FORT SMITH : City stays choice on selling water
Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008
FORT SMITH — Fort Smith city directors have put off a decision on whether to pledge water to a water association despite pleas from the group that their needs are immediate.
The directors voted 4-3 on Tuesday to table for six months a resolution of intent to sell water to the group. Voting to table were directors Steve Tyler, Andre Good, Bill Maddox and Kevin Settle.
The group, calling itself the Franklin-Sebastian Water Association, asked for the resolution because it needs to show it has a water source when applying for federal and state grants and loans to buy water and lay pipe to connect to Fort Smith’s system and make other water infrastructure improvements.
The association consists of Greenwood, Charleston, Lavaca, Central City and the River South Rural Water District north of Charleston.
State Rep. Steve Breedlove, D-Greenwood, who has championed the project, told city directors at the meeting that any delay in the group’s ability to move ahead will put them in danger of running out of water. He said Charleston ran out of water two summers ago, and Lavaca city engineer Jerry Atkins said the town is using water as fast as it can pump it on its thirstiest days.
Delaying passage of the resolution also will delay efforts to get funding for the project, Breedlove said.
He said the project would be a perfect candidate for funding through an issue on the November general election ballot. The ballot question calls for issuing up to $ 300 million in revenue bonds to pay for water development and other projects under the Arkansas Water, Waste Disposal and Pollution Abatement Facilities Financing Act of 2007.
If the association can’t apply for funding next year, the next opportunity would be during the 2011 legislative session, he said.
The six-month delay also would make the association miss out on this year’s grant cycle, he said.
Breedlove said he was working with city staff to try to get the six-month delay shortened and put the resolution back before the directors. He said there was a chance it could go back before the board in October.
However, Fort Smith is receiving mixed signals from Greenwood on its participation in the water association.
Greenwood City Council member Jim Newcomb told Fort Smith directors Tuesday that no action was taken on whether to join in the Fort Smith water purchase.
The next morning, another Greenwood alderman, Daniel McDaniel, sent an e-mail that said Newcomb did not speak for the Greenwood water committee.
McDaniel, who is on the water association’s board along with Greenwood Alderman Thomas Scott, said in the e-mail he didn’t know that Newcomb was going to address the Fort Smith board.
“I’m embarrassed about how we have been portrayed, and I apologize, on behalf of Greenwood, for what last night’s vote may have done to harm Lavaca, Central Water Users, Charleston and River South Water Users,” McDaniel wrote.
The e-mail said that Greenwood has other options for an additional water source but that none had been fully researched.
Ron Smith of Lavaca, an association board member, said Greenwood is participating in the association. It has representation on the board and has paid the $ 5, 000 the other members paid for expenses toward the project.
While the matter is tabled, Settle said officials can determine if Greenwood is going to be a part of the group and join in the purchase of Fort Smith water.
Also, directors included in that motion that an independent study be performed to determine the life span of the city’s recently expanded reservoir. Originally, engineers had set the reservoir’s life to 2050, but some are saying the trend of reduced consumption among Fort Smith water users has extended the life of the reservoir for another 10 years.
Acting City Administrator Ray Gosack said he contacted the engineering firm of Burns and McDonnell of Kansas City, Mo., about the study, which could take up to six months. The firm did the engineering for the Lake Fort Smith reservoir expansion.
Officials don’t believe the sale of water to the association will burden the city’s water supply. Gosack said the association’s purchase would amount to a 1. 3-percent increase in city water sales.
The association wants to buy 750, 000 gallons a day. But since Lavaca and Central City already buy Fort Smith water — purchasing 270, 000 and 110, 000 gallons a day, respectively — the net amount of additional water the city would be selling would total 370, 000 gallons a day.
Settle said he opposed the water sale, saying that the Lake Fort Smith expansion is new and that there is no data on the water use. He said he didn’t want the city to commit to selling water and find it was running short.
Director Bill Maddox also said he was unsure the sale would leave enough water for Fort Smith residents and for industrial growth.
Good said he received feedback from constituents and would oppose the water sale for now.
Directors Gary Campbell and Rick Parrish favored the sale, saying it would bring in more revenue to pay off bonds for the expansion.
Campbell said if Crawford County officials, most of which buys its water from Fort Smith, succeed in getting their own water supply, the loss of revenue would hamper the Fort Smith’s ability to pay the bonds.
Crawford officials are trying to get permission to dam Lee Creek at Pine Mountain in northern Crawford County for a reservoir.
Campbell also said residents outside Fort Smith have contributed to the construction cost of the Lake Fort Smith expansion by the sales taxes they pay while working and shopping in Fort Smith. Fort Smith says that 55 percent of its sales tax revenue comes from nonresidents.
Members of the water association expressed surprise at the city directors’ action earlier this week but hoped it would be a temporary setback.
Charleston Mayor Sherman Hiatt said his city has no choice but to find another source of water. After the city’s reservoir went dry two years ago, the Arkansas Health Department required that the city find a new source.
He said the city’s reservoir is not in danger of drying up this year or next because of recent heavy rains.
Hiatt said the association looked at building its own reservoir, but the population it would serve would be too small to make it financially feasible.
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