Kyle Kellams: But first, our million-dollar man, Michael Tilley with Talk Business & Politics, will join us from his office in Fort Smith. Welcome, Michael.
Michael Tilley: Where do I cash that million in?
Kyle Kellams: We’re just saying that’s your value. We’re not actually giving you a million dollars. You’re worth a million dollars to us, is what we’re saying.
Michael Tilley: OK. Well, I’m married to someone who may disagree, but that’s all right.
Kyle Kellams: We’re going to get to some budget conversation here in a minute. But first, let’s start with the Fort Smith airport and those pilots coming in. There is an agreement between the two entities. They’re working on an agreement, and they hope to have one next Tuesday.
But it’s this new term I’ve used. You know, the military loves acronyms, and this one’s called an Airport Joint Use Agreement, which is something I didn’t even know about until—
Michael Tilley: Yeah, AJUA. It sounds like something you would say as you’re attacking somebody. But it’s essentially a document outlining how all of these folks play in the same sandbox.
Just a little bit of background: Ebbing Air National Guard Base, which is on the airport property, is home to this foreign pilot training center. They have planes from Poland now. Planes from Finland are coming in. We’ve reported that planes from Singapore will be coming, which will be a more permanent presence because they’ll have both their F-35s and F-16s out there. Switzerland, too.
A lot of these countries that are buying the F-35, this advanced fighter jet, and participating in the foreign military sales program bring their pilots to train here.
So getting back to all this playing in the same sandbox, I looked this up. The airport is about 1,360 acres, or roughly 2.12 square miles. That may sound like a lot, but at some point it’s going to have more than 40 military jets that are very expensive, move really fast, and they’re going to be around other civilian planes that are also expensive and move really fast.
On top of that, there is security and fueling and the interaction of commercial aviation, general aviation and these military pilots. You’ve got to coordinate that not just in the air but on the ground. All of that requires this joint use agreement.
The agreements are in place for five years, with negotiated renewals after that.
In this agreement, Eric Pendergrass, the Fort Smith Regional Airport Commission chairman when this was being worked out, said the parties are going to share appropriate direct costs to maintain jointly used areas. The airport will receive, on average, about $430,000 a year from the Department of Defense for costs incurred for military use of the airport. The military will continue to provide aircraft rescue and firefighting.
All airport use rules, no matter what the military wants, have to meet FAA and TSA approval. It’s still a high-security area for both civilian and military aviation.
The airport commission had a study session Tuesday. They outlined all of this, nitpicked it a little bit, but they’re mostly there. Eric Pendergrass told me after the meeting he thinks they’re about 98% there, and all parties are aware there’s a push to get this signed before the end of the year, including military attorneys in Washington, D.C.
The last scheduled meeting of the year for the airport commission is the 16th. They’re hoping to get this wrapped up and give commissioners time to review it before that meeting.
Kyle Kellams: Well, Dec. 16 is a red-letter day for meetings because that’s when the draft operating budget for the city is going to be discussed by the Fort Smith Board of Directors.
Michael Tilley: Yeah, and that could be a marathon meeting.
The city has faced budget deficits in past years, especially in its general fund, which supports police, fire and city administration. The originally proposed 2026 budget had about an $8.1 million deficit, with roughly $53.6 million in revenue and $61.7 million in expenditures.
The board pushed back and asked for a more balanced budget. Talk Business & Politics obtained a 17-page summary sent by Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman. It includes a budget that’s essentially balanced, about $54.2 million in revenue and expenditures.
They cut about $16.9 million in expenses, including removing long-vacant positions totaling about $4.2 million and delaying work on the county’s consolidated 911 center, about $1.5 million.
The budget still includes scheduled separations for police and fire personnel and a 2.5% pay raise for non-uniformed employees. One controversial item, though relatively small, was $233,000 in program funds for Miss Laura’s Museum.
Only three new positions are included, including an assistant prosecuting attorney. This could be one of those meetings where every director gets on their soapbox, so if you go, bring snacks, water and energy.
But wait, there’s more.
After the regular meeting, there’s a special study session on historic cemeteries and ownership. Back in July, Marty Clark, president and CEO of Fort Smith-based B.C. Insurance and volunteer chairman of Fort Smith Cemeteries Inc., told the board that private cemeteries no longer make money and the city should consider taking them over.
There are more than 50,000 gravesites, closer to 55,000. The cost would be about $100,000 to $150,000 a year, though earlier estimates over $1 million have been disputed. This has turned into a surprisingly contentious issue.
Kyle Kellams: Finally, one more story at TalkBusiness.net right now involves an RV park on Towson Avenue.
Michael Tilley: Yeah, the city has approved a roughly $2 million RV site on a little over five acres. It’s well designed, with green space, similar to the RV park along Riverfront Road downtown.
They hope to complete it late next year. It will have about two full-time workers. Evan Kohler, a partner with Charlie Palmer on the project, said they’re targeting traveling nurses, construction workers, retirees and RV travelers, with a six-month stay limit to prevent permanent housing.
She also talked about revitalizing Towson Avenue. She said, I’m a Fort Smith girl, and I want to clean that area up. That area hasn’t seen much development in decades, so it’ll be interesting to see if this encourages more improvements.
Kyle Kellams: All right. We’ll keep an eye on it. You can follow all of this and more at TalkBusiness.net. Michael, let’s do this again next Friday.
Michael Tilley: If you keep calling, I’ll keep answering.
Kyle Kellams: Sounds good. Thank you, sir.
Michael Tilley: All right.
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