FORT SMITH — City directors on Tuesday gave two men until the end of the month to report on how and when they plan to finish development of a baseball/softball complex that has dragged on for nearly three years.
“What I would like to have is a definite date,” Fort Smith City Director George Catsavis said. “And if that timeline isn’t met, then I want to pull the plug on this project.”
Catsavis and other city directors heard an update from Lee Webb, who is working with state Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, to develop the River Valley Sports Complex. The complex will consist of eight ball fields on city property at Chaffee Crossing, with the aim of attracting teams from out of town to play in tournaments.
Files did not attend the meeting Tuesday.
Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said the report would include a completion date and a list of the remaining work to be completed along with bank statements and canceled checks to confirm the city’s money that has been spent on the project.
Fort Smith entered into an agreement with Webb and Files to pay up to $1.6 million toward the cost of completion of the complex. Of that amount, the city has paid out just more than $1 million as work has been completed, Dingman said Tuesday.
Webb and Files also are relying on donated materials and labor. For example, much of the dirt work on the site was done for free by the Arkansas National Guard as a training exercise.
Windows and four 5-ton air-conditioning units for the two concession buildings also have been donated, Webb said. Work to extend water to the site is in progress, he said, and it is being paid for with a $45,000 grant from the state that was obtained by Files.
But the project has been plagued by delays. Approved in March 2014, the project had an initial completion date of May 2015 that was extended to March 2016 and then to Dec. 15, 2016.
Webb told directors Tuesday that the fields could be completed in time for play this summer. City Director Andre Good disagreed, saying if the sod was laid this winter, there was no way it could take root in time for use this summer.
Directors expressed frustration over the lack of progress on the fields and said they have heard complaints from many Fort Smith residents.
“It’s really, really frustrating and concerning, and the money we have invested already is really at risk at this point,” City Director Mike Lorenz said.
Webb told city directors that work stalled for four months because the contractor erecting the fencing had “bailed.” He said after the meeting that the contractor, whom he would not name, had a serious illness in his family.
Irrigation cannot be installed, the sod cannot be laid and other work cannot be finished until the fence is up, Webb said.
He said another company will complete the fence work and is expected to start early next week. After the fencing is up, he said, the irrigation and sod can be finished.
Webb agreed with City Director Kevin Settle that the remaining work for completion of the fields could be done within 60 days.
But Catsavis questioned Webb about the work outside the fences, such as finishing the interior of the concession buildings, putting down sidewalks and paving the parking lot. Catsavis noted that the parking lot alone was estimated to cost $250,000 of the remaining $600,000 budgeted by the city.
“I don’t see how you can finish it with that amount of money,” he said.
Webb said he and Files would try to finish as quickly as they could.