FORT SMITH -- City directors Tuesday expressed concern about the financial burden plans to spend millions of dollars on water and wastewater improvements will put on residents and the community.
The board voted to approve most of a five-year capital improvement program proposed by the city to spend more than $400 million on streets and drainage, parks and recreation and on water and wastewater improvement from 2017 through 2021.
But while they passed most of the projects, some directors said they were troubled about the need for a possible $72 million upgrade of the Massard Wastewater Treatment Plant and the worry there wasn't enough money to pay for more than $100 million worth of water projects.
Director Kevin Settle said he first heard of the need to renovate the Massard plant at last week's study session. He said discussions with the federal government over a consent decree would have gone differently had directors known in 2014, the year the decree was signed, the city would have to renovate the plant.
The city directors signed the decree in December 2014 with the federal Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to make about $480 million in wastewater system improvement in 12 years or face sanctions including daily fines.
Interim utility director Robert Roddy said it was possible the government would impose new regulations forcing the city to change the outdated method of wastewater treatment used at the city's second wastewater treatment plant.
Roddy told directors during Tuesday's meeting it was the staff's job to present to directors the work it believed needed to be done in the next five years.
He pointed to the most expensive item in the water portion of the improvements program, the $79 million estimated cost of installing 27 miles of 48-inch water line from the city's water treatment plant in Mountainburg to Fort Smith.
He said the 80-year-old, 27-inch line was decades past its useful life and required constant leak repair.
But Director Keith Lau wondered if the staff gave any thought to how it would be paid for. Roddy said staff was working on estimates and could have the figures in about a month.
Lau said the wastewater, street and parks programs had the means to pay for their projects but said he didn't believe current water rates would be sufficient to pay for the water projects staff was proposing.
He made a motion to only approve the capital improvement program for water projects for 2017, totaling $14.5 million, and delay the remaining program until discussions could be held on how to pay for it. The board approved the amendment 6-0.
The street and associated drainage projects will be paid for with revenue collected from a 1 percent sales tax and money from a one-eighth percent sales tax will go to paying for the parks and recreation projects.
The last of three wastewater rate increases goes into effect Jan. 1 to help raise the money needed to meet the required improvement set out in the decree.
NW News on 10/05/2016