GRAVETTE — The city's waste-water treatment plant project took a giant step toward staying on track at a meeting of the Gravette City Council Thursday night.
Following almost an hour of discussion, including a presentation by Carl Yates of McGoodwin, Williams and Yates (McGWY), the city’s engineering firm, the council voted unanimously to proceed with Option 1, one of the four plans the firm had presented for consideration.
Gravette is under mandate to make improvements to the city’s waste-water treatment facility or possibly face fines if the facility does not meet phosphorus and nitrate discharge limits.
Discussion began with council member Byron Warren who made a motion to sever the city’s connection with McGWY, a suggestion he had previously made during a public meeting. The motion was later removed and Warren made the motion to proceed with Option 1, noted above.
Warren apologized to the citizens of Gravette for the coststhat will be incurred for customers. “The working relationship with the firm (McGWY) has not been good, but we must move on.” Funding is the main issue, he elaborated, and solutions to the problem “they presented are way too high.”
Sewer rates required to finance a loan of up to $9 million, as outlined in the McGWY proposals, could increase customers’ bills, more than doubling the present minimum bill for 1,000 gallons of discharge.
Warren said that while visiting with another engineer and a representative from the USDA Rural Development Agency, he learned the possibility of obtaining a grant to supplement a loan might “possibly” save the city some money.
Council member Terry King, who with Warren had visited a sewer facility in Maine seeking other options, echoed Warren’s concern about the ultimate cost to customers.
“We’ve got to do it (find a solution)”, but King added, “We need other options.”
Another complication facing the city is that the city’s discharge permit for the present facility expires later this year and Yates reminded them (the council) the city has been outof compliance for the past two years. The city could possibly face fines or lose its permit entirely.
“I don’t think fines are a problem right now,” Warren countered, saying he had visited with officials in Little Rock recently.
Following the discussion, the six council members approved Warren’s motion.
By approving the plan, the city’s loan agreement for a $9 million, 2.75 percent interest loan seems to be secured. By proceeding, the city should escape possible fines for noncompliance, and renewal of the plant’s permit is expected to be approved.
A financing option suggested by engineers to bring down customer costs involved seeking an additional sales tax to supplement payment of the bonds. This would reduce customers’ monthly bills to just a few dollars more than they are currently charged.
That option may or may not be considered before the final financing package is approved.
The agreement Thursday simply involved giving the go-ahead to one of the four options presented by engineers.
Option Explained
Option 1 involves utilizing a portion of the present lagoon system and adding/upgrading features required to remove the offending pollutants the present system cannot accomplish.
Other options presented involved transporting Gravette’s waste-water to Decatur for treatment and an option to construct a “reed-type” system which McGWY indicated would add an additional several million dollars to the project cost for land and additional lagoons.
Engineers earlier had presented results of a study which showed the average monthly sewer bills. In 1993, the cost for 4,000 gallons was $30.95. This rate dropped to $20.25 in 2005, where it remains at the present time.
Under Alternate 1, the minimum bill will be $35.92 plus $9.91 per thousand gallons for a total bill of $65.96 when the new plan is expected to go online. The study also showed the 1993 cost adjusted for inflation would amount to $55.90 in 2013.
Study results showed, that Alternate 1 with approval of an additional 1 1/4 cent sales tax, the average monthly bill for 4,000 gallons would be $35.20.
Efforts are expected to be made to secure a supplemental grant which could lower customer costs but a guarantee of a grant is not assured.
Other Council Action
Preceding the business meeting, several persons expressed opposition to their properties being annexed into the city. Most said they were unaware of the proposal until a few days earlier and they had not been notified.
It was explained that the issue had been discussed for at least two years and there had been publicity, including a public meeting on the subject.
The measure will be on the Nov. 2 ballot to annex certain lands surrounding the city. A legal notice describing the area was published in the local newspaper a few weeks ago. A copy of the map of the lands involved is on file at city hall for inspection.
Voters both inside and outside the city will vote on the measure.
◊In other action, the council okayed continuing the 5-mill city tax, an action required by law for its inclusion on the November ballot. This represents no increase in the tax;
◊Okayed payment of $2,576 for the Benton/ Washington County Imaging Project;
◊Appointed Bobbie Woods to the Gravette Planning Commission;
and
◊Took no action on a sanitation service agreement and the city purchasing manual.
The Council heard from J. R. Gibbs concerning his efforts to collect past-due water bills. He informed them many of the delinquent accounts involved persons who had moved away and could not be located and some dated too far back to be collected.
The Council also voted to pass on an increase of $1.50 per month on water bills to cover an increase imposed by the Benton/Washington Regional Public Water Authority (Two-Ton) because of a decrease in revenue incurred by the water supplier.
This increase will begin Oct. 1 and will continue through Dec. 31, 2011, when it will expire.
All entities who use Two-Ton water are experiencing the increase.
Byron Warren and Terry King voted against the measure. Approving were Chris Beller, Forrest White, Brent Cannon and Tena Crose.
News, Pages 1 on 09/22/2010