Community members gathered in the event center at the Fayetteville Public Library last night to attend a public meeting led by California-based Swarm Aero. The drone manufacturing company has faced resistance in its recent efforts to open a facility at Drake Field in south Fayetteville. Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani reports.
Tensions were high last night at a community meeting held by drone manufacturer Swarm Aero at the Fayetteville Public Library. Swarm Chief Engineer Peter Kalogiannis fielded questions from Fayetteville residents and others who came to voice their thoughts and ask questions about the company, its use of AI and their drones being used in warfare.
"Truth be told, this is a conversation we should have had a while ago. We should have had this two years ago when we first started coming to Fayetteville. This is one conversation of many we hope to have. We hope to be part of the community and you deserve… You deserve to be able to speak with us, to have your questions answered and to have and for us to share the information that we have."
Some people were concerned.
"Based on research, unmanned drones are more dangerous than manned drones. So how have you integrated system wide safety engineering standards and what are the standards for that since this is relatively new?"
Some were angry.
"What can you do at this point in time? I really want to know, to prove to everybody here, after already having tried to do this in such a shady and underhanded fashion, that we can trust anything that you say now.”
“There's nothing you can do or say because Fayetteville wants peace. And we are visualizing a world where we have leaders that practice diplomacy and make peace with other countries. That's what this group of people want. So there's nothing you can do or say."
A large part of the conversation centered around an appeal against the issuing of Swarm's business license filed by Fayetteville resident Jesse Buchanan and City Council member Sarah Moore. The appeal claims that Swarm Aero's manufacturing work falls under a heavier industrial zoning category than the one originally assigned to the site by city staff. The Board of Adjustments, which upheld the appeal last month, cited a lack of clarity on materials being used in their safety.
In response to questions on the appeal and materials on site, Kalogiannis says:
"As part of this process of our original business license review and then again, the follow up after the appeal, we have worked with the fire chief and presented the chemicals that we'll be using in our process. And had the conversation about whether that fits into the business unit use case. And the fire chief is in agreement that they do. We will operate all of these… Everything we handle, we will operate in full compliance with local, state and federal law."
Overall, last night's town hall garnered mixed responses. Fayetteville resident John LaBelle says he appreciated the opportunity for a dialogue.
"I hear a lot of different things going on in that room, and a lot of it is that people don't stand for war and that what this company stands for could represent that. But I also know that they're also bringing something to our community that can bring in some economic relief. And when there were chances to hear about it, I heard that they were going to work with the University of Arkansas and allow people just off the street to have jobs. These things matter. And in my opinion, I think war is a terrible thing. I don't believe that… Well, they all have valid points that none of those things are good. But whenever I remove the emotional bias from it, I do hear something that's guaranteed to keep jobs in the community."
Resident Dina Nash says after this meeting, she still believes Swarm is not a fit for the Fayetteville community.
"The strongest concern of most of this audience is the moral concern. We really don't want Northwest Arkansas to be a center for the military industrial complex. And I think that Northwest Arkansas Council has done some really good things for our community. But I think they're wrong in steering us in this direction. And I think they're going to hear from a lot more people in the community over the next few weeks and months and years, because this is not how we who live here and are from here want our community to be recognized."
Swarm has appealed the Board of Adjustments' decision regarding their business license to the City Council. It's scheduled to be discussed next week.
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