A battle between 2.9 vs. $7,000,000 is being waged by Gravette’s city leaders. And the outcome of the battle could hold the future of the town and its citizens for the next 20 years.

$7,000,000? That’s the price Gravette residents are facing for the next 20 years to finance a new wastewater treatment facility. And that’s just the construction cost. Don’t forget the nearly $2 million in interest that will be required to pay for the estimated $7,000,000 in loans needed to finance the project.

2.9? That is the average number of pounds of phosphorus the city’s existing sewer plant discharges each day. That figure is from a study by the city’s engineering firm.

That’s a lot of money to get rid of less than three pounds of phosphorus.Particularly if you consider that when a man spreads a hundred pounds of 10-20-10 fertilizer on his lawn, he actually is spreading 8.9 pounds of phosphorus which has the potential to end up in Spavinaw Creek.

Something is haywire somewhere!

Don’t misunderstand. Taking care of both the land and our water supply are important. But to saddle the city’s less than 900 sewer customers with that kind of debt, holding them captive to out-of-sight sewer rates or subjecting them to one of the highest sales tax rates in the state of Arkansas for 20 years defies logic.

Paying a $60 monthly bill to dispose of 4,000 gallons of sewage is unacceptable. It is just as unacceptable to throttle the city with a high sales tax which could preclude approving such a tax for future needed city projects such as buying a new fire truck or an ambulance, or even making needed repairs to deteriorating sewer lines.

Isn’t it time to get back to a common sense approach to the problem? Such as granting an exception to such a minute chemical problem? Or providing grants, in addition to welcomed low-cost loans, to soften the financial burden on the city and its citizens?

Surely when engineers can solve the problems of sending a person to the moon or finding answers to exploring the depths of the ocean, they can find a more economical solution to cleaning up less than three pounds of phosphorus a day than hanging a $7,000,000 chain around the neck of a town and its citizens.

There surely must be a better way!

Common sense? Where are you?

Dodie Evans is the editor emeritus of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 6 on 12/08/2010