Board passes 2 laws governing meetings

FORT SMITH — The covid-19 pandemic spurred the Fort Smith Board of Directors to hold a special meeting at the city’s convention center Tuesday, where it unanimously approved two ordinances pertaining to its regular meetings.

The first amends an ordinance setting the dates, times and locations for regular board meetings this year. The second suspends town-hall meetings that were scheduled through June.

Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman wrote in a memo that directives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Gov. Asa Hutchinson related to the pandemic prompted the need for the changes.

The two ordinances — along with one allowing board members to participate electronically, which was approved during the board’s March 17 regular meeting — are attempts to continue conducting city business while also complying with social-distancing directives, Dingman said.

The first ordinance states that regular meetings scheduled for 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of April, May and June at the Fort Smith School District service center may be held at the convention center at the city administrator’s direction Notice will be given in advance of any such relocation.

“We are looking to meet here in the convention center for the foreseeable future,” City Administrator Carl Geffken said Tuesday.

The second ordinance addresses the municipal code, which says the board will conduct an informal town-hall meeting after its first regular meeting each month to allow residents to introduce matters involving city government. The ordinance states that the town halls immediately after the April 7, May 5, and June 2 regular meetings will not be held.

Geffken said that does not mean that the city is closed to receiving comments or questions.