GRAVETTE - Agreeing to an agreement required for the Gravette wastewater treatment facility project to proceed did not occur at a meeting of the city council last Thursday night.

The meeting was originally scheduled the fourth Thursday of the month but had been moved forward because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

After hearing from a bond counsel concerning how the city could progress to an election involving a new sales tax to help finance the project, the council then took no action on an agreement with McGoodwin, Williams and Yates (McGWY), engineers for the project which has been in progress since 2007.

Three members of the council, Tina Crose, Brent Cannon andChris Beller, were not present for the meeting. Those present, Forrest White, Byron Warren and Terry King, failed to reach a consensus on how to proceed. It was agreed that a final decision would be reached at the next meeting, Dec. 16, one week earlier than the normal meeting date.

Ryan Bowman, bond counselor with Friday, Eldridge and Clark, a Little Rock firm, explained the procedures involving a sales tax election if the council decides to proceed in that direction.

Financing the $6 to $7 million project has been a bone of contention for months as the council has grappled with how to pay for the improvement without burdening customers with excessively high sewer rates. An additional sales tax has beenpresented by engineers as one alternative to make the monthly sewer bill charge more palatable to Gravette residents.

The additional sales tax idea has drawn flack because it would increase the local sales tax rate to 3 or possibly 3 1/2 cents.

Seeking an alternative design for the facility has been explored to no avail. Suggestions of hiring another engineering firm has been bantered about. The high cost of the project and its resulting impact on Gravette and its citizens has not been resolved.

The bond counsel’s information was sought to help direct the council if another sales tax election is required. Action on that question was not expected at the same meeting.

An Earlier Tax

Gravette citizens last year approved a 3/4 cent sales tax to finance the first $3,000,000 in bondsrequired for the project. Financing the remaining cost of up to an additional $4,000,000 is the part of the project that resulted in so much discussion.

Jim Ulmer, representing the engineering firm, presented the proposed agreement which must be approved before the firm can proceed with the project. He told the council survey work and design and environmental work have already been completed as a result of an earlier agreement with the council. The final agreement is required by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and other state agencies involved in the financing and operational requirements of the project and must be approved or the loan package is in jeopardy.

Questions concerning the fees involved, which total more than one million dollars, were raised. Most of these would be paid to the firm as the project progresses toward its proposed June 2014 completion date.

Incoming council member John Rambadt askedif it were possible to wait until a new council is seated in January. All council members will be new as a result of the recent election. Ulmer said the state would have to answer the question as to whether such a delay would be acceptable.

Warren pointedly asked Ulmer how much it would cost to settle the city’s present obligation of about $200,000. Ulmer replied he did not have that information. But, he noted, the state will not release any of the funds for the loan until the financing package approval by the council is in place.

Alderman White made the motion to accept the proposed agreement with the engineering firm. It died for lack of a second.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Mayor Bill Howard declared as the council then moved on to the only other item on the agenda, appointing Jennifer Greenway to the Gravette Library Commission.

The council did agree that a final decision is expected to be made at the Dec. 16 meeting.

News, Pages 1 on 11/24/2010