Chris Hoover has more than paid for his keep. The grants and government relations manager for the city of Fort Smith found a possible exemption to a matching requirement for a $12 million federal grant. The exemption was approved March 26, saving the city $3 million.
The $12 million grant, pushed by U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., is from a fiscal year 2024 “Congressionally Directed Spending” earmark to support construction of a new water transmission line from Lake Fort Smith in north Crawford County to the city.
The city is working to build a 48-inch water transmission line that will extend 33.56 miles from the Lake Fort Smith Water Treatment Plant in Mountainburg to Fort Smith. One cost estimate for a completed line is $328 million.
The existing 27-inch transmission line between Lake Fort Smith and Fort Smith was constructed in 1935 and 1936. The line carries around 35% of water from Lake Fort Smith. The 36-inch Lake Fort Smith transmission line was built in the 1950s and 1960s and carries 65% of the water from Lake Fort Smith.
There are five phases to build the 48-inch transmission line. The first phase of 6 miles has been completed. The second phase length is 12.3 miles in Crawford County, and the design work is complete. Phase 3 is 8.9 miles in Crawford County, and design is almost complete. Phase 4 is 2.1 miles and would cross the Arkansas River near where the Interstate 49 bridge is now under construction north of Barling. Phase 5 is 4.2 miles and would extend from the Arkansas River crossing near Barling into the southeast part of Fort Smith.
Chris Hoover
The $12 million in federal money approved in 2024 is for a 3-mile section of Phase 2. It required a 25% match, or $3 million, by the city. In a March 27 note to the Fort Smith Board of Directors, Fort Smith Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved waiving the required $3 million match.
Hoover, hired in October 2023 at an annual salary of $72,000, decided to review the funding guidance as part of the city’s “tedious process” to comply with the federal funding rules. Before Hoover was hired, the city did not have an employee working full-time to find public and private grant money or assist other city staffers in complying with funding requirements.
One of five federal waiver exemptions involves the percentage of a population receiving federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits – also known as food stamps. A waiver is allowed if a city has more than 11.7% of its population receiving SNAP benefits. Hoover sent the EPA a waiver request noting that 13.3% of city residents receive SNAP benefits.
“We must submit a variety of documents to the EPA before they will allow us to proceed with construction, and it’s a long, tedious process,” Hoover noted when asked about finding the waiver exemption. “This project is now under our Engineering Department, but previously under the Water Utilities Department prior to reorganization. Because of this, I decided to review the funding guidance, and there was a section on cost share. Typically, this is 10-25% for most grants, and we rarely qualify for an exemption given our size and high income. Although I was unsure if we might qualify, I eventually found a SNAP-related exemption. After examining the data, I discovered that we were 1.6% over the threshold needed to submit a request. This led us to draft a letter and, eventually, to receive the exemption.”
The waiver approval came March 26 from Stacey Dwyer, the deputy regional administrator for the Dallas-based EPA Region 6. Hoover, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the process “has been made smoother thanks to our strong relationships with EPA Region 6 and the ongoing support from our Congressional delegation.”
The Fort Smith Board of Directors is set to consider on Tuesday (March 31) submitting applications to Boozman’s office for $32 million more in federal funding for water transmission line and utility relocation work. The funding, if approved, also comes with matching requirements. Josh Buchfink, the city’s public relations manager, said the city will likely apply for matching waivers if the requests are approved.
Related