HIGHFILL — Getting more for less was part of the reason the town council passed a resolution appropriating $15,000 from the town’s cash management fund to expand Highfill’s sewer system with a road bore across Arkansas Highway 12 near Walker Street.
The new plan is to run the sewer system south along Walker Street, west on Smith Street and then back north on Smith Street behind the Baptist Church, and all for less than an old plan which would have run the sewer line south along Main Street to the church.
The sewer-line expansion to serve the new facility to be built by the Baptist Church was a part of the bond agreement with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the town when it received loans to build the town’s sewer system, said Frank Holzkamper, the town’s water and sewer department supervisor.
The original line extension to serve the BaptistChurch was expected to cost the town nearly $25,000. The ANRC allowed the town to delay construction of the extension until closer to the time when the sewer line would be needed.
“Now is that time,” Holzkamper said, adding that the church would be needing the sewer hookup in 10 to 11 months and getting started now would give the town the ability to build the line in two phases, completing the bore under the highway and a manhole now and then adding the lines and additional manholes later.
Rather than running a line on Main Street just to serve the church, the new plan would make it possible for the sewer system to pick up approximately 10 taps on the sewer system, helping to pay for the costs of operating the system, Holzkamper said. He said the manholes would be built so that the line could be extended to serve more of the community in the future without replacing the manholes.
Holzkamper also said now was a good time for the town to purchasesewer pipe because pipe prices are based on fuel prices and are currently low. They could go up, Holzkamper said, if fuel prices rise.
Since the town was already obligated to spend approximately $25,000 to bore under the highway and provide sewer service to the new Baptist Church facility under its agreement with ANRC, the council agreed the new plan to serve the church and additional customers in the main section of Highfill for less that the original amount was preferable.
The council approved the measure by resolution at its April 11 meeting, with Toby Lester, Richard Boles and Sandy Evans voting in favor of the resolution. Keven Varner was absent and the seat held by James Wiand has been vacant since Wiand resigned to become the town’s street and maintenance department manager.
No date was set for either phase of the construction to begin and the project could take a year or longer to complete, according to city officials.
Education, Pages 6 on 05/19/2010