Drive-through project funds OK’d

FORT SMITH — The city Board of Directors authorized using $76,000 in capital improvement money for the initial purchase and set-up of technology and security equipment to operate a temporary drive-through utility payment facility during its meeting Tuesday.

The board approved a lease with Next-Gen Development Partners for the year lease of the facility, at 524 Garrison Ave., on July 7. It will give residents a new way to pay for water and wastewater services and allow for social distancing between the public and the city staff in light of the covid-19 pandemic. Aug. 1 was the date of the lease.

Lance McAvoy, city utility director, wrote in a memo the property owner made many of the repairs, several other upgrades, including the computer, communication, security, and tube systems, are the city’s responsibility. The upgrades were developed as a project to help with both tracking the money spent and in expediting possible reimbursement to the city from FEMA and/or the CARES Act.

“In the haste to bring the drive-thru online, the utility management failed to bring the request for the use of these funds to the Board of Directors for their approval,” McAvoy wrote. “This error was discovered when the finance and utility departments were working to pay invoices for the project. City administration was notified and sought permission to continue the project until the request could be brought to the board for their official approval.”