then I'm gonna put geography kind of as a note what role can we play in riverfront development?

Well that like to to this point is our we're gonna talk about how we capitalize on some of these opportunities?

Yes we're specifically gonna spend a whole segment doing how can you use your strengths to fix it.

How can you use your strengths to take advantage of opportunities and how do we mitigate threats now I'd like to I'd like to explore that around yeah I mean I guess I've just always wondered like is it do we own that property?

Is it through economic development partnership thing?

I mean like what is you know what how do we can we touch that things we could do to incentivize the development is that tied to like the issue three thing that's coming up on the ballot what's issue three and Senate set of districts or improvement districts reuse the sales taxes and generated by the district to help fund the improvement isn't uh didn't wasn't there's something uh opportunity zones is that is that kind of not happening economic development opportunity zones the opportunity zones require a specific set of circumstances to have the the issue three does not issue three we can do it to any place where somebody wants to do a retail development right now we can't incentivize retail development at all we also have so this is around the best process this is the project yes started this actually started that discussion this time yeah yes blue dots for this okay with this list yep okay go ahead and you think uh is issue three something that is happening is it going through the it's on the ballot oh it's on the ballot constantly oh very cool so you can you could use those sales tag without you can like fast crowd yeah if it's been in place already because we did the improvement that you're really project district around all that project from Starbucks down to Anthony and all that so that's pro so all the sales tax generated in this district we can capture some of that to go back into the infrastructure and incentivizing the tail or something is it upfront dollars and like it is to go back to it go back to the retail not necessarily but I think I think it can incentivize it can be a tax for us to be sales tax back down there.

That part of it I I think it can happen that way.

So I think I think you can set thresholds and things like that but I think we also could have gone back into reimbursing them for improving the property.

Which one yeah yeah I have a geography to mention something I could say it's five o'clock, let's go.

Oh, because looking to see if they still have copy ball up there.

People have taken it, so they filled it up with um they filled it up with firewall, and we're not still on time with our attendance.

Okay.

Well, this shop is supposed to be all of it, so people have sleeping into it.

That was looking at the air.

Yeah, I'm a professor of UAF and the other side.

That's what I think three.

Still paying.

Okay, everybody ever gonna vote.

So that's free.

I don't know.

They started asking us to get numbers and stuff on the extra ground service?

No, no, the freight that we have.

Oh, we'll type stuff.

Oh, okay, friends.

This is a very clear vote.

Uh investment in infrastructure.

I'm sorry, FMS opportunities got six votes, so it's a number one.

Uh number two is continued growth of manufacturing.

That got five votes, and number three priority is the leverage of the of the geography.

Northwest Arkansas, I forty-nine, the universities, all of that ended up as number three at four and a half votes.

So that's that's pretty clear.

Alright, we're we're 15 minutes away from a break.

Can we shove through and get this last one vote?

Let's do it.

Okay.

Threats.

Threats are bad things that are outside, outside the city.

Uh so first one was competition with Northwest Arkansas for jobs, growth and residence.

Uh uh someone else had said talent retention, and that's very related, so I put talent retention with that.

Uh next would be manufacturing industry vulnerabilities, skilled labor shortages, public perceptions, social media influence, catering to special interests, leadership uncertainty, and then the last two of those are on this list.

I personally think are probably weaknesses rather than threats, but we can certainly consider them infrastructure cross, crowding at other priorities, and lack of alignment.

The difference being weaknesses are internal and threats are external.

Um, but I think we've actually included that in the weaknesses already.

Um I had added health care crisis.

Was that on?

Yes, it's I have it up there because I'd already printed everything.

I got your email, so uh yes.

Um there were two extra health care prices and the availability of illegal drugs.

Oh, those were the two that were added late.

So let me put those on there right now.

I can kind of see the infrastructure costs being external just because it's a it's a it's not necessarily just for us.

It's the cost of everything related to infrastructure is significantly.

I mean, more than more than what we used to solve well, more than what we used to see with inflation type of increases.

That's fair enough.

Yeah, once we got through COVID, I mean we had monumental sort of advances of how much things cost in terms of type of pumps and things like that.

That's fair enough.

It's worse.

What about lack of alignment?

Do you guys consider it?

I'm not sure what that means.

You'll just say, it's something that was on the list of weaknesses, and it had to do with um alignment of departments.

Yeah, I've mentioned something that affected mine.

That's exactly what we're talking about, but I just can't like.

The connection of that document, especially when I took office and I was handy to, and then how I see that ever really kind of brought back and forth besides just the agenda little footnote.

Like I I'm always wondering, are we really accomplishing this comprehensive plan?

Is it comprehensive plan need to be edited?

Does it need to be brought up to maybe the new focuses of what we have in today's world?

Well, I'll say that even you know when we went through and did sort of our most recent update to the to the comprehensive plan.

I mean, FMS project wasn't a thing yet.

I mean, so things things like that that happened in the community in those intermittent paths before you revisit the comprehensive plan and identify what your goal matrix is going to be.

I mean, there's things change.

And so have you know if you did that from start to finish today, how much different would it look?

But to me, it's a good study, study session content, you know, as availability opened up for you.

Yeah, that's not cost.

I'm tired.

I don't know why I wrote that.

It's illegal drug, right?

Yes.

Illegal costs.

Sometimes sometimes my hands type and they are disconnected from what is going through my brain.

I apologize.

I was gonna question you there.

Oh, please do.

As someone who types in front of people all day for a living, it's kind of don't trust me.

I get it, I get it.

Yeah, I also teach computer classes, so I absolutely's something about typing in front of somebody.

People are watching it's all that.

Yeah.

Is this a is this a fair list?

Anything you want to add or subtract?

Combine?

Well, just won't be good.

Okay, then unless there is something you're adding, you can vote with your red dots, red for threats, like an alarm.

Yeah.

Okay, one second.

Oh no, that's what we're gonna do.

So, here next week, and then we can get thoughts.

Okay, so yeah.

And um basically green is for strengths, uh, yellows and weaknesses, blues for opportunities, and red is for threat.

We may have some, we may have a change to this part priorities, we'll see.

This is an L because the main one, I mean, it's anything else.

Where's the where's the where's the bag?

I was looking for, I guess, you can all.

I was just gonna see what's up there on the end.

Stop watching the crane.

So, you said here you've got a perfect piece.

What?

We're building a record.

So, I think that's a good one.

Yeah, I'm not really closing.

I guess I'm gonna have to do that.

I don't see this top of that, you know.

Is it on the so we're really good?

Yeah.

Is that going to break after this making?

Yes.

Okay, yeah.

I think it's just gonna be done.

Okay.

Okay.

That's the last one.

This read this, can you?

Okay.

Okay, brands.

Number one priority is public perceptions.

There is a um tie for two between competition with Northwest Arkansas or outside the region and also the healthcare crisis.

As I've said many times, it doesn't mean the others are important.

It just means that's the difference.

Okay, so that does not change.

I shouldn't want to worry about it.

Any thing that has been told, the school's reports.

I can't tell you.

So I mean what I could do now.

Okay, my friends.

It is time for a break.

Technically, the break's supposed to start at 1045, but I think we can fudge it a couple of minutes.

So let's start back at 1055.

10 55.

1055.

I want it.

I'll sit as an alarm to remind me.

Yeah, I think it's okay.

We're back live.

Perfect.

Welcome back, everybody.

Now we are moving on to what will be the bulk of the day, which is figuring out our priorities.

So we're gonna start with sort of a formalized activity, but you have permission to kind of go another way in your small groups.

I'm gonna put you in small groups, and you are going to look at for right now how you can use your streets to improve weaknesses.

And I'm gonna assign a strength and a weakness to each group.

Some of them may or may not feel like they go together.

So give it a shot.

If you can't connect them, just focus on how you're gonna overcome that weakness.

Okay, so if you don't feel the strength fits with the weakness, try a few ideas and then just focus on that weakness.

That makes sense.

The things that you're gonna do, say over the next year about it.

So define my group, so I write them down on a piece of paper.

Here they are.

Okay, so group one is going to be Neil, George, and Kevin.

And you guys are gonna take the strength of FMS and address the weakness of homelessness.

I know that sounds weird, but it can be done.

See what you can come up with.

And if that doesn't work, then you just work on you just work on homelessness.

Um, but I'll hand this to you.

You guys can go find one of the smaller tables if you want.

Or you can sit over there in the black chairs.

If you need more flip chart paper, I've got a whole pad of it up here.

Group number two is Lee and Andre.

And you guys have a great.

A strong education and military uh support.

And your weakness is the prior general fund priorities.

I know.

But again, if you can't figure out a way to hook the two together, then just work on the general funding priorities.

Okay.

And then last but not least, the last group is going to be Jeff and Christina.

Right?

Can I get everybody?

And then we start drafting people.

Like I'll take Maggie and then if you want to, you can do what you want.

I would say hey, if you want to do it.

There's no rule against.

And you guys get the strength of being a geographical hub with the weakness of financing for water capital projects.

Again, you may not be able to connect them, but maybe you can't.

And again, that doesn't work for you.

And if you guys need more flip chart paper, I'm going to give you about 20 30 minutes to talk about it.

If I put it on this table and it touches that fabric, it's gonna stick.

So you might go to one of those tables like in the back, or that's where you have one.

You can also put it on the wall on the windows.

I wouldn't put it on the wallpaper, but I put it on the windows.

For a little bit, I'm going to uh unplug myself on the system.

So then I can just see how we're pointing.

Um, I figure out what you do.

I'll keep this roster on the cost of the cool.

You can take if you want this table, you shouldn't have this table if you want it.

It's very heavy.

Oh, we have a pretty much strong education building for the people.

I guess they're going to be a little bit of a 20-30.

Okay.

And are we just in general?

That's true.

Okay.

Well, I think that's a good thing.

But how?

I think it's just how it's not.

If you have a budget plan, it's like a lot of people.

I just want to do it.

Um, right.

Yeah.

So we got your way.

And that you're doing it, more than a lot of the conversation.

That's more than working on the smaller.

Yeah, you can buy.

So we're all over here.

I know.

You go out against that.

I'm not sure what's going on.

So you're like, so we can watch this.

So you can run the response.

You'll have to have a lot of four and one of the seven types of the subject.

So I think that's what we're going to do.

So the people that were bringing them as a water and study, so we want to adjust it up to what the water is studying.

Okay.

I don't know how the numbers are.

I think it's a show.

Okay.

So we're going to have it.

Hold on.

So the way you want to do it, working on this.

Yeah.

So you have to go to the company.

No, I I think I think that the other one.

Yeah, just a little bit.

I think it's a very interesting thing.

Yeah.

So it's not a good one.

So I'm not going to be able to do that.

So I would just hold them.

Yeah.

So I think all those are the people that are right.

All these are the way.

Yeah, that's the problem.

So you can go on to the world.

So that's what I'm going to do on the right.

It's a very similar side of the rest of that.

So we didn't get the difference for technically.

I was like, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

So we're going to use it.

Well, so I'm working on the job.

Well, I think that's a good thing.

Well, it's a lot of fun.

It's just like a lot of us.

Oh, I want to go.

I think it's very good.

Well, you know, I'm going to have to work with the simple note.

So you're right.

So we're going to be there and volunteer.

I think it's a half.

And now we're going to have to say that it's been a lot of people who are not going to be able to do it.

So we can have a question.

I think it's a little bit more.

And we're we're going to be able to do it.

Right.

That's right.

You can take the cash.

That's right.

It was one and we're twenty two or twenty four.

And so probably they're once a lot of time.

Oh, so much.

Well, you know, shouldn't we?

But the other thing is the twenty-two uh basically look at the market well, you see.

Well, when they present it, you have a specific study session.

So presentation was a four, you can't.

Okay, well, it's also to do it.

I have that update that has to be what's the obvious thing.

So we'll probably have to put it in the world.

And then what do we have to think of?

It's really important.

It's been more than that.

It's been four years.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, two years ago, the bridge then, but uh, uh, that's where you're not basically.

Yeah, that's right.

So we're going to be able to do that.

They over the population.

Yeah, I think you take down the road, it's not the upper time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You just have to have a screen.

I guess we don't have to say, you know, yeah, you know, I think it's much of a lot of people.

I think it's a strong, you know, the same.

So we have a very awesome.

So it's a right, I think they're all included.

All other worlds, yeah.

They will be.

So we don't sell one.

I think that they were sending it for the presentation.

So they don't need to have to be in there, right?

You're working on the same thing.

I'm not putting it.

I'm just not innovation.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, yeah.

So it's not actually a lot of people.

So there was no parts of the last time.

Oh, it's a long time to actually use it.

So you need to be accessed.

The full financial plan is a lot of people that you're active, but it's a little bit of a lot of things.

And that's what we use.

Yeah, I know.

No, I mean, it's not a current sort of thing.

Yeah, see, that's right.

So the cause of the standard, do we need a new study to do that?

Or something uh, I would think we should do that.

So, yeah.

Yeah, but that's what I suppose.

I'll say if not all the allocations are updates, shouldn't be as well.

Yeah, uh, and where the water is going, but they it's sort of like a feature that we can see.

You know, two or two, three hundred thousand dollars.

Um, so we can take some of the last time.

We can't think about shirt, and so maybe you just get something picking focus on it, and that's the other thing.

I think it's that way.

It feels that's our way, uh, so it's more working, so we can do it.

Oh, well yeah, other than something, other than that, you can't do it.

So, he has time, and then it's a big thing, but it's a place from the summary.

I mean, it doesn't all have to be done in the big channel.

That's why that's what you can be so important.

Yeah, no, you got to go to the hand first.

You want to do that in fact, it's a short, that's not what it's waiting for.

And like, I know all these, but you like this, but it's uh, and sometimes we'll make the same one.

So, I think all that is good.

So, when that one is done, that's going to be a free.

Yeah, so it's kind of like how do you think there's short term, or the small material, uh part of the explanation.

But more of these, what was what would be the thing with all the uh switch?

And they're uh, that twenty five steps.

I think we're just gonna be using coverage.

I think that's what we are.

But we are going to have a space for it.

So if we could have everything, so one of the only things that are very important.

But you have a couple of years, but you know, five, it's one of the five minutes.

The number of days a year, you know, it's possible.

Yeah, and we got a wonderful overseas.

And then we're looking at that.

So we can see the experience and just uh, so we can say what we do.

If we're always seeing the movie, uh that we're going to have three thousand years, you know.

So, you know, they are improving it.

Right.

And there is a way to use it, so then we have to pull that thing.

I mean, we have to sort of urge it.

I mean, we're really not going to require that.

It is a server, but you do have a channel.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's basically the time.

We are like, but we need to work.

Uh, so it's a long time.

No, that's what we got.

I think they're right.

So, we can't make sure you should go.

Yeah, so they can't push.

Well, we can run into that.

Well, I'm going to make a lot of hard.

So, broadcast is all over the test.

Well, I don't know.

I mean, we're on the university.

Okay, I'm not going to be aware of it.

Uh, yeah, I mean, uh, so you know, we're going to have a send an email.

So I can make the other thing.

Okay.

Not that they won't be like, uh, something uh there's a large rocket, uh, there's a way to look at it.

Yeah, that's how you can tell them.

Yeah, you can play it because you got the American cars, but it's a lot of cool.

So I think that's a good thing.

So, you know, I think that's a good thing.

So I'm just trying to make an always sure.

So, it's a good time.

And so, we're just going to be able to do it.

I knew you were talking about it.

I thought it was a very good key.

But I think what that's just, well, we're going to put it on the other part of the cat's uh, we can make it a line.

Yeah, well, we can't get to the first one.

So, you know, you don't have any money.

That's what we're talking about.

I think uh, I think that's not a lot of things that I don't know.

I mean, if they're on the Facebook or not, but I mean, they're like, 20,000, but that's why I always put that on.

That's true.

If you go there, does that go to the animation?

That's a little more.

And maybe uh, but then also, you have to be more than a lot.

That would be another one.

Go for it.

You're not a lot of five.

Yeah, I think it's the one.

We don't know.

Yeah, we've been covered.

Yeah, you can make a challenge.

Okay, so we just thought we'd have to talk about it.

Oh, and we're not decision.

Oh, I can at all.

Okay, uh, no, they got a change.

I think it's a happy decision.

It's not because it's got the property.

Well, really.

Oh, yeah.

Well, I mean we will talk about it.

Alright, well, we have to make it so they have time.

I don't know what you want to do.

So we didn't just try someone.

Yeah, I'll be honest.

Oh, we're trying to do it.

No, no, it's I guess we're going to be able to do it.

Yeah.

I think that's fine.

Well, I want to put it like you know that.

That was twenty minutes.

Do you guys need a little more time?

Or we're going to go.

We're gonna put that where you want us to put our stuff on.

Um let's let's see if we can have all this.

You think we can get away with putting it on the wall up here?

I don't know.

Is that metal or is it?

I'm sure it's all I know.

Every news organization is all either now.

Yeah, it'll work.

I think we're stuck.

Okay, so I'm very weird, you guys done, or do you need more time?

Oh we're done.

Were y'all recording Maggie?

Okay.

I didn't know Maggie was uh, and then all the house property.

They drafted somebody.

I know.

I think it's just one.

So it's a percentage of the uh, it's just a very good one.

Doesn't need to be super long, but that's our people.

Okay, that's why is it not?

We want to see what we want to say.

So then I think that's the case.

I think we're having a conversation with that.

Oh, sorry.

Oh, I'm fine, but they're fine right there.

Um, I'll make it for the discussion.

I just want to oh it doesn't matter.

I was just trying to get out of their way.

I think it would be something that's not a little bit.

Yeah.

For all that's not really more.

Well, uh, do you know what that one's like?

You want to come back to the other.

You're all they're they're over.

One o'clock.

Is that what we're doing?

Yeah.

Plus that's the button.

What's that the bubbly for everybody?

You know, I think that who doesn't do that?

Robert Leach.

Yeah, Robin Lane.

Yeah.

I'm sure we failed to do it.

Yeah, that's what we've got.

Okay.

Oh, we have a rear one, too.

We did too.

So I think it was kind of built that way on service.

But you got magic in the show.

You started the jumping off point that makes you uncomfortable, which makes you think a little bit more outside the box.

That's the most.

But again, you know, as long as we're focusing on the things that let's start with the ideas from group number one.

Okay.

Um their strength was FMS, but their weakness they were addressing was homelessness.

And they have F-35 and ancillary jobs created to provide opportunities for people to prevent falling into homelessness.

So we see we'd see not just the not just the jobs that support the F-25, but just one of those, you know, maybe those that the Lockheed Martin, you can kind of talk about it, but are there other ancillary jobs that are going to come off that that will provide opportunity on the equipment?

Next would be international downtown order to attract entertainment and family attractions.

Yeah, so I think the thought is we give some of these people that are coming from Germany from Singapore.

A place to go, or like a like a like a um, you know, kind of a home away from home kind of thing in terms of bars and restaurants, something like that.

Um they can go down, have some entertainment.

And you know, we we talked about from a homelessness situation.

Just having people uh around kind of tends to push the homelessness away.

So uh so lighting, all that kind of stuff.

So you have you bring families, you bring uh entertainment down, and downtown, and it kind of starts to you know, downtown seems to be a hub for homelessness, so this would kind of push it out.

Okay.

Update future Fort Smith to include FMS and homelessness.

You want to talk about that?

Yeah, so when we did our conference of planning years ago, FMS wasn't even here yet.

And I think whole business was a very small piece of that, and I don't think it was even a later.

So maybe it's time to add whole campus was going to be.

I think the update was now, 2015 or something.

Yeah, so maybe maybe the idea is you update and clear those things and call it 2050 plan or 2045 plan or something like that.

Okay.

And then the fourth bullet point is international restaurant and vacant buildings downtown.

Yeah, so again, you're supporting those folks that are moved here from across the world, um, a place that they can they can go eat, drink, and you know, kind of a taste of home, but you also put in some of these vacant buildings that are down here.

And again, you you're driving traffic, you're driving people to the downtown area, which usually when you shine a light, it uh kind of homelessness kind of runs from that.

I think that's uh it's it's really about bringing people down and providing opportunities.

So I can do it to kind of uh deal with both of the homelessness challenge.

I think that one says it just downtown.

I mean, really, it's all over.

Yeah, I agree.

I agree with that.

I just I think we're thinking the largest concentrations down here.

Uh, when we were working with the uh when we went and spent the day with the fire department.

I mean, I was I was asking them questions and asking questions about homelessness, so we talked a lot about homelessness.

They took me around a lot of the homeless encampments and and things like that.

I mean, it's really concentrated around here.

Obviously, yes, it is elsewhere, but um, this is kind of a walking walkable area down here, and um, you know, I kind of like to address that.

Obviously, that helps the downtown development and other things that are uh that I think are challenges for us.

Okay, now for people who were not in that group, do you have anything to add on to that?

Anything that you want to talk about, any additional ideas that spread to your head about homelessness?

You got anything, not necessarily booking FMS to it necessarily, but is there anything else about homelessness that you want to add on to this?

Well, I would you know tie it into a funding for police and fire, and also you know, I'm the one that had added the availability of illegal products, okay.

Um, I think that does seem to inform a good portion of the homeless population from from what I can tell.

And you know, like with yesterday we saw the articles about the car fundle that's now in Fort Smith, that's really concerning.

So I would tie that in.

Do we need more funding to the police for a drug passports, more officers, things like that?

Anything else?

This is a good start.

It's a good start of things.

So let's move on to the second group.

Thank you, guys.

Good job.

Um, second group, their strength was the strong education and military core, uh, and their weakness was looking at the competing general fund priorities.

So the first thing they have is build partnerships, and they have UAFS with firefighters, ape with parks, military with police, how can they help us?

You guys want to talk more about that?

Sure, we just simply were saying if we could create networking partnerships and know that those people obviously probably care about the entire view of the city, but if we would say, hey, for this next season, would you this could you assist with firefighters?

And what does that look like for you guys?

Could you offer grant assistance discovery?

Because I know that there's Chris Hoover, but he is just one guy.

Uh and could you host a regional training for not just uh you know our firefighters, but other firefighters and bring them in, or you know, going through that bottom list, having each agency figure out how can they, you know, with a if you're promoting healthy lifestyle, how can you go do the same thing and then military the same way?

Uh these tend to bring like higher performing incomes, and if we could even challenge those leaders to live in Fort Smith, not outside of Fort Smith, and then going through that list, can they provide any internships or volunteerism?

Can they host some trainings?

Uh could you perceive an offer a firefighting degree for our firefighters to be able to promote up?

And I know I was talking to Chief Clark, our firefighter chief, uh, when he puts his presentation together, you know, it is him doing it.

He doesn't have a department, if you will, that can hand him a promotional piece, and but UA Fort Smith could come around him and help him build out an annual report.

Um, and so just trying that was a struggle for us, but that's what we came up with.

It was a hard one, it it is been you kind of think a little bit.

Yeah, so those are secondary thoughts, you know, how you can uh how our streets could affect the the problem.

Um, but if you look at um the grant uh grants and was that saying grant the discovered discoveries and all that, no, the training.

So the training, uh, if we have local uh training partnerships that could save us in travel and training, uh which would help the general funds to the to the point about UAFS.

Um if you if you if you and we talked about our I'm kind of looking at pay bill and fourth set.

When you look at Fayetteville's enrollment numbers, it has doubled in the last 20 years, so it it's significantly doubled.

Whereas UFOS hasn't.

I think that that that says something about what where priorities and where funding goes.

Remember, you're only 20 years old.

I'm not saying that we should grow at that same level.

I'm saying that they they've grown significantly.

The UA system is changing, the UA system is changing them all.

Can we do something?

Can they do something?

Can they appeal to the uh UA system to or what you guys just said here?

So we expand that role.

I mean, you go from 14,000 people when I was in school there to 30,000 today.

I mean that's not that's I mean, that's I wouldn't necessarily say that's not organic growth.

That's that's that's growth that that has been pushed through by the U.S.

system.

Can I add something to that?

Um, because I looked in pay at all during that time.

When state started offering in-state tuition to Texas students, that's when everything just exploded.

We offer in state tuition to every state that touches Arkansas.

The university system.

No, our our UAFS.

UAFS does.

Is that different than it's I'm just saying we we have done that for years, so it's it's I don't know that it's different.

It might be I am always interested to see the number of people that go to UCIS that are uh from far away.

Yeah, we have people who are contacting somebody I was talking to somebody who's been in my classes following in Okinawa, yeah.

So it hasn't responded to shorter, yeah.

I didn't know we did that, but I didn't know when I was in pay when they started doing that, it was like within a year all the high-rise apartments were going up, and it was it really changed the landscape of things.

When I was there and Sam Walton gave 300 million dollars, which at the time was the largest gift to a college business, that makes a difference, right?

That was the shutter.

Yes, I was up there.

That was the late 90s.

I was early 90s, so it was the 90s.

I was you know, hanging on.

So basically, it it this is focusing on building partnerships, which I think is great.

So is there anything else that you want to chip in about the competing priorities in the general?

Let me go back to the partnerships.

Did y'all consider peak?

We did, and I thought, I figured UFOS will do that through PEEP.

So for instance, like it's doing I think they have a medic.

They do, paramedic program.

So does that paramedic program?

But that's UFO.

So that's caught by UFIS.

That's what I'm saying.

Does that help with fire?

So that's what you're gonna keep through.

Okay, Gary Pargerski reached out to me when uh about the article that that Mr.

Tilly uh wrote about the new positions for FMS, and could peak offer training for folks that want to be a F 35 mechanic, like I to me that seems like a partnership.

I was like, that's a pretty good idea.

That sounds like a partnership that I see what you're saying.

Right, right, yeah, exactly.

Because it I think that's what the those agencies would come up with is if I was sitting there with all the staff of the UA Fort Smith, they'd go, Well, we're gonna try to use peak then to take on some of these ideas.

Parameters are and they would staff and go forward.

Okay, great.

Let's look at group number three.

Let me ask one thing on that.

Absolutely.

Just one thought of that.

Just hit me finally at the very end.

If the military had a way to do so, and they were gonna put together a training space.

Would we need to create the trade to your property?

And could we then crawl that back to you know focus now on more police and better pay and not have to worry about the training and pull the training purely from the community partners?

Like police academy training.

Yeah, I mean they got a military Chaffee has a military.

We have the Navy SEALs that come here and train, so could they not also train our police?

It's a different thing.

I know.

I'm just saying if there was a way to do this partnership idea, could you want to talk about general fund savings?

That would that would be a we'd have to go through some clearances and all this and that.

But if that was even conceivable, that that's where I think you would have a good general fund saving.

And then you could focus on the other things.

If you're talking about credit, that stuff has to go through a whole process internally at the university, and then it has to go to the state to get approved.

If they doesn't want to do it, they do it.

So just if you're talking credit programs, that is that's very possible, but that's a two or three-year out kind of thing.

Uh, whereas if you're talking non-credit training, talk to my boss and see who can find.

But does that happen very often?

We petition the system and they say no.

Every so often, every so often.

And we were thinking both.

We were thinking both.

We've been told don't even try a few times because we have the one like it's a good one.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all.

But you know, that's that's an old that's that's just there's there's politics involved and everything, right?

Yeah, okay.

These are great.

Let's go to this last one.

Their strength was your regional hub, transportation-wise, uh, in terms of the center of a judicial metropolitan area, uh, and the weakness was financing for water capital projects.

So the first one was positioned well for issuing of water.

Water what water and water and through a debt for water projects through regular rate adjustment, two was update regional hydrology study for infrastructure, regional hydrology stress.

So, we need to um refine it a little bit.

You know, last time they presented us with it, they were estimating nine percent growth year over year.

Well, typically what we've seen is about 1.9%.

So we need to get our numbers a little more in line with what our growth is actually going to look like.

What's the regional?

I think the regional word is kind of interesting.

Well, and really it starts with the third point is that we are a regional water supplier, and so our uses for mountain bird, what are the uses for?

Right.

Well, we've got the 11 wholesale customers, and we're more than just the city's customers, we're the regional supply, and so there are a lot of people depend on.

So our planning should be regional-based, and that that's where that's where that comes from in terms of our our water study, our water hydrology study, is already regional because we're supplying water for so many other entities in the region.

Okay, and then the third one was regional partnerships for long-term water planning with our wholesale partners.

Yeah, that's just based on the the natural you know where we're positioning, and you know, there's there's opportunities there, uh, but you know, we need to be smart.

And so we are a regional hub for transportation, we didn't really focus on that.

We mostly focused on the water discussion, and you know, we rolled in uh Mr.

Morton that participated as our as a draft D, but uh just to that discussion that you know we're trying to find a way to do long-term sustainable financing for our water projects, and there is a little bit of capacity.

I think we've built in to where we if we do the sort of CIP-based or incremental increases, we can help sustain some of these projects through uh through our water rate, but we still need to answer that or find a solution for that big question of you know the the big the big projects in terms of water capital projects.

I want to see our regional partners play a larger role in the funding of these water markets.

And that's been some of our discussion, but the other thing to remember is that those regional pro partners have been participating in the development of what we've got I want to participate more, yeah.

Well, I think too is we go through and uh renegotiate some those contracts.

We have some contracts that are expired and normally that's maybe the dress.

And we are like the draft.

Right, and we are standardizing.

We are standardizing that wholesale water contract process.

So the documents will look similarly.

They'll be adjusted for each individual entities require you know their usage needs, but the document itself will just refer to the rate we've adopted.

The rate the rate discussion is a little bit different than the contract discussion.

The contracts are, you know, within a you know, the pages of the documents, and this is how we how we're gonna operate.

The rate is gonna be still adjustable by the board as we need to do rate adjustments.

So those adjusted rates will apply to our contract.

So we've got we've got rates and and and that's over here.

We've also got this contract over here.

Right, the two are not there together, but they're not there.

Right, we're not dependent on each other.

Right, we're not gonna have a contract with user X that says for 10 years, your rate's gonna be this.

We're not gonna have that.

We're gonna have you know how the how the thing functions, how what their estimated, you know, maximum take is how close are they getting to that use time?

Are there how what are we requiring of them to invest in their system to prevent water losses and things like that?

Those are the rates separate.

Those are the things that have expired, where it's are we in the process of redoing that?

Yes, we'll start seeing some of those this summer because we we have we've worked with uh the city attorney to standardized the document.

We've shared it with the board.

I think in like February for some initial contact for some comments that's been adjusted.

We're rolling it, we're rolling it back to it.

Starting to have the discussions with the wholesale customers uh about what that looks like for them.

We have the first one this week up with a relatively you know, an easy user.

I mean, they have low usage, they well, they're well maintained and that sort of thing.

So uh we'll see the first one hopefully in July or August.

So we we talk max usage and and things like that.

Yes, okay.

Yes.

We can we can ship we can try and stick it down, yes.

Is there also is rates the only way they can partner with us, or is there other ways when we talk about going to bonding that they can assist in the process even beyond the scope of their rates?

Is there any thought to I mean can they help us beyond their rates?

I don't I don't know.

I'm not gonna say no, but I just don't know how what that mechanism looks like.

Some of these part of these might have the I think it all comes back down.

I mean, if we're gonna be going championing the bond, we need to figure out how to get our partners to reimburse us for obligate for our obligation to bond.

I think that's how that has to work.

But we I think the biggest problem we have is that our contracts end up being very vague.

It seems like a lot of times we don't hold people to what they're contracted to.

And that that's something that I've I've seen a lot just in the time I've been here.

You know, a lot of our contracts don't provide definitions for things, and so I think um, you know, going forward we need to be really mindful about uh about the contracts we're writing to make sure that we, you know, when we have someone obligated that that obligation is clear, yeah.

Well then shifting the topic for a little bit on that, just on that specific point.

I mean, hopefully we started seeing that with our alleyway project, we have a contract that wasn't performing with ProPhoenix where we have a contractor who's you know got a problem, but we're starting to be more active in standing up for ourselves, I guess, in terms of in terms of that kind of thing.

Do you want to put one in the two?

Okay.

I'm sorry, do we have contracts that have minimum minimum usage?

I don't think so.

We they're they're all based on the maximum.

So based on the maximum, so we know of 40 45 44 45% of all water is outside the city footprint.

So any infrastructure tied to the treatment plants and the water line should be 50-50.

50% should be inside the city, 50% should be outside the city.

I don't know.

And my thought is on the bonding, can multiple municipalities bond together, meaning we're gonna fix our infrastructure.

Why?

I would see that from the from the four Smiths perspective.

We own it.

I mean, I think there's an advantage to that.

I don't know that we would necessarily want to share ownership.

Because that starts, you know, you're consolidating into a utility district or utility.

But isn't that what NWA does?

That's why they're they're not owned by the cities, they're owned by Beaver Water District.

That's a whole different system.

Right.

I think there's an advantage to us to be able to drive how this happens, so it had to happen to us.

I I feel like our focus is always strictly on residential within the city, and I want to see that focus expanded.

Yep, I agree.

I I want to see more focus on those outside.

Well, I think it's only focused because that's where we're hearing the voices.

Well, those are who get the vote.

Right.

That's right.

But I want to try to lessen it on them as much as possible so that they know when they they see that uh yeah, you guys are you guys are making these other folks pay.

Um, you know, and we're and we're we're we're looking at them hard.

So our our folks just don't take the brunt of it all the time.

That's why I've had a problem with this whole this whole thing with our coma and their sewer.

You know, that's that's that's really been a source of frustration for me because you look, we can see our home.

Well, maybe can't see our phone from here, but it's close by and I can move there and I'm paying less.

Now I know that they they have a thing.

I thought that I think you're right, you're right.

They they they tack on a bunch of stuff there, um, along with their sewer.

I just I hate seeing that rate.

Well, that's kind of why I'm coming back to can they help us in a loan?

I know we own it, I hear that, but uh, you know, we can't turn off water to those towns.

Like if we turned off water to the 11 outside users because we said we can't longer afford your infrastructure and our infrastructure, but we would be in hot water, as we should be.

And we know they're gonna never stop using our water or sewer, that's great.

Then why not come in and say we would like to have a partnership element in the lending process?

But on the on the other side of that, we control the rates, you know.

We can say we can determine what those needs are for the infrastructure of the whole thing regionally and determine what that rate needs to be to pay for that, and without depending on the you know the other the wholesale customers to weigh in on how we do that, and I think that's how we get them to participate, is to set an appropriate rate that pays for these things, but we get to do that right now.

I wouldn't hate for us to do that absolutely.

Why not have the minimum amounts?

I agree with that.

Because at the end of the day, we're putting our model based on usage.

So what happens if all of a sudden they find a second source or something else, or they or a town?

I mean, I think there should be some way of looking at previous five years and saying your minimum usage is gonna be 70% of your normal number.

Especially with the cost of making the infrastructure, they should be guaranteeing a minimum.

I mean, I have to do that with my business with a lot of not that they have to use it, but they have to just pay for if it's not used, they just got to pay for it.

Yeah, like I have to meet a there's companies that do mean a minimum with that reporter every year.

Well, we have we have two regular users.

I think that are regular user contracts that are Van Buren and Barling.

I believe that they may have a minimum in terms of how much they're supposed to take, but the rest of our customers aren't considered surplus users.

The only reason they can get water from us is because we have surplus capacity that we have available to sell them.

So we don't necessarily set a minimum for them.

That we can turn them off.

Well, I mean, if they're considered surplus, there are to I mean if we get to the point where we no longer have excess or surplus water to sell, then we would go through the process term in three months, we wouldn't just turn it off.

Does any of our third party any of our outside service you use are are using our water to go to them and sell it to somebody else?

I don't think maybe shouldn't.

Okay, wait, wait, wait.

I don't know.

I think but shouldn't we should we try to make staff knows?

But shouldn't we?

If that's happening, then that should be.

If we're selling it to come uh X and they're selling for some, why we don't need we need to get rid of X to just go right straight to water.

Well, and when you talked about rates for sales, but I just want to say, the thing is you said well we can control their rates, but not really, because I've I've heard there are multiple discussions of watching the board talking about being part of it that we can't charge them much much more than we charge our people.

But could we charge an infrastructure surcharge that's not connected to the rates, but is just saying you're an outside user, we will now have an infrastructure surcharge in addition to your rates.

If we can defend the feasibility of it, then I think we can.

I mean, I mean, I've I've always thought regardless of lines and transmission lines, but water is the car.

Exactly.

And I want to treat it as we we just said one of the one of these uh strengths is water supply.

Yes, that's the commodity.

I want to just because there's a line running through, yeah, that's good.

That gets it down here, but the water is the car.

I think there ought to be.

I think there ought to be well.

That should never happen.

That's why I think you could defend an infrastructure surcharge and then say, now your rates, we understand they gotta be within reason of us or whatever, but the infrastructure footprint of what we have, having a surcharge for those outside, might be the safest, cleanest way to get them beyond rate.

You're calling it an infrastructure charge.

I'm calling it a water search charge.

Sure.

I like that.

Just because that's that's the commodity, that's what's important.

Yeah, because look without us at this point conceivably, you wouldn't have it.

Yeah, and without that dam, and without all you know, that whole that thing up there.

Yeah, the treatment line does that.

Especially if they're 45% of the system, yes.

Well, if they're 45% of the system, yeah.

We we're hitting max capacity in Fort Smith.

Or we're we're producing 50 million gallons, and we potentially you have to have to ration 12 people from using water.

That also makes sense, but I'll say they're 45% of the existing system, but that system wouldn't be nearly as large if they had the 10 participants in it for the last 50 years.

Well, no, I I agreed and disagree.

Because the Greek part would be part of right, but the district part is that pipe from Lake Fort Smith has been the same pipe.

So, regardless of South Fort Smith, could speed nuts, but if we didn't have to put 44% everywhere else, I believe it was just going straight down that.

I mean, we got brand here in Barton, so maybe 20.

But I'm not trying to say Barton Fort Smith.

I mean, part of Fan Beer and I get that, but when we started going, hey, we're going down to Franklin County because we had it.

Well, that type that we put there is causing extra burden on our systems.

So then how many contracts are able to be renegotiated or expire if you want it?

I think that there are 14 altogether, and I think maybe out of those at least half of them have uh we're operating without a current agreement.

Maybe a little bit more than half, I don't really.

So their rate schedule has not been updated.

They're still paying our rate.

It does have nothing to do with the rate that they pay.

They still pay our uh the rate that we currently have about the five or three.

Okay, that's what I didn't know.

I think contract should be uh rolling three years.

So if there's something you want to change, you don't have to wait.

You don't have to wait.

And the the version that we showed you in February, it's a five-year-old.

Yeah, but I think they're rolling three.

Yeah, but you got when you're talking about infrastructure, and then that's got to be talking longer terms.

But until you decide what that is, and then once you decide that, then everything gets you just say everything is what it is.

Well, join us, you can, or you got three years to go find your own water supply.

I have eleven fifty nine uh 12 is the lunch break, right?

So I would just like the city to take a type of stains with our partners.

Okay, all right.

Let's see here, are we ready to get some lunch?

Get back at 12 30?

Yeah, all right.

Alright, let's do that.

All right.

And you the DJ too?

Okay, that's very often.

Alright, we're back live on recording.

It is faintly.

Oh, did you get it?

Yeah, I got it.

Okay, right.

Yeah, for now.

You want to come right here?

Sure.

Group number one, which I believe was the trio.

Yes, Neil.

Kevin and George.

Okay.

You guys are gonna have how do we use our strength as a regional hub to take advantage of the opportunity to attract investment and economic growth?

That's a good one.

We like that one.

Yeah, these um sometimes they go together, but our corner now.

Okay.

Group number two, I believe that was you two, right?

Yeah, right.

Um you guys have how do we use the strength of of our military and education partners to take advantage of the opportunity to continue growth of industry and manufacturing?

Okay.

So I talked to the and Christina and Jeff.

You guys have how do you use FMS to take advantage of investment and development in the area beyond FMS?

Um that's the that's the one.

That's sort of paraphrasing several of the subtopics.

Oh, I know that's that.

It's a third one.

So how is your extra house?

Transcribe, saying, What are we supposed to maybe we could leverage it for the directors sending grants?

Yeah.

So how do we use more of the I think about that?

Our strength as a different smaller.

So you know, it's a four parts or two years, I can say, is that military?

Yes, that's military leaders, right?

Uh the military and educational partnerships, yeah.

Uh I think they say core, and like, who knows what I wrote?

Yeah, he's it's starting to go for relationship building in the panel.

You change the charts, yeah.

So there's two places, yeah.

That's it.

That's a little bit of a little bit of that.

If you do that, then you can change the value.

I don't know.

Is it certain fire or then maybe they have a little up to Ohio?

So I don't know if you sound recruiting.

Yes.

So, I think we can just make it uh, you can see all of us.

You'll just start with the stripes with us.

So, you got the smooth water, we are just on the private.

So it happens back to watch markets are the sold that.

I don't know how to think about what he is because you know it has more than technology.

It's like he my husband?

He's always volunteering the jobs.

And I'll probably put the security branch.

And I wonder how many people are calling that shit.

Is it bringing people?

And is that the first isn't that people?

So it's just one maybe.

It was like we had to have one that is six months, and then we're just going to wine.

So I think that's aware of the reports.

Um, as objects and then sort of maybe nothing.

What else?

They should have some sort of possibility.

Well, especially the exceptions, right?

So a lot of people should be inside and then uh we should focus on getting the higher up so that it's uh shows over the technology.

Um, because of this project, or you can project is that sort of trying to be able to be knowing that uh, you know, like sort of a lot of stuff, or if you score, exactly.

We have to have a discussion on the provider, it's just like that.

So we got some talk about it, so I think it's a good opportunity for us to highlight our cultural diversity on there and lean into that.

It's all about the easy one to talk about it.

What else can we do?

It's like that would have been a great one.

It's just a big round thing, sort of, exactly.

Okay, we have a lot of things.

Like, under people, that's how I have that now.

Yeah, and it's like our community, we can be we all know each other.

We're also excited, they're like, yeah, sorry, uh like I haven't even thought about that, but like one of those turning out there, and you know, there's some of the cultural uh, something like that.

Um, I mean, I think we're there.

Wait, that's it is the opportunity that I'll cultural grounds and he is to do the highlight cultural diversity.

No, it's like, uh, it's a airport.

Yeah, yeah.

Maybe maybe uh also identity.

Is that what we have but uh, uh, set up with the go for big cargo?

You go for how much how much I think 12,000 and that's uh yeah, support, and I think when we look at cities who are just like growing and we work a lot, and that's definitely a city that celebrates it's uh little diversity.

They really keep trying to have how the help should first have just a regular security, but it's not a person.

Yeah, because I think that will be very easy for us to say it's really the type of function, but it's a little bit of a true.

So that's the one you can provide errors and just showing what we've got to do.

Yeah, you're offered or something.

Do you want to work for the insurance?

You should have a barrier shop.

Well, you wouldn't have to be there.

Uh, that's the online year.

Should mom and people you said, we're not trying to markanize the right.

So it's just travel with the last uh, the light trap and put it on, right?

So there's a large specialist.

What kind of documents?

Business or industry might sort of do the extra fact that would probably be technology.

But I mean well, but we're on the show.

There's a reader for them.

That's sort of the fire.

Somebody's in a lot of inventory.

You can do that.

So you have a business, we will work in the fact that it's a half.

Yeah, I don't know.

That's what you can use.

Any other thing, which is that right?

Yeah, I guess that's just really what I mean.

So I think that's just functional.

I think we have a meeting where this ties into uh, you know, being wanting to turn the mayor's assistant position to small things.

Um, someone who does that.

Yeah, so that's it's a good part of the case, or we'll walk you through it all in your role, but you have to do it.

Especially if you would be in America, it's like that's what you're talking about.

So building smaller cultural intensity and past, you should have to be in the most important.

Why is it it takes thirty four years before you have to start like the current specifically, so we have to actually go to the property?

I mean, this is true.

But this is what works.

But also a lot of the education, the technology, it's necessary, the volume of modeling, but you know, I would love to see us, so I checked the way more than the uh, and we have the energy, so we're like, well, there is a lot of day, that's also not the function.

So I don't know if you're showing up technology.

We have the policy, and there's a lot of the magic, we can do it.

So, that's right.

So, what do you do for you?

But it's just a version of the target, you know.

But we're on the city.

Yeah, we're wondering if it was like the state has a workforce connections program that uh offers everyone's office.

Why call it workers on the kind of function?

Or uh workforce development technology or things like that.

So we can get back to the cycle.

So what is it's a recycle.

So we want to call it the system.

But it's a full of the contract.

Okay.

But you might want to make sure we're going to do that.

And the whole thing is not the first mortgage ever signed.

Well, it's here.

So we'll have to model the version.

Why is the sign that has a strength that's just for the bank?

Oh, you see, it's not really a lot of people.

Oh no, I don't know about the losses.

Oh yeah.

I think it's how we can sell or make a bit of a magic.

I have a cooking.

Okay.

Three days a week.

We'll get much.

Uh, whatever it was, I was thinking of sure.

I don't know.

And stickers.

Okay.

It's like the city of work.

Okay.

So Josh will have to be able to see your own.

Josh.

Yeah, sorry.

Look at the original.

Yeah.

Do you remember what we got?

What's up?

That's like four minutes.

We have four seconds on the top.

Yeah.

Great American.

No, it's very good.

I think that you're tight.

Is it just a identity as a great American?

You got to see that.

You start thinking sharing.

There you go.

We have to use a dollar.

And we're losing money because they've got starting here, but it's not a good voluntary.

Yes, it's a good thing.

Yeah, it does.

So we don't know.

Or is it a lot of other offices that come there and see how it's linking on the phone?

It's a monitoring, the temperature, I think you are he's not present, and I think that's probably due to his picture.

I've got it all photographed in the year.

Yeah, I guess.

Yeah, but I put on the uh table here and it picked up a bunch of stuff.

I apologize.

Oh, you're good.

But if I think of a stay at least long enough, but yeah.

That's the same.

I'll go close to the So you thought you're digging.

George is uh George Christmas.

George, I think, of course you know.

Oh, we went up there.

No, uh, George.

Okay, friends.

Let's let's see what we got here.

So, group number one had how we use our swing as a hub to take advantage of the opportunity to attract investment and economic growth.

So we've got 12-foot channels to increase barge traffic.

Yeah.

We've got I-49 completion.

Expand manufacturing, and they mentioned peaks specifically.

Airport expansion, uh central hub, longer runway, freight and commercial travel.

Oh, yeah, I want Andrew to talk about that because he knows about the the hub.

Go ahead and speak to it.

We talked about FedEx.

Yeah, FedEx we maybe have here for FedEx.

I mean, they're in Memphis.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know.

Well I could work for them, he would know.

There's any chance.

I don't know a whole lot because of the change that we've just experienced to reorganization.

In fact, I was just telling the channel that, you know, I was just reading that I thought that we had sold uh part of our uh well the the freight side, but we didn't sell it, it just broke off and became result entity.

Okay, but anyway, I have no idea what that would look like.

It seems like we're actually losing uh opportunities with FedEx, so I wouldn't speak to you.

You say we're losing opportunities in Fed A.

FedEx is losing opportunities, yeah.

Okay, so right.

Okay.

What's the 12-foot canal?

What is that?

Yeah.

So it's uh if I remember right the Arkansas River is not certified as 12-foot channel.

So it reduces what type of parts traffic you can break up to the to the Portsmouth.

Well, yeah.

It's not, I think also specifically all the way up to the Port of Muscoty where it ends on the upper country.

Yeah, but but I get that, but at least uh here it's not certified at all.

Right.

At least two here from where?

The front to Mississippi to here.

Okay, so Mississippi to here.

Okay.

It's not certified as well.

So if you can get it to the Mississippi River, you can get it in Mississippi, you'll say it's coming from Country X through Panama Canal, up here, Mississippi, and up of Mississippi.

If you get 12-foot channel, then it's it changes what you bring in here.

Yeah, and so I think kind of where we were where we were kind of talking about, and I mean this I think probably all of us have talked about this is the water, the rail, and the air, giving you that ability to distribute it out.

Yeah.

And we've never really I don't know if we as a city have ever really taken advantage of that.

We I think we've talked about this.

I think it's always on the list.

I think it's always on the list, I just don't know how to.

I mean, we're right with George said we're right in the middle of the country.

Yeah, and can we get that certification?

It's a core of engineers, and we've tried, they don't have to judge the river.

They have to go with the response to where they still have to take care of it.

I think there's one area if I remember it's got rock ahead of it.

Yeah, and that's not anywhere closer to here.

Of course, all around us is that it's what we yeah, it's it's like it's between here and through the middle of the state, there's areas where it's not.

The Conway area, so exactly where there's not that many places, but so you can get all the places can't certify the whole thing.

That sounds like a collaboration with other cities.

Yeah.

Well, I think it's I think it's not so much the cities, I think it's the federal government before engineers.

Yeah.

Okay.

Maybe we put that on a uh agenda.

Yeah, it's kind of statewide.

It's the state itself.

Maybe we put that on an agenda with our federal partners.

That's all.

I like that, yeah.

At least you have it for a while.

We have been a while.

We did.

It's been on the radar before, but it's not recent that we've got to have any opportunity to speak with them.

Maybe we can have anything like that, anyway.

One of the things on one of the lists was that I heard it's one of the recommendations with the relationship, Italy and statewide, so that's the an opportunity.

So, yeah.

Uh there's also casino and historical entertainment on this.

I'll let you know if you know, casino.

Okay.

Tell us about casino, or I've said for years.

If we put the scene on that river, that would jump start that river.

Probably.

No, no about it.

Yeah, they're driving across the river.

Well, you didn't know that many.

You just saw a hundred and forty million dollar expansion, the chop dollars.

We can have that happening right down here.

But the problem was Ray Baker and Don Hutchins.

They were dead, they were dead set against it.

And Benny Westwell almost pulled it off with Petillus, but it never happened.

Well, things change sentiment changes.

Huh?

Well, it's been a long time.

Sentiment changes around things like that.

And we didn't have a casino across across the road then either.

It's two casinos.

Well, that's true, yeah.

But why not keep the millions of dollars here?

We're losing millions of dollars every year those we say now.

Enforcement, that's what I'm saying.

I think people see that now.

Well, I mean, you're not stopping.

Whereas 25 30 years ago when they were discussing it, it was an abstract idea.

Now people see, well, we've got one across the street, we're losing our money there.

Why don't we have one?

That's right.

I'm saying I don't think the the pushback from the public will be what it was.

It's not a CID thing.

It's a state.

It's downtown, isn't it?

It's a state thing.

And that has to be it has to be authorization for a casino to get a gaming license to go with this location.

There's there's not yet.

That was the whole deal with the Benny Westwell do it.

It's a federal thing.

Right.

Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs determines where people put casinos.

And there was the constitutional issue in Arkansas, the way to have any licenses there were available in the state.

So you're saying we're out of love.

I'm just saying, I'm just saying it's not necessarily us that has to authorized that.

I mean, but see the idea is I mean, they're only compared to speed city or something like that.

Are you talking about like a riverboat casino?

No, like a like a casino casino.

Yeah, it's a regular standard.

I thought that the thing with many years ago was a riverboat casino.

That was before what's happened.

I mean, there's there's not anything for us to do directly other than other than have conversations with the entities that could negotiate such a change.

Okay, we can't do that.

Well, there's other avenues besides the shop calls and Cherokees that would look at that.

Well, the city of Fort Smith to put a casino out there bred by the city.

No, no, no, no, no.

There's professionals that do that.

Yeah.

But even in that in that sense, I mean the Cherokees and Choptaw vote have huge investments in their properties that are just across.

So even if there was a third entity that was a possibility, then you're competing with those folks.

And I mean that would be a I think that I mean, and those folks have a lobby that you have a reason we'd be making a decision.

Well, yeah, I mean, I mean, with the investment they've got there, those two facilities, I I have to.

Okay, so why can't we work with you with one of them to put a place on our river?

Maybe you should sign up to go on the DC trip and you could advocate for it.

I'm scared of fine.

We could go talk to the uh well, you can certainly investigate the possibility.

The jump dogs are wanting to do business with us.

There's no doubt about it.

We can't you know that.

And they're investing hugely in the facility, they're college across the line.

That's when they're investments, you decide to be at some other location about that.

I aren't they aren't they looking to do some other partnerships with us, and should yeah, they are not not just on that property, but some other things.

Yeah, we are we're trying to foster relationships with them on all sorts of things.

I mean, law enforcement, infrastructure, utilities, you know, I mean, containment, you know, all those things.com or they wanting to take you know helping with their search system.

I'm sure.

Well, in that way, should we be considering a partnership with them for health care to help deal with our living health care crisis?

Well, they are the casinos are interested in that kind of partnership.

Yeah, that's good.

You know, the impression I've gotten from my limited conversations with them is that for a long time they felt like nobody wanted their money.

But now I think public sentiment around that has shifted, and I think it would be a welcome investment.

Why don't you touch baseball and jump and talk to them in some talk?

Even a little bit of casing will start out with be nice.

We're having regular conversations with them just in terms of what the Cherokee Nation or the Chom Cog Nation can partner with us on, not necessarily the casinos.

I don't see that ever being part of what happens in Fort Smith.

Well, yeah, they did give, I can't remember if it's a Choctaw's and the charity or what tribal was.

They did give money to Mercy for their cancer.

Yes, yes.

They have their own syllabus.

Yeah, right, right.

So I mean, I think we're from so going back from a health care perspective, they're they're they're doing that a little bit.

But you know, maybe maybe there's more.

Yeah, they are.

That's what made me think of it.

I think what I'm saying, George says he's trying to keep his business local.

He wants to, he wants to give money locally.

I mean, if you go to their parking lot, 90% of the license plates, Arkansas.

Yeah.

I don't go there very often.

I'm going over there, I'll go.

No, I don't got money to give.

No, she's just let me lose her in here.

That's what was the last.

What's the historical what?

Entertainment.

Historical entertainment.

I thought wrong.

Sorry.

So I right now there seems to be like a uh a really kind of a a focus on that western culture, right?

And you know, with all the uh with Yellowstone and kind of everything that's spun off of that.

Um kind of seems like it's it's in now, and um, you know, I don't know if we could capitalize on that with our history and and all of those things.

So I mean, I don't think you know, we talked earlier about you know, place for the Germans to go or the Swiss to go or whoever, you know, whoever's coming here.

Um that's you know, kind of looking separate from this, it's kind of capitalizing some of our some of the history that we have and kind of what's in vogue right now, I guess.

Well, I think that also lends itself to a discussion that we don't we don't typically have is that there's a whole new economy growing the creative economies, influencers and things like that.

I mean, this is a multi-billion dollar economy that would be easy to attract and things like that, uh, with very little investment.

I mean, I got a pair of catalogers now.

I was just thinking like if you take Laura's house when Van Gieren did the dirt stuff and they're downtown.

Yeah, but that'd be but put it but put a movie in and make that center when it's renovated, some sort of tie into a movie.

I mean, it seems like it's just in mode, man.

That's just yeah, and part of that is driven by influencer culture with the homesteading and then things like that.

I just wrote an article about that.

Yeah, well, but let's look at group number two.

This group was how we use strength of military uh and uh education to uh take advantage of the opportunity to continue growth of industry and manufacturing.

So we've got continued recruitment with leaders for the defense industry, lead peak to greater support new developments.

Oh, can I talk about the herself one?

Yes, absolutely.

How do we do that?

And who's doing that?

Well, that was a part of this whole question to me that was sort of hard was the reason the government doesn't take a lot of lead on it is because of you know, Freedom of Information Act, and when you're trying to negotiate back and forth, it's really until it there's a public decision is when the when we hear about it, but we should be encouraging the question was military and education people to continue to go after defense manufacturing and/or other industry that connect to us well and lobby on our behalf.

So I guess okay.

Who would lobby on our behalf?

Uh that's that's where that's kind of general so and so from the base goes with Chris Hoover.

That's kind of where I'm trying to.

Who's lobbying on Dr.

Riley goes with uh Professor Such and Such and such and such to say, well, if you come, we could look at creating an education program that would help you guys have the worker base that you need.

So how are how can we be strategic?

How can we as a city be strategic in that?

Pay for it?

What does that mean?

What do you mean?

Maybe they need to if they've got somebody they need to go meet, let's you know, cover their flights to get them there, so it's not at their expense and see if they can bring an ROI.

Well, and uh, they're all members of the chamber.

Shouldn't the chamber be putting that expense?

Well, I I that's that's where I'm trying to get to.

I I don't know.

I don't know, like, do we do we need a business development manager or somebody that can do some of these things?

I know I what where's the chamber end in the city of Fort Smith begin?

Is the you know what have we ever sent our city administrators on recruitment things like this before?

Uh well I don't know about specifically national defense, but they go and see everybody all the time on all kinds of things, who you the upper administration, okay.

So I'm sorry, when somebody's looking to move here, they contact the chamber first.

Uh then now when are you ever contacted?

Uh well, talking about an industry for instance.

Yeah, yeah, because uh I mean the people that they employ to look for sites and buildings, so why in the board?

Why didn't the board involved in that?

Well, because a lot of times, because they get to that point.

I mean, when it gets to the point where we go what we need the board's action on it, no, if we want to say we want to offer it so you'd also give them to give them this incentive to move here.

We don't have a lot of the we don't have a lot of coming from the board anyway, right?

Right, but we don't have a lot of uh tools in that toolbox.

The things that we do have industrial revenue bonds, the board does see, and and so they do a lot of that homework, and they they are consulting with city staff of you know what utilities are available on this piece of ground.

I mean, you offer them infrastructure improvements, can you offer cash?

The city has offered infrastructure improvements, we haven't done those.

If I may, my third point was they could those military education leaders could lobby to pass issue three, which then would give the board some opportunities as a politician.

If you George knew you wanted to go talk to somebody, yeah, you by yourself go there and say, I'm your director George could sell this.

I think the director's gonna be more involved in what the business is looking to come to, just you know, at least have knowledge so we can make a suggestion.

I mean, some cities offer cash, you know.

We'll give you a million dollars to bring 300 jobs here.

It's worth it.

That's a good return on the well.

That's that's what the industrial revenue bonds do.

We offer it back cash in the form of the property tax abatement, yeah.

Sales to sales tax abatement, sales tax three bases building permit fees.

We've done that for the college, yeah, but not for necessarily for uh industry.

So I've heard of towns in Oklahoma or Texas or whatever offering what he just talked about.

Like, we'll give you you know 25 million or so to bring your company here, and they make the it changes the whole town.

Does Arkansas state legislation keep us from doing things like that?

I mean, we can the one thing we can do is in the form of a property tax.

Okay, we couldn't just say we'll give you two million bucks out of general funds.

I think we have a constitutional problem.

Why?

Well, that's what issue three is looking to change, it's changing the constitution to allow that.

It's all allowable under our control law right now.

I just think the board needs more involvement with the business on the location.

Well, so so it helped me here.

I mean, in terms of issue three.

When we were talking when Bindy came to us and we were talking about potentially given incentive to retail.

Uh, that's pro remember that yeah, that's pro.

That was that was sales tax.

I'm just saying here's cash.

Do you want a 10-year bike?

I'm just I'm just saying, can I give you cash?

Constitutional.

Right.

That's what issue is.

Unless the legislature trying to say, that's up in November.

Yes.

But do we have those people mobilizing to educate people about issue three?

Probably not.

Who are those people?

Well, the question was military and education leaders in our community to help us grow our industry manufacturing.

I said have them lobby to help us pass issue three.

I don't know if they are or not.

I think that the I mean, probably the leadership of the university is well aware and it's probably sharing that.

Like the board may need to pass the resolution saying we'd like it to do that.

Right.

And that's and that was we added that to ours too.

I'm number three over there in terms of issue three is a is a statewide discussion now, but we as a city organization having by resolution or otherwise come out and said we are supportive of these are the things that we need, these are the tools this issue three will allow us some tools to use for these kinds of developments that we want to attract for our community.

And so I mean, I think it you know it's role for that discussion, it was relevant to the one that Christina and I had too.

I mean, in terms of issue three, can has the potential to touch all kinds of things.

Well, I mean, I would just say I don't want to pass a resolution, seeking that like Theresa Riley is very hard-strunk by what she can be supportive of.

I mean, she can even put a sign for me and her yard, she can't be looking to be political at all.

So for us at positive resolution to put that on them, I don't think would be appropriate.

I mean, the these people are involved with the chamber.

I think they can do that recruitment through the chamber versus a government entity directing it.

Where it doesn't feel as volunteers, um, let's let's make a take a look at um so we've talked about issue three.

Uh when you say lead peak to greater support, new developments, we're talking about the public school system or UAFS or the two.

Yeah, I was just connecting back to previous conversation when they said, Well, since we're gonna have uh Lockheed Martin here, is there a thing that Pete can do to start you know, putting together something that ties to that?

Just the new developments being focused at peak.

Okay, something they can do.

Okay, education.

We also have seeking international industry investment, and then building small business growth business growth for cultural family needs like supporting kinds of businesses or the the ladies gave us that idea because there's you know, such a focus on the the one person for the mission, but that person may have family.

How do we support that family?

Uh, how do we support whatever the spouse?

Because it could be a lady, but there's a guy or whatever it may be, just trying to support family, yeah.

And then UAFS uh creating a welcoming internship program for you to international people.

They can already do it, but we're just talking about us being conscientious that if there's going to be more and more countries coming here, uh, an industry growing or whatever, you're gonna have diversification of different groups coming and just creating maybe a uh volunteer portal of students who can maybe help in that endeavor and process.

Okay, you guys have anything else to add to that?

Any more questions about it?

A lot of these things seem external to the city.

Well, because the question felt external to me.

I'm not saying yeah, I'm not saying just y'all, ours as well.

Like we need we need people, we need others.

Most of this is gonna have to be through partnerships, yeah.

Um, what we'll do is once we once we look at uh threats, we'll sit down and we'll try to figure out what are the things that you can take action on.

Right.

So the last one of group three, uh that was how do we take advantage of uh investment and development opportunities of how we use FMS to take advantage of investment and develop development opportunities beyond FMS.

In other words, it's so uh we have leverage for federal funding, relationship building with federal partners, support for issue three, retail growth, highlight cultural diversity, foster multicultural identity, encourage small business development with international labor.

Target tech industry developments specifically federal workforce development programs.

And five, build an identity as a great American military defense community.

Okay.

Yeah, these are these are great.

What we're gonna have to do when we get to the last step is we're just gonna need to take these and make them more specific.

You know what I'm saying?

But I think they're all great starts.

Okay, specific meaning, like action.

It should be like actionable, yeah.

Um, when we turn something into goal, this is this is old stuff, but there's this thing called the smart goal, which means it's specific, measurable, uh achievable of relevant and time related.

Or time, you know, time bound.

So those are all good.

Okay.

Ready for the third round, or do you want to break?

Well, we'll turn around.

Third round?

I've got to be Christina Katz Edison's in full match.

Uh oh.

Well, we'll see this fast.

Okay.

So this one.

Where's this match?

Okay.

Here's for you and Christina.

There's one thing.

I was gonna tell you that I haven't written down for you, but I'll tell you what they are.

Um here's for you guys.

What's the song?

It isn't gonna be on the threat, and I'm gonna assign the threat to each group.

Oh, yeah.

I just have to look at my list first.

Okay.

So group number one.

What's this?

Uh you guys are gonna brainstorm ways to deal with the threat of public perception.

So we do it to somebody else.

Group number two.

You are gonna brainstorm ways of dealing with the health care crisis.

Is that uh-huh?

No, or no, your group number two.

Your group number two.

And then group number three is dealing with competition with Northwest Arkansas and the region for jobs, growth, residence.

You guys want to trade?

You can affect the trade.

I don't really care which one gives what we can do.

You know what I'm saying?

Okay, that's the way we need to do that.

Yours is uh, how are you gonna address the weakness?

Uh, sorry, the threat of competition with Northwest Arkansas and the region in general for jobs, north and residents.

In other words, the cities in Northwest Arkansas change, citizens, or talent, yeah, we're all right.

Oh, yeah.

So we have to go on the second one.

If you have a six-quality, we've got the right.

Okay.

So we have all this.

Or I go to the top of the industry.

Oh, that's all we're of course.

Well, they were mostly.

Well, it's a good thing.

No, I don's not a lot of that's the problem.

Oh, I don't know.

I don't know.

I think that's a good one.

So, you know, we're not interested in the world.

Okay.

What are we talking about?

Public perception.

Yeah, I also think.

How do you have a government?

I mean, I mean, everybody said getting up with the how do you uh just do it?

Well, it's just a house.

But people like to turn on the water mills, and you know, they know that you said that the water that's going to be like how you do it.

So I think you want to do it.

You can work on the development workforce, but we think it's a good one.

And like for my husband, you know, he got in the project manager, like, you know, I guess it's got to be a lot of the line for the certain station or take up and then you just didn't know that.

So a lot of people think that's what we have.

But what if last week is the older?

I mean, like, I think part of the George said, I mean, I can't see people who are to do it.

Yeah.

I think that's more.

So I thought that's George.

Yeah, I mean, it's not in it.

I don't know.

I don't think that's how many times it's got to be.

Yeah, you're on that deal over there, I think.

If you're on the other, we can just wait for it.

So, that's what I think about.

The deal that I think is that the whole one, because the first part of the thing is that the way it's more of a tree, I don't know.

I don't know if it's not a better job.

I don't know what we need to do.

You know, we can just work on the remote.

I was on the thousand, uh, I know.

I think I'll be like, if you're a way to do that, we're saying, I don't know.

I think we try to do it for sure.

It's not a good idea.

It seems like we've got a problem.

I don't know.

I can see what is the only thing that we can do.

I said, I'm going to say that's what I was going to do.

I think like I have a lot of the other things, right?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know if that would be a problem.

So you can I don't know if you know, but maybe it would be more universe directed, or you can get to the right, and then I'm going to be developed.

Oh, I think that's a good texts, I would think about it.

And she was like, you know, I'm not sure if you're not going to be like, I think we'm saying.

I thought that will well be right.

And so she was like the transferred to the comfortable, how it's easy.

Then we can so, you know, maybe you could uh, you know, we have to do it.

But I don't know.

I mean, it's not a little bit more than first.

So there's like sort of marketing to do.

Do you want to be on the right track?

But then it just wants to have a lot of that.

We thought that was a few, yeah.

And I think that's exactly what you're doing.

Oh, I'm not going to be able to do that.

So, you can have a full time.

I'm not really familiar with that.

We don't have the problem.

Uh, it's like, um, yes.

So if we do this, you have to use that.

You talk about the time.

Uh, I agree.

No, the last one.

But yeah, that's not a lot of it.

I don't think if you listen to what I said, it's like, I think.

Uh, we've served not developed at all.

But that's all, you can do it.

But it's when we say, 'cause it's not just a little sensation.

I think there is.

I think it's just useful, but nothing.

I think that's a true.

So it's a pretty competition.

Well, that's just amazing.

So, like, start the shirts.

But they can't really nothing out of the process, but it's just like numbers.

So we can look at the way it would work.

So, that's what I'm talking about.

So, I'm going to go to the shoulders.

Do you see people who are on that?

Well, maybe that's something we should be.

Oh, yeah.

I believe that we can do it.

Oh, we're going for it.

We can work with that in the audience, right?

Yeah, so I thought you were talking to her.

Um, you know, for uh forks.

We're talking about recording, you know, are you looking at how you had uh, and uh, uh maybe policies around the uh like an engineer, or still off the or two, but you can talk about it attacking the chamber, just throw it to the circuit.

But it's like a sort of like some of the pieces of the stage, yeah.

So, it's a little bit like it's doing it.

But people think about it, I don't know if you just like it.

So, it's so like two.

Oh, I would have to see everything, so I'm just gonna lie.

And we're gonna keep on the file for the show.

So once the project's over, we will see the only people that didn't that we're having a little bit of a deal, and we have a bit of a little bit of a computer.

That's, uh, incorporated what's going to have to look at the project over whether it's right.

So we're gonna be solved.

No, it shouldn't be a good thing.

So I think we're up to the other.

And I'm talking about the one that they're going to see.

I think we will go on the same time.

Yeah.

What's happening?

But we should want to say that.

So that's what we have there's a slide.

So that's a good thing.

They're saying that you can do it.

And this road out of the adding this water line.

Okay.

So it's not a certain amount of less than the system.

And then some of the discussions to go.

I can see I can see that.

I can see you're already in the streets.

So our challenge is not the original control.

It's rarely doing the company.

So they're dealing with the let's see.

Often we're dealing with the other one, right?

And they were representing the out.

And then even we can't say the process.

Yeah, yeah.

So this is a third minute.

That's always a challenge.

Well, we're going to be able to pay off of that.

So they have they have most of us.

You've got the problem.

Well, we're going to say that we're obviously less than so long.

No, but there's a little three.

It's not a development.

Okay.

I don't know if it's a problem.

I mean, he wants to see more to the 16th.

Well, do we leverage the relationship?

So that's the guy's a traveling.

So I can tell you that.

But when we did a pre-working line.

Oh, it's not.

Okay.

So we have access to the most important functional system.

So what's the first thing?

If Walmart's water will be the one, I was just said it's a random screen.

So I saw what's great.

I'm not going to be able to do that.

So we can get problems.

I mean, it's a lot of functionality.

I think what's the name of the main one or so we are going to be a good one.

So it's like Saturday.

That was one of the truck.

It never works.

So we did that here.

It's uh, so we're going to probably work.

But it's working on it.

Oh, I think that's what it was on the eye.

They both left and then you can that big thing for the job.

Okay.

So you can't get the other one.

So it's what the chamber is.

Therefore, I think it's a tree.

So that creates a bad one.

But I have to go to the problem that we saw.

I was actually a lot of people.

So if the solution they pop off is on the same, I mean, I'm sure.

You show them the truth and they don't exactly what you said.

They'll have people in social media.

Oh, yeah.

So it won't be a shit.

So that's all it's not just.

I think we're like, you know, we're seeing the street.

Oh, so I don't know if it's like the size of the right.

So hey, that's the fact that's the one that's even like, I think, over there, but you got the uh possible, three and a half.

Yeah, it's not a very good thing.

Well, it's not right.

So it's a population like that.

Or it's just one of the exposure, but that one's switching once.

That's a relative to the slideship.

I mean, there's very much something.

Yeah, but that changed for us.

I guess that's even more than that.

It's actually a little mixed number, you know.

It's a worship.

Oh no, it's a little time.

So you're a match on the county.

Yeah.

But you know, totally down there.

So, like, we should um, talking about uh jobs and throws.

I mean, did we find the airport and stuff?

Is it always talking about uh, so people are like the recruiting, you know, in St.

Bob?

We're trying to recruit people, it's hard to get on fire and then want to live there.

You know, they'll fly to Dallas to get into it.

Right.

But if you could be looking into the thing for the problem, so I know that's hard to do.

And they are consistent.

I mean, the airport is consistently not working on that.

Yeah, yes, it's everyone.

We have the switch.

I'm shorter, it's what we have to do.

It hasn't been a little bit of a give you even a million dollars smaller than the removal to do that.

Yeah.

I thought that might be a store.

I think we'm not going to put it on the value of the ship.

I said, I'm not trying to establish the relationship.

Oh, yeah, okay.

That's a better two.

Where I and then I said to the manager, well, it's a definitely happy thing.

Or this decision.

We talked about maybe a marketing campaign.

Um, I think well, but I think there's a lot of people crazy.

I mean, it's a really good personality, but it'll have to be like what's the picture.

I don't have to sell more.

I don't know.

I think about the opportunity discussion.

Yeah, that is crying.

That didn't know what to do.

Yeah, this is uh, well, I lived in Northwestern, so I wasn't involved, I don't know.

I was somewhat involved, and I was still wanted to see what it is.

I couldn't just think about your job.

A bird, uh, what happened?

She got it back by bird.

Oh my god, okay.

Oh, flew into the window.

It's back to bagging.

Is she okay?

Yeah.

She's fine.

Yeah, I'd be like how you're like, well, it's got to be.

That's how I think it's a I think that would be a good idea.

We have this one to have to do it.

So I have a thing of the forest.

Well, I think we've just talked about it more in general.

Uh, you know, working on uh changing public, because if we change the possession, I think it's what I think, but it isn't maybe naturally.

Could you bring your posters?

Yeah, I was just like, Can you guys bring your poster up on the way?

I don't want to see you.

They're trying to break down one more.

Explain what you do.

Oh, you don't make it over here.

Well, you'll make a company.

Oh, no, no.

I'll say that.

I'll put it in the sheriff, anyway, so we could think you're telling you the rope from your side.

I think that one I'm not saying called it.

So we got one.

I need to reach the information.

No, I need to control the program.

So, you're there, you can try to.

What do you know?

If we were in charge of all the water if it was a regional water authority, and you know, so I was thinking about uh, you know, stuff like that.

I was thinking about how you want to reverse with it.

I think we're right.

I just I have a pretty good thing job?

No, no.

I thought it lowered it seemed it.

I like that it wasn't incorporated into their operational budget.

Oh, but it'll actually be that's like that's sort of a system of people.

And more crooked, I think it's still used.

Yeah, but I think that's it in the house.

I don't know what we should.

You mean you need to do it?

And you need one of them.

Yes, and you don't have choice.

Do you still want to put it at that point?

I mean, it does have a data.

It does.

You know, it's not like your budget, but more clearly.

You know, maybe like the SC customers, but it's relatively good.

They're telling us that another bike.

It's not a lot of new structures.

I don't know who the team is.

I mean, I know the connectors are good.

Whether they're on the rock.

So it is having just it looks like a deal, but they don't sort of tell it like I know that there's like a little knowledge.

Which of it's not a little easier to understand from the picture than it is from standing.

That's probably what that would be.

I think it's a good thing.

So if you use it for become part of the story, couldn't you?

No.

No, I think there's a very my story shifted.

Board story to a bird attack.

That's a more interesting story anyway.

I think it was a question.

So I think we tried to say, so I should tell them if our own, or like, if you were for the cost, the more expectations, so they say, right.

So that's a great one.

Right.

Oh, I thought the board reports supposed to be.

We're gonna talk in like one minute.

Here we are.

Just so you feel better, we all we all have to do.

You agree, but finance and all that.

Yeah, I'm sure it had county degree.

Uh yeah.

Uh 90.

Oh, uh work.

Well, I was in the works in the county department, and that's all and then I interned with the firm.

Okay, friends.

Yeah, I was 96.

Yeah.

Well, I was really excited.

I would have been in 96, but I intervention for it.

That's when we were in the 90s, yeah.

I work for the firm.

I was a university.

Don't go there.

You were just a baby.

She's probably an elementary school.

Alright, we're ready.

So, I said that.

Alright, folks.

We are gonna start with group number one whose threat was public perception.

I'll let Neil speak on this one.

Okay, Neil, you're you're prompted to speak.

Okay, so um we had a lot of disagreement on this one as a as a group.

Um we had the fiercely debate.

I mean that's just we had some good debates, but yeah, we do.

We talked, okay, so we talked about transparency, we talked about over-communicate.

Um, you know, social media kind of taking board advantage of social media.

This is not a critique of Josh by any stretch of the imagination.

But I think it was kind of a uh discussion of us, what we do, um as as a board.

Um I think there's a lot of uh discussion about transparency and maybe how we're not transparent or whatnot, but I think you know, I think a lot of that, if the being transparent, uh uh communicating complicated matters in a non-complicated way, I think is something that is uh, I think that's important for us.

I think I think you do a really good job social media life.

I think we I think we as a city do a really good job on that uh communicating uh for people to understand in a communical way during our board meetings.

If people want to pay attention without asking questions a month or two after the fact, let's talk about the conversation we've had publicly.

Well, I think we're very transparent.

And and I and I think I agree with you, I agree with you, but I think part of the challenge, just for my perspective, is most people ought to watch that.

That's right.

And so, how do you how do we how do we have that communication in a way that but how's that being a lack of transparency?

So, lack of transparency.

Well, I maybe maybe lack of transparency is not, I'm just saying, but but the that's the focus on this whole change of government is lack of transparency and what's the other thing?

Accountability.

Accountability, those things are there.

Are people paying attention while we're discussing it?

Right, and and maybe they're maybe they're not.

So I I recently there was a discussion about how we communicate that, and so is the is could we do something different from a social media perspective that could share out some of that information that we discuss as a board, um, rather than rather than saying, hey, you've got to come here and listen to me.

What if we take it to people?

We we talked about uh having our uh community meetings.

What are those uh board meetings?

Board meetings at places where people work, like we talked about north side south side basketball, going to where people are, and I don't think we go to where people are.

We do have people come to us, and I think we could potentially solve some of some of these non-transparent or non-or accountability.

I think we can solve that by going to them, and what does that mean going to them?

I think that's the best way would be from a social media perspective of what we're doing or explaining how the budget works.

We were talking uh uh of uh we're talking about the budget, explaining how the budget works.

You got the bucket of money here, bucket of money here.

People don't know that.

I think that I think a lot of people think we have a single bucket of money, and when we buy slides, you have now taken money away from water and sewer.

Which is not true.

Which is right, so we're all we're make sure the courting hears that.

So I think we're I think people don't grasp some of those things, they're like, oh, okay, I get it.

This is a big issue, and I'll apologize for no you're I'm you're a though.

You're good.

I think we need to overcommunicate.

Go ahead.

Well, you made the statement about taking it to the people, you know, and we're not talking about particularly locations, but we're gonna use social media.

So you thank me for some of the things that I say outside of portrayed for it, positive issues.

I think it's how we say it, yeah, individually on social media.

I mean, because we can have our own perspective that we can inject out the community, and those aren't always right.

You I have all I've wondered what's happened at that grant that uh that that bowling alley midland bulk, the thing that we approved.

Yep.

Well, I saw the other day that they're still work on it because of you.

And that's uh and and you know, that's people I was really surprised that people were that interested in it when we first voted on it.

People are excited about it, and now we see progress.

And then right over here, we see progress at uh Brittany.

I mean, that it's that kind of stuff that instead of driving down, instead of me, average citizen driving down here and saying, Oh, looks like they're doing bricktown.

Somebody puts it after this.

And we see.

Well, and to your other point, I mean, uh, Josh is back there listening, but one of the things he's he's trying to develop right now is the the citizens' academy format again.

That we used to do that would, you know, take 25 people at a time and give them these sorts of education how the budget works, what the departments do, what how work is divided up amongst them.

Could we do that in a different way?

Could we do that in a way that's forward-basing for other people outside of citizens account?

Yeah, and we've had that discussion about you know the in-person sort of citizens academy, not necessarily the same format that we used to use where was multiple weeks, but maybe it's a maybe it's a day where we cram everything in, or maybe maybe there's a video series or something goes along with it.

So where that can be something that gets pushed in.

And I'll say this, I think we do videos and stuff like that.

I don't know what the what the viewership on those kind of things are.

Are they good or not so good?

Maybe stop.

I think he's talking about Josh, come up with two minutes.

So when we're when we're putting videos out, when you put videos out for education first, so Lance does something.

Are you seeing people watch that stuff?

Uh it depends on the content more than uh like when we post it and what platform and stuff.

So people tend to get you know more excited about, you know, whenever we did the Breaktown Brewery, the groundbreaking, people were very excited about that.

Um, you know, whenever we do the street renamings and things like that, people get excited about that.

So it depends on the content.

Yeah, I mean, I know on the educational stuff, typically not.

Yeah.

Um that's a real challenge.

Yeah.

I think it's a real challenge.

I don't know, I don't know.

I don't have the answer to it, but yeah.

I like the video series though, because even those that might consider running for the board, you know, positions in the future.

Had I been able to watch a catalog of videos explaining, then I would I would have that knowledge because I think one of the things we're seeing is we have this inside view and have understood because of access to and commitment to the conversation, and then a newcomer says, Well, why don't you just take from this bucket of money to put it in this bucket of money?

But if you had a video explaining that this is how it works, you would realize that's not a question you should ask.

You might have another question, but that won't be the question you asked.

And for those that would even if it's a small group, that small group would have access to real competency building education.

Yeah.

So for the for the Citizens Academy that he mentioned, I am looking at a one-day event that could occur multiple times a year.

I just wanted to lower the barrier for entry into something like that.

Um so, like a one-day event, and I wanted to get do three or four and then do a video series because I wanted to understand myself so that I can help write scripts and develop those things whenever we were to shoot those videos.

Well, one thing I was challenging Kevin Settle on is I want to see I want to see Kevin Settle explaining to me something uh about him or it's up at the city, what I would see that.

So I want to.

You want Neil's give me five or Kevin's give me five.

Kevin giving settle for five, something like that.

I will say, I will say I love your give me five.

I watch it every week.

Oh, but I will say that um it does help me a lot whenever you guys share some of the content I put out, especially if it's educational things.

Um so if you see or if I you know were to send you something that hey, we've got these consent decree videos out, um, it'd be great for you guys to share it because you guys have different followers often than and they'll see it at different times than they would from my platform as well, so or the cities.

Yeah, I just said that I'll share it.

I just don't even think about it.

But what do you mean what if we had like a give me five five thing or different directors today?

We did, didn't we?

I so the issue I have with that, I'll I'll be completely honest is some of your votes are for three, and I don't I am present I know it passed, but I also don't want to ruffle feathers and and present it in a way that the board, you know, Pat, you know what I mean, and then somebody say, but technically I was against this, you know.

So you could bring in somebody that said I voted for this because, and then contrast it with I voted for this because I think if we're just putting out positive things all the time, then it starts to feel like propaganda.

If you get, if you get like with the CPRG grant, I would have loved the opportunity to explain, you know, this is where my thought process was.

Our meeting was packed, it was half and half.

You know, these are what these people were saying, here's how I felt about it.

Um, it's almost like a an interview after the fact of a vote.

Yeah, I mean, if we did something like that, that like I could, you know, I could say, Josh, hey, I really want to weigh in on this this week, or I want to have some thoughts on this.

If we had a more of a city director thing that you could sub in a couple interviews a week.

Um, yeah, I think I'm a friend, it's not a press conference.

Well, you know, people are like you're giving me five.

Like you can edit it and put it together, and we can say, you know, here's this week, here's some issues that came up, and here's here's someone's take on it feels more authentic that way, and I think this is why that vampire connects with people is because he can explain things in a way that doesn't feel condescending.

And I think if people were hearing from us, I voted for this because I voted against this because I think it's a good counterbalance, um, where it's not necessarily uh I know you worry about ruffling feathers, but or you know, there's people that feel very strongly on both sides, so those people feel seen to you.

Yeah, yeah, being able to say I voted against this because of A B and C is I I you know sometimes I just I vote yes or I vote no, and there's not really any, there might not be any context to me.

And maybe that's not relevant to this guy, or maybe like, hey, we went to DC, and this is why I felt like you know, it was important.

You know, we've got one director trolling everybody who went, but uh you know, here's why I felt it was important.

So we'll say it again.

Let's say we had one director trolling everybody who went, that was you.

That's George Kasavis.

George, why'd you do that?

I mean, but really the I'm bored, interestingly, but I agree.

I mean, I mean it comes through hell for weeks, and like where I was I was having come out with a statement.

Neil was coming out with this statement, and you know, just to have that platform to be able to say, here's here's what we went, here's what we did, here's the value.

I feel like we got out of it.

Here's what was um on my mind that I felt like was an important conversation to have, or is what was on his mind, but it was completely different.

Well, and it might be good to be able to talk to Christina Katzavis and say and kind of bang things off of each other, like she saw this, I saw this, what did you think about such and such?

I mean, I think that would be almost like something that humanizes us a little bit, because I think I think part of the problem is to people, and this is what I try to remind myself of, it's not maybe not me necessarily, it's the idea of me or the idea of what I represent.

I think you can humanize this a little bit to people where we're not all dressed up up on the stage behind the day is um where it feels a little more casual and uh a little more uh you know, like conversation, and I'm gonna kind of do this a little bit.

Based on what they're saying, I think one of the original ideas about the blue line was actually taking some of the offices that we don't use and turn it into like a press conference area.

Mm-hmm.

But to what they said is Brett Bear does a uh common ground series where he brings both the left and right to go.

Maybe that's something you bring somebody forward against something on one item and you bring them in there and decide talking to you back and forth about that.

That might be kind of what the more humanizing for something said.

Looking after the vote, share who's after the vote.

You let's say you and I voted against I was forwarding you against or vice versa.

You bring them both together, put them in front of the put in front of a backdrop, so you're for some of them you start asking why did you vote for this?

Why'd you do this?

And you could have that back and forth for three or four minutes.

I mean, it sounds great in theory.

Um, Josh has availability, you guys know this.

I am, but I would be asking me.

I am I'm I'm down to try anything.

So, you know, uh I mean, I'm happy to try it out and see if it's a like a common ground too.

I mean, I like sharing dippering, for example.

For both people, one for one against the same time.

Go go into the one of the little offices, do a low office, we have to turned it into like a press conference area, or just permanently there.

I'd love to do a press conference.

Well, okay, we'll go.

Hold on, hold on.

No, no, no, not when it's like 9 30.

Yes, 10 o'clock.

All right.

No, you're right.

I just want to kind of make sure we we keep going.

So we did our first bullet next.

Um, what up?

Okay.

So accurate water, so George believes public perception, this is George Cat's ass.

I I can calculate public perception can be remediated or mediated.

So accurate water.

Yeah.

Well, and I'll say on that, I mean, there are there are problems with water bills every month.

Yeah.

But 99% of the bills that go or better are accurate, and there's not problems with it.

But there will be problems.

We're not going to say they're never will be.

I mean, they're always one.

But that that was a minor thing.

That means your meter maybe faulty or threads or misread.

Yeah.

Right.

But I mean, those things are getting, those things are getting based on the processor to be able to work on.

And you know, we do have we do keep metrics of uh on a monthly basis, how many of the water bills went out were accurate.

And it's consistently over 99%.

I mean, it should be.

I mean, 100% is always the goal.

It's you know, you usually going to be unobtainable because you know, mechanical things break, the processes break down periodically.

So, you know, I maybe maybe it's as much as I mean, at least for for your guys' perception, we were sharing that data with you guys, so we're seeing you know consistently on month-to-month basis without me just sitting here talking about it, we're hitting 99% or better on accuracy for our water bill.

Oh, you said that's that's I don't know.

No, no, we're not, okay, we're not currently.

But uh, it's I'm not that's they have to have we can thought during it.

Yeah, so you believe you believe if you got an inaccurate meter that people are damaging somebody's public their perception of the city, and then they're just like, Well, and there's no question.

I mean, I think to the point you're talking about, I mean there's no question, sometimes somebody gets a three thousand dollar water, and sometimes it's a mistake.

Usually there's a reason for it that's not a mistake driven, but it could also be remediated through some action, and so uh, you know, and for uh all the things we talked about in the past in terms of trying to capture some of those things before they go out and see and to verify them and such, but sometimes they get through that process, they've been verified that yes, that much water went through this meter, that's the right amount.

That isn't always explain all of it.

Providing the meter is accurate.

Provided the meters accurate, and and all after all, we go through all those things.

But I mean a meter's not going to be inaccurate that way to create a $3,000 water bill, but it shouldn't.

I mean, it's not just it's not going to happen.

But I mean, but it does happen, and I think some of what we see is who is that guy that had that $700 billing or the guy I remember you're telling us about.

Yeah, yeah, that that they had a clerical area, one too many zeros, it should have been seventy.

But the problem with that, that's what I was getting to, is you know, people don't necessarily come to us first or even go to social media first.

Most people are trying to remediate these problems through the proper channels, and they don't get a resolution, and then that's when they get mad, and then maybe they're coming to us or they're getting on social media.

They go to the city, right?

And so, we've all had calls about that.

I mean, most I think most people do go through the proper process.

Some people don't like me.

With that guy, he was on his elderly, he's on fixing them.

It was normally like a 60 to 70 water bell, and then he was starting to get shutoff notices because he was going through the process.

They were telling him you were watering, this was in February for January bill.

He he doesn't have an irrigation system, and he was saying, I don't know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna lose my water.

So he called me, I talked to Carl about it, and then it was fixed like that.

And so I think that's part of the part, I think that part of the problem around that is that people aren't getting what they need going through the property.

All that's and I know I've gotten phone calls before where they said, Well, they finally gave me your number to call you.

I wondered somebody, a customer said to talk to your director, and then they called my cell phone.

Which is fine, but my comment would be.

Right, but my comment would be why about the call.

Right.

My comment would be why did not.

I mean, all I'm going to do is ask customers' service to do what, you know, the simple next thing.

Why can't they just do the simple next thing and not involve the director?

Because I think the next thing might not be as simple as directing someone what that next step is.

But I never think of anything novel besides a reread.

Well, what?

You know, I had a guy, I have an elderly lady, she was eight, she had a $3,000 water bill.

Um, you know, to one parent on one family person household, but the city actually did some damage to a line, but the meet the read was right.

So unless the call center agent that took the call knows how to go through the process and determine where the fault is, what do you tell them?

I mean, that's right.

I guess what I'm saying is increase customer service training and have a next level group that says, yep, I'm gonna transfer that to Neil Martin in our scaled up division, and he's gonna look at this.

And then if Neil can't figure it out, then he comes up.

So you do the answer from the staff.

Staff should come up through administration.

No, no, he's he's saying Neil Martin working for the city.

I got an employee.

So, like if you if I'm Susie Q and I answer the phone and I go, oh wow, Jeff Dieman's really upset about this bill.

Mr.

Dingman, we have uh we have an escalation team.

I'm gonna get you with them, and then that escalation team, they can't figure that out, then then involves a director.

But but instead of going, we don't have that mid step.

So and I think that does that does lead to the social media thing where folks are gonna point it out and say, look at look at these guys.

I mean, we we had a hundred thousand dollar bill a few years ago that made all kinds of things out there.

Uh you're in accord with uh finally there is the public presence of elected officials.

I think this goes back to the first one and what we talked about with Josh.

Um I think uh public presence of elected officials in various capacities, whether it's physically, whether it's digitally via social media in a variety of different ways.

Um Kevin said I'll put the star on his house.

Um, you know, I think would be would be beneficial.

Neil's volunteered to come up with Christmas.

I'm gonna film your TikTok media.

Um what?

Is it there you go?

There you go.

Okay.

Let's look at group number two, which was the health care crisis.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we simply just said uh obviously the bigger upstream issue of adding the reimbursement concerns to our lobby lists when we speak to uh federal leaders.

We talked about, you know, we retained the Roosevelt group, which is a lobby firm that has a real niche with military, uh retaining services with the lobby firm that has a niche with health care.

You know, if this is a concern of ours and many other cities, we could even maybe propose a partnership with these cities to retain the services to try to boost our region of health care uh looks and whatever they could get done, seeking grants in light of the rules surrounding areas that we serve.

Uh a lot of times we're not eligible because they say we're we're you know, first class city in classification, but we have we serve the rural areas and reminding maybe there's a way to get grants in that, then lean on the relationship with eight if there's any sort of clinical perspectives that they could potentially kick into, maybe because of the health care crisis that we find ourselves in, and then issue three support, just an example that was brought by Maggie, and I thought it was good was yeah, there's a lot of land, not just a hospital, but there's a lot of other spots that they have, and is there any ways to try to partner with them in their land portfolio or someone that owns that entity to try to figure out how to boost back some of their business if they will that we sort of we felt this, I mean we all feel it, but they were like how do you put pressure on the federal level to really get to work on this?

Comments discussion, but at the federal level, what do you mean?

Well, I mean, this is my first goal of one.

Well, yeah, the one and two points are to me, are the most like substantial points that you could do.

I mean, the Roosevelt group had all those connections, which is why they keep getting these grants, because they just know exactly who to go talk to.

Uh, I mean, do we need to be engaging a group that this is what they do is well the reimbursement would happen at the state?

Would it be state or because I would say the same things right around the correct?

Would you need some at the federal side for the medical?

Probably both.

Yeah, yeah.

Medicaid for the state side.

Yes.