Fort Smith Times Record
The city of Fort Smith received more than $10.6 million of an expected $21.2 million in American Rescue Plan federal funding, and some of that could be used for sewer line work required in the city s federal consent decree.
The city s board of directors was notified by city management Wednesday of the funds. There are regulations on how the funds can be spent, and infrastructure for water/sewer is included, Fort Smith s Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman wrote in an email to the Times Record. Staff is working on how those funds might be incorporated into the project and rate planning we already have underway.
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Two topics of public focus will be discussed Tuesday evening by the Fort Smith Board of Directors.
The board will first discuss the city government s possible role in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process in the city, which was requested Jan. 5 by Ward 3 Director Lavon Morton. Directors will then discuss its plan for water leak mitigation in the city.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Fort Smith Convention Center.
Vaccines
Ward 3 Director Lavon Morton at the Jan. 5 meeting said he wants Fort Smith to help roll out the COVID-19 vaccine efficiently, and the city is responding.
City and county officials on Tuesday will assess how they can use their resources to better distribute the vaccine. These resources could include providing facilities for vaccine administration and communicating to the public which groups of people can get the vaccine and when.
Times Record
The downtown player who proposed an alternate truck route has taken issue with the results of the downtown Fort Smith truck study, but those who executed the study say there s good reason for why they conducted it the way they did.
Central Business Improvement District Commissioner Phil White in an email Wednesday said he saw three main proposed truck routes from Halff Associates downtown Fort Smith truck study as options that are not options. He argued in his email that his proposed truck route, which cost the city roughly 10.6% of what it paid for the truck study and captivated city directors at the Tuesday night study session.