The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Nov. 4 voted to table a consent‑agenda item authorizing equipment, infrastructure and construction for the River Valley Communications Center (RVCC), the planned consolidation of Fort Smith and Sebastian County 9‑1‑1 services.

The RVCC package included a Motorola communications purchase and related radio infrastructure and a construction program to create a hardened dispatch facility. Administration said the city paid $575,000 for the site and that a construction cost estimate for the hardened facility was approximately $5 million. Staff also said the state had offered incentives on equipment that would expire Nov. 20, and that the city could lose roughly $713,000 of incentives if it delayed beyond that date.

City staff outlined financing scenarios. Officials said the 9‑1‑1 fund and state revenues could cover operating through 2026 without a general‑fund contribution, but that by 2027 the city’s share of ongoing costs could be roughly $2.2–2.3 million depending on amortization and lease‑purchase terms for equipment. Administration said the county would cover about 30 percent of recurring costs and the city about 70 percent. Several directors said they needed clearer long‑term cost estimates before committing to capital and operating obligations.

Director Christina Gitsavis and others asked for a full accounting of which costs would be paid from the 9‑1‑1 fund, which would be covered by state grants or incentives, and what the general‑fund obligation would be beginning in 2027. Doctor Milam and police‑department staff provided a timeline of consolidation work dating back to 2019 and said a statutory consolidation plan had been developed; staff said the consolidation deadline was effectively Jan. 1, 2027 for a single, consolidated facility.

The board voted to call a special meeting/study session for Monday, Nov. 10 to consider item 31e and to ask staff to attempt to confirm whether equipment incentives can be extended and to produce a clearer multi‑year operating and capital projection. In the meantime, other consent‑agenda items were approved.