Springdale Residents Of Annexed Areas Want City Water

Monday, November 4, 2013

— City water has replaced paved roads as the service most wanted in areas the city annexed in the past few years.

Marlin Wallace, who lives north of Wagon Wheel Road in an area annexed in late 2011, spoke at a City Council meeting Oct. 22, congratulating the city for paving roads in the area.

“All we need now is a little bit of water,” Wallace said.

Wallace did not return phone calls, but other residents of annexed areas said they would like city water to replace the wells or springs now used. Springdale has annexed more than 3,000 acres since 2010. Only a few of the people living in those areas, usually those with homes in newer developments, have city water.

“I worry about water every time we have stormy weather,” said Billy Rizley, who lives on Brown Road. “If the electricity goes out, the well goes out. We have to have power to pump the water.”

Rizley uses two wells for his farm, but the shallower one becomes cloudy when it rains, he said. He said he assumes ground water is leaking into the well.

Donnie McDonald, Rizley’s neighbor, said he also has a shallow well that goes dry in the summer months. When that happens, he draws water from a 700-foot-deep well.

“I’d like to have my house on city water and all the rest of the place on the wells,” McDonald said. “I don’t think any of the city’s lines are close now.”

The closest water lines to Rizley and McDonald, according to Heath Ward, executive director of Springdale Water Utilities, are at the corner of Brown and South Zion roads, about a half-mile to the east. A line also runs along Wagon Wheel Road about three-fourths of a mile west, near Ziegler Lane, according to utility documents.

A line along Brown and Ziegler roads is included in the utility’s Master Water Plan, said Rick Pulvirenti, utility engineer. The plan covers the next 20 years and the Brown Road line is scheduled in Phase III, the final phase of the plan. The estimated cost in 2006 was $712,500.

“Our plans are made for financial reasons and also to address growth,” Ward said. “It’s hard to justify a line thousands of feet long that only serve a few people.”

Sometimes adding water lines is controversial to local residents, Ward said. If a landowner is opposed to donating right of way for the lines, a project could be delayed.

“Some people don’t want city water,” Heath said.

One of those is David Arthur, who lives on Arkansas 112 south of U.S. 412. His farm was annexed into the city in 2010. Water lines run by his property, he said, but he has no plans to connect.

“I’ve got a great well that gives me all the water I need,” Arthur said. “It’s almost free. All it costs me is the electricity to pump it up.”

Changes in growth patterns could change how quickly lines would go in, Ward said. An area in southwest Springdale did not have city water until construction began on the Don Tyson Parkway interchange on Interstate 540. The utility put water lines along Dearing Avenue, Ward said. The utility also is adding sewer lines, at an estimated cost of $1.15 million, Pulvirenti said.

New infrastructure also is coming to the area west of I-540 and north of Wagon Wheel Road. About a half mile to the south of Brown Road, a new controlled-access, multi-laned road is planned by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. The section scheduled to be built first would connect Arkansas 112 and I-540. A connecting road extending to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport also is planned.

The section between Arkansas 112 and I-540 would eventually become part of the U.S 412 Northern Bypass that would connect U.S. 412 west of Tontitown to U.S. 412 east of Springdale near the White River and bypass heavy traffic on the highway in Springdale.

“That may be the spark that changes development in north Springdale,” Ward said. “We don’t know what will happen when the road is built.”

The utility sent plans to the highway department for changes that would be needed for water and sewer lines in the area, Pulvirenti said.

“That project is on the fast track,” Pulvirenti said. “The highway department is moving quickly on that one.”

Ward said he is willing to talk to anyone about water service. People seeking water connections can also be added to the Springdale Water and Sewer Commission monthly meeting agenda to ask for service, Ward said.