Highfill council meets in newly built city hall

— Town council members held their first meeting in the new city hall last week and picked Michelle Rieff to fill the Position 4 council seat vacated by James Wiand when he accepted a position as head of the town’s road and street department.

Instead of meeting around folding tables in the town’s community hall, the council was seated behind an elevated V-shaped council table, with Mayor Chris Holland at the center. Department heads and visitors to the meeting sat below on rows of chairs in the council room.

Two applications were received for the vacant council seat, Rieff and Ryan Evans. Both addressed the council and fielded questions from council members before the council went into executive session to consider the candidate’s qualifications. Following the closed session, the council appointed Rieff by unanimous vote.

An open house at the new town hall is planned in connection with the July 13 council meeting, with the entire Highfill community invited to attend.

“We’ll have a short meeting, and the fire department will grill hot-dogs,” Holland said.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on July 13.

The city is also seeking old photos of Highfill and the town’s residents to be hung on the walls of the new city building. The old photos will help document thetown’s history and the lives of the people who settled and lived in the Highfill community.

“We’ve got a lot of wall space to fill,” said the town’s administrative assistant, Jeanetta Evans.

In other business, the council approved the expenditure of $28,255 from the cash management fund to help pay a $58,400 loan payment on money borrowed through the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for the town’s sewer and wastewater treatment system.

The money was needed from the cash management account because of other approved expenditures from the account that the town was able to pay out of its general fund instead and because of some short months in incoming tax revenue.

Holland said he expected the town would be able to replace the money when revenue from property taxes is received in the fall.

Water and wastewater supervisor Frank Holzkamper said the city had generated $358,000 this year through its water and wastewater system, that operating expenses were $250,000. Loans, he said were $650,000, making it necessary for the town to subsidize the systems until more customers sign on and / or the loans are repaid.

Councilman Keven Varner asked what it costs a new customer to connect to the town’s water system and was told the fee is $1,100.

“I’m not going to hook up for $1,100 and then have a water bill too, when I have a well,” Varner said. “You’re not gaining any customers because of this high (connection) cost. People already have wells and unless the wells go dry, they’re not going to hook up.”

Varner suggested the city consider reducing hook-up costs to gain more customers and make the system self-supporting.

Holland said the city could possibly offer area residents a break in theprice to connect to the town’s water and sewer system for a period of a “couple of months.”

Holzkamper estimated actual hook-up costs were between $500 and $600, including labor. Holzkamper also estimated that the new children’s shelter, once it is built and full, could generate as much as $200,000 per year for the city’s water and sewer system.

In related business, the council approved the town’s 2011 water and sewer budget of $907,635 which includes only a modest increase over the 2010 budget, except for an additional amount needed for loan repayment. Holzkamper estimated the citywould have to subsidize the water and wastewater budget by just over $185,000 in the new fiscal year which runs from July 1 through June 30.

Passed on their third and final readings were two ordinances establishing a new five-member water committee and a new five-member wastewater committee. In two separate resolutions, the council appointed Sandy Evans, Le-Roy Bolinger, Jim Johnson, Yvonne Hutlet and Jane Reinhart to the five posts on both new committees.

By resolution, the council also re-appointed Frank Holzkamper to serve asdirector, and Chris Holland as alternate director, to the board of directors for the Benton-Washington Regional Public Water Authority. Wes Evans was reappointed to serve on the town’s parks commission for a three-year term.

A phase one plat of the Silver Meadows subdivision was conditionally approved so that construction can begin once a water connection is complete from NW 64th Street to Daniels Road, sewer line connections are complete, NW 63rd and 64th Streets are paved to Maysville Road, and a maintenance bond is submitted.

News, Pages 1 on 06/16/2010