Mon 02|08|10

Fort Smith to maintain I-540/Rogers Avenue interchange

Submitted by The City Wire staff on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 7:25am.

Who do we believe about poor maintenance and appearance of the Interstate 540 and Rogers Avenue interchange in Fort Smith — the city of Fort Smith or Arkansas highway officials?

That was the essence of a simple but pointed question asked by Ken Efurd during a recent Fort Smith Rotary Club meeting. One the receiving end of the question were Arkansas Highway Commissioner Dick Trammel and Joe Shipman, district engineer for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

Shipman took the question, and answered that the AHTD mows three times a year the interchanges, rights of way and medians on Interstate 540 through Fort Smith. Also, Shipman cited Springdale as an example of how the state and community worked together to improve an interstate interchange. In that city, Shipman explained, an “adopt a spot” was granted to the city and officials there raised funds to landscape and maintain the I-540 and U.S. 412 interchange.

If Fort Smith wants to do the same, the state “would be more than happy” to assign the city a similar option, Shipman explained to Efurd, who is a Realtor with Ron Calhoun & Associates.

Shipman told The City Wire that his office has not received formal requests from the city to partner on the interchange or to complain about the interchange. However, state highway officials in Little Rock have received a letter of complaint.

The concern about the appearance of the interchange has been a frequent complaint of Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker during board meetings and board study sessions. Following a most recent comment by Baker, the city staff sent a letter — signed by Baker — in mid-October to all five Arkansas Highway Commissioners. The letter was copied to Gov. Mike Beebe; Sen. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith; Reps. Frank Glidewell, R-Fort Smith, Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith, and Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith; and AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

“The Rogers Ave./Arkansas Highway 22 interchange is one of the gateway entrances to our city. The deplorable condition of the medians greatly detracts from Fort Smith’s appearance and creates an unfavorable image of the state and city,” Baker noted in his letter. (See below the complete text of the letter.)

But the city isn’t waiting for an answer. In the proposed 2010 budget is about $30,000 for frequent mowing, basic upkeep and “removing scraggly vegetation” of the I-540/Rogers Avenue interchange, said Ray Gosack, deputy city administrator.

“We did that because the past maintenance of that has been an embarrassment for Fort Smith, and for Arkansas, and we recognized that the only way to remedy that is for the city to fulfill the state’s responsibility,” Gosack said.

Gosack said the interchange will get about two mowings a month.

•••

Following is the text of the letter from Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker to members of the Arkansas Highway Commission.

I’m writing to ask your help with a matter that’s distressing many of our citizens.  The right-of-way along I-540 in Fort Smith hasn’t been mowed in many, many weeks.  The enclosed pictures show that the grass is 3’ to 5’ tall.

This unsightly and unhealthy condition negatively impacts our community and citizens.  Residents whose homes adjoin the unmowed right-of-way are reporting increasing problems with rodents, skunks and other vermin.  The unkempt right-of-way is providing a harborage area for these animals.  The tall and wild appearance of the grass also creates an unsightly image of Fort Smith.  The Rogers Ave./Arkansas Highway 22 interchange is one of the gateway entrances to our city.  The deplorable condition of the medians greatly detracts from Fort Smith’s appearance and creates an unfavorable image of the state and city.

Past contacts with AHTD staff and our legislators have not resolved this problem of unmowed rights-of-way.  I’m writing to you as a last resort, asking that resources be allocated to regularly mow the I-540 right-of-way in Fort Smith next year.  I hope that AHTD will fulfill its obligations to Fort Smith’s residents by properly maintaining the vegetation along its interstate highways.  Thank you for your help and for your service to the citizens of Arkansas.

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Fort Smith to maintain I-540/Rogers Avenue interchange

Submitted by kpevehouse on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 8:22am.

How does the partnership between the State and Springdale work? Does the adopt-a-spot program release the State from performing their upkeep duties? If so, is the city at least reimbursed for the amount equal to the three times a year that the State would normally mow?

It is the State's responsibility to maintain the highway right-of-way; however, the city should have looked inward for the solution to this problem.

Just two examples of citizen/City partnerships are the Rail Trail from Free Ferry to Park Ave. and the Ruth Armstrong Nature Area. Those are areas that fall under the responsibility of the City. Those areas have been long neglected. However, a partnership between the city parks department and civic organizations as well as citizens from neighborhoods in the vicinity of these projects was developed. Now those “unsightly” and “deplorable” areas within our city are being cleaned up. In these cases, the city is providing assistance with debris removal and pathway material but the citizens are providing the labor to remove non-native vegetation and trash. It is a true partnership.

Developing relationships and partnering with others is necessary for the future success of Fort Smith. This is true for the city at the local, state, and national levels.

Ken Pevehouse

I call it shirking responsibility

Submitted by convivial on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 8:58am.

How pretty the words, "developing relationships and partnering with others" but what you are really saying is outsource the responsibility.

For years the city has neglected its responsibilities to the public. They create wonderful little programs, such as "adopt a spot" where citizens take their hard earned money and their personal time to maintain public spaces. Why? Because our city is woefully understaffed in parks. The budgeted park money is spent on recreation, not beautification. Until just recently, the city was without an arborist. For decades, it has gone without a horticulturist. There is no program to grow flowers from seed. There is no master plan for greenspaces. The city's concept for beautification, as seen here, is MOWING.

Adopt a Spot works...for a season, until the "partner" bores and tires of it. Then their spot becomes an eyesore until it's reprogrammed to follow the same fate. Enough of this cycle of stupidity. Hire talent, devise a plan, supervise their performance. Fort Smith has one-fourth the beautification manpower as Fayetteville. Here, Parks has no choice but to throw a flat of petunias in a garden bed and call it a day.

Concerning the interchange: Master gardeners/city pride made a decision to plant mostly Bradford Pears in that circle many years ago. With no irrigation, most died, many trees reverted back to the nasty Callery Pear tree. A mess created by a city effort back then that is now a standoff that neither side has taken the gumption to fix. Many have tried to merely be caught in a see-saw of point/counterpoint.

It's the same standoff that accounts for how disgusting the curbing and sidewalks look along the western portion of Rogers Avenue, Towson and Midland. The city claims its a state highway and their responsibility; the state claims its domain stops at the curb and it's up to the city. In the meantime, it remains a disheveled mess of crumbling curbs, mismatched sidewalks, debris, and weeds.

The Fort Smith bad attitude has kept state monies far from our coffers. That same attitude now is trying to lame blame at the feet of Mr. Shipman. Mr. Shipman has done all that he has the authority to do. Has our city leaders?

In both cases and for both sides, it takes money to fix. To appropriate here means to spend less there. The cities priorities have always been elsewhere.

In the meantime, partnering doesn't work. They are public spaces that deserve the proper amount of budget dollars to maintain. To not do so, is simply shirking the responsibility. It's not a matter of farming out the work; it takes an overall concept created and implemented citywide. Look at what UAFS was able to do with time, talent, money and a plan. This is more than a mere barnraising, its branding our city as a beloved homeplace manicured from stem to stern.

Shirking is as Shirking Does

Submitted by anonymous 2 on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 3:01pm.

You hit the nail on the head Convivial. Kudos to an honest assessment of the state of FS city government. The reality is, the city administrator and the board of directors don't require plans of action/foresight/overall concept from their department heads. They (city administration/department heads) can't look past next week and as a result, they (department heads) surround themselves with supervisors that can only say "yes, that is a great idea" instead of "why don't we try this".
Pick any department in the city and you can apply this lack of forward thinking to it. Pick any department and you can find no accountability for their lack of forward thinking.
Each department should post it's next year, 3, 5 10 year goals on the city website and then be held accountable for it being accomplished. If it isn't, start giving time off without pay to those department heads. If there are more than 2 department heads not accomplishing their goals, start giving the administrator days off.
It is time for the citizens to demand accountability from it's city government. If the board can't make coherent decisions, the city administrator is having problems, the department heads aren't getting it done, replace them.

It ain't about Ray

Submitted by RobertM on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 7:00pm.

Not everything you don’t like is the mayor’s fault. Not the condition of 540 & Rogers, not street flooding, not global warming, and not even Aunt Betty’s gingivitis.

Are anonymous commenters unhappy because the mayor again contacted the state who carries the responsibility of maintaining the interchange instead of volunteering city resources? Are you unhappy because the State Highway Department only now finally responded to his complaints? Are you unhappy because he wants them to rightfully use their own equipment from their budget? The responsibility lies with the state, but it’s odd that no one here is unhappy with them – only with the mayor for the state not doing their job.

This isn’t a new fight for the mayor. He has a history of asking for the mess to be cleaned up. I’m a regular at city board meetings and have heard him. But he is limited in what he can do. Did you know that the mayor cannot direct the city to maintain this area? In fact, the mayor cannot direct city staff to do anything. If he wants something done, he must discuss it with city administrator; any action after that is solely at the administrator’s discretion.

The mayor has fussed enough that $30,000 of our already struggling city budget will now be diverted from its intended use and spent on maintaining a state highway interchange. Personally, I’m kinda miffed that we’re going to spend $30,000 doing the State Highway Department’s job. The state won this round. What will be their next victory? The paving of state highways through the city? Maintaining the portion of I-540 that passes through Fort Smith?

I may or may not desire Ray Baker to be our mayor after next election, but I won’t base my decision on things over which he has limited or no control.

"it’s odd that no one here

Submitted by A. Chicken (not verified) on Sun, 11/22/2009 - 1:20pm.

"it’s odd that no one here is unhappy with them – only with the mayor for the state not doing their job"

Actually, the first two comments both cast blame on the state for ignoring Fort Smith. Then two posts brought up the mayor's role in the matter. I don't see how that equates to everyone being happy with the state. In this case, without further details or a complete accounting from the highway department on follow-up, I believe the mayor did the right thing.

Although, Jo Jo is right, if you travel down any major thoroughfare maintained by the city, they aren't exactly making the state look bad in comparison. For example, check out the nice newer sidewalks along Phoenix partly overgrown with weeds and scattered trash. Or the weeds sprouting out of cracked sidewalks along older parts of Rogers, Towson or Midland. Small beans compared to bigger issues, but little things like that contribute to the perception of Fort Smith being "trashy", along with the ubiquitous crooked utility poles and metal shack pole barns.

I understand the city is stretched financially. Perhaps I should just shut up, pick up my weed whacker and a can of weed killer and get to work.

It is perplexing that only now has Mr. Shipman spoken up about "partnering" with the city to resolve this issue. Numerous people have complained about 540 to the all too opaque and powerful state highway department, myself included, without any such feedback in the past. Typically, highway spokesman Mr. Glenn Bolick will explain how the department is underfunded and in need of additional revenue, end of story.

I would greatly appreciate a local "town hall" with the state highway department to discuss all these outstanding matters with the citizens of Fort Smith. If not, perhaps The City Wire could arrange an interview with Mr. Shipman.

As for paving the state-maintained highways through the city, I believe we already took over that responsibility when it comes to Towson and Midland - because they were/are in such pathetic condition. I also believe there are similar arrangements in Northwest Arkansas when it comes to Highway 71-Business.

It would be great If.....

Submitted by Jo Jo (not verified) on Sun, 11/22/2009 - 9:06pm.

....a Fort Smith meeting could be arranged with the State Highway Dept. It will take heavy equipment to clean on each side of the Free Ferry underpass. The middle of the Rogers exit probably needs more than mowing.

I don't understand merchants not being interested. Our tax base is not going to increase until we clean the city. We need to start somewhere, and start we must.

I agree with Robert

Submitted by Jo Jo (not verified) on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 9:53pm.

IT IS THE STATES JOB to take care of the exits and the underpass at Free Ferry & Boston. It is our job to see that this is done. Until it is---we will not get new jobs.

We are all satisfied with everything. We never ask questions. Ken Efurd did? Maybe he started something.

I have the feeling most of the time that no one knows what is going on? I would like to ask----where do our directors and the mayor travel? What is their travel allowance used for? I don't think that they travel where I travel or see what I see.

It is not just the STATE in Fort Smith that has weeds, and trash. Weeds are on curbs in front of banks & malls. Merchants are not doing their job. Then there are the boats,RV's old cars and barns in neighborhoods.

Thank you Ken Efurd and Rotary

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 11:15am.

I am absolutely AMAZED at how after all these years the solution to this complex riddle was finally solved by a simple raising of the hand at a routine Rotary meeting.

Why couldn't someone from the city (Baker, city admin, deputy city admin, anyone) just have picked up the phone years ago and asked the same question?

Thank you Ken Efurd and Rotary.

Vintage Ray

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 4:44pm.

I noticed in his letter Baker wasn't seeking any kind of long-term solution. Just asking for the grass to be mowed (woo hoo), under someone else's authority, someone else's equipment, and from someone else's budget. We are soooooo fortunate to have such a creative problem solver at the city's helm. If only he could give us 20 more years.
We can only hope.

Jo-Jo!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 9:26am.

Jo-Jo should be pleased.

The entire stretch of 540 from the I-40 interchange to Rogers Ave. is in sub-standard condition. The state is very much aware of it but doesn't seem to care.

Part of the blame goes on us for accepting such poor service levels from the state. There would be an uproar if 540 through Fayetteville or Rogers were in such bad condition.

Our expectations are substantially lower - just mow the grass.

Filth

Submitted by kia19646 on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 3:09pm.

I agree! I am shocked at the amount of trash in Fort Smith. Where is our sense of pride? What are we teaching our children? It is our responsibility to keep our city clean. We should be writing tickets and posting sign with phone numbers to report this abuse. We could really bring in revenue if we collected 50.00 for each offense. I am personally tired of walking through "a landfill" each time I go to a shopping center. It makes me sick! Stand up when you see this and demand that people clean up their trash and litter. It does affect your quality of life. Who would bring a business or investment into our city when the citizens show no pride?

Remember ?

Submitted by Jo Jo (not verified) on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:29pm.

I think that John Brummett wrote Little Rock thinks that Fort Smith is in Oklahoma.