PRESS RELEASE
Today the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. This will require the City of Fort Smith to fix Grade 4 and 5 manhole and sewer line defects, rather than simply monitor them, within 4 years of discovering them. Local attorney Joey McCutchen stated, “This decision by the Court of Appeals could bankrupt the City of Fort Smith, even with the massive tax increase we just approved. It is time that the City, and its lawyers, become totally transparent with taxpayers regarding the effect that this and other malfeasance will have on our pocketbooks.” The decision comes on the heels of Fort Smith losing a class-action lawsuit related to recycling services, with Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Tabor ruling (Aug 3.) that the city owes $745,057 for not properly processing recyclable materials. In addition, last week the Arkansas History Commission denied the City of Fort Smith’s waiver request to remove the Flags over Fort Smith display, after spending months filing motion after motion, and letter after letter, trying to get it removed. Talk Business and Politics reported that as of February 2022 the City had paid legal fees in excess of $18,000. McCutchen stated, “Citizens should be concerned that future economic development projects will be affected if the City continues to make bad decision after bad decision.”
You can read the entire ruling by clicking the following link
