Water, street improvements are in the works for Gentry

Photo by Randy Moll Using a backhoe, Jim Wilson lowers a 12-inch water pipe into a trench just outside the yard which houses Gentry’s water tanks. The line, being installed by the city’s public works employees, will run along the south side of the street and connect to an existing water line along Arkansas Highway 59. The new line will serve as a backup line to McKee Foods and a good portion of the city and improve water flow to the city.
Photo by Randy Moll Using a backhoe, Jim Wilson lowers a 12-inch water pipe into a trench just outside the yard which houses Gentry’s water tanks. The line, being installed by the city’s public works employees, will run along the south side of the street and connect to an existing water line along Arkansas Highway 59. The new line will serve as a backup line to McKee Foods and a good portion of the city and improve water flow to the city.

GENTRY -- A number of improvements to Gentry's water system and street system are in the works, among them a joint improvement project with SWEPCO to supply additional water to the Flint Creek Power Plant.

Approved by the council on Monday was a resolution authorizing the mayor to negotiate the purchase of a strip of land from the Crowder Revocable Trusts between the north-south section of Jerald Shea Road and Arkansas Highway 12 at WPA Road. The proposed purchase would provide land to build a road between Highway 12 and SWEPCO Road to ease traffic on Pioneer Lane, especially needed when a new high school is built along Pioneer Lane and the Intermediate School is moved to the Pioneer Lane campus.

Cost to the city for the land purchase was estimated at less than $25,000 plus closing costs, according to the resolution, and would come from the city's public works department budgets.

To be included in the purchase is an easement to put in a 12-inch water line from Highway 12 to SWEPCO Road to provide additional water to the Flint Creek Power Plant and to extend an additional line west along Jerald Shea Road to serve more water customers. A portion of the cost to install the new water line -- the cost to put in pipe to increase water availability to the power plant -- will be paid for by SWEPCO, according to McNair, making the project beneficial for both SWEPCO and the city.

To facilitate this joint work for improved water service, the council on Monday passed a resolution to enter into a water utility system improvement agreement with SWEPCO.

Future plans for new water lines include a new crossing under the railroad line leading to SWEPCO, to the east of the current location, and additional water supply to the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Discussed at committee meetings last week was a proposal to purchase approximately one acre of land between Peterson and Luedecke Roads, northeast of Gentry, for the future placement of a water tower there and, if needed, a second water tower.

According to David McNair, Gentry's public works supervisor, the Benton-Washington Public Water Authority is requiring cities to have storage capacity sufficient for at least 24 hours to ensure cities have adequate water supply during times of peak usage. Gentry currently does not have that storage capacity and depends on the Two-Ton towers for its supply of water during peak usage times.

McNair said the city may not actually need the additional water storage tower for as long as 10 years, but owning land suitable for the towers and beginning to prepare for the need would be advantageous for the city.

The location would enable the towers to be filled by gravity flow from the Two-Ton towers and could provide additional water pressure for areas of the city with low water pressure.

Much of the water line construction could be carried out by the city, McNair said. City crews are already installing a new 12-inch line from the city's existing water tanks on East Crawford Street to lines which run along Arkansas Highway 59, supplying McKee Foods and a portion of the city. The current 10-inch line will remain connected to a 10-inch line, and the new 12-inch line will connect to a 12-inch line, improving water pressure and providing a fail-safe water supply should something go wrong with the existing line.

The second backhoe recently purchased by the city makes it possible for city crews to do the water-line installation rather than contracting the work.

At the July 1 committee meeting, McNair said the council would soon need to choose a list of engineers for the painting of the city's current water towers, inside and out. According to McNair, the city will be required to add mixers or agitators to the towers when they are painted. An engineer is needed to prepare specifications for the painting job because the project will cost the city approximately half a million dollars. Money for the project is already included in the budget, McNair said.

General News on 07/09/2014