Fort Smith directors seek U.S. pact help

City cites sewer upgrades’ expense

FORT SMITH -- City directors are expected to consider tonight hiring a consulting engineer to help the city negotiate modifications to an agreement with the federal government that is estimated to cost Fort Smith $480 million over 12 years.

Directors will consider a resolution to pay Kansas City, Mo., engineering firm Burns and McDonnell up to $300,000 over three years to help city officials draw up modifications to the consent decree that requires Fort Smith to make comprehensive improvements to its sanitary sewer system, which has violated federal Clean Water Act regulations for years.

Also under the contract, Burns and McDonnell would be available to assist the city in negotiating consent decree changes with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

A memo to city directors from Utilities Director Jerry Walters said Burns and McDonnell, which continues to provide engineering services to the city, will help develop strategies and justifications for changes in consent decree compliance and schedule requirements.

The company also would provide additional engineering services to modify Utility Department practices to meet a changed decree. In addition, Burns and McDonnell would evaluate and develop water and wastewater costs of services, rate analyses and short- and long-range financial planning.

A scope of services statement for the contract issued by the city says the city has found the consent decree to be overly burdensome and that it wants to modify the agreement it signed with the government in 2015.

"The city is spending a great deal of time, money and effort on the consent decree. However, we need the federal government to be our partner and allow modifications to the decree," City Administrator Carl Geffken said in a July 25 statement before members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee.

Among other things, the decree requires the city to make specific improvements to its sanitary sewer system on a strict schedule or face fines for not meeting those deadlines.

City officials have not begun any negotiations with the government to change the consent decree since it was filed in U.S. District Court. Geffken spoke by phone last month about the consent decree with new EPA Region 6 Administrator Ann Idsal, Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said Monday.

Idsal was appointed to the position in December, according to the agency's website. Region 6 is composed of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In his statement last July, Geffken said he would seek a meeting with the new administrator to discuss modifications to the consent decree.

"Fort Smith is an older and somewhat poorer city that is faced with a very large expense as a result of a federal unfunded mandate," the statement said. "As the Fort Smith sewer utility rates rise, our city becomes less competitive for private economic investment."

Geffken said in the statement that Fort Smith's utility rates have increased 167 percent since the filing of the consent decree, while the city's median income decreased by 11 percent. Fort Smith residents are paying 2.2 percent of their income on utility bills, surpassing the federal guideline of 2 percent, he said.

Geffken also argued the consent decree has put Fort Smith on a 12-year schedule to complete the required improvements while other cities are given 20 to 25 years to comply.

The decree grants no flexibility in compliance and assesses penalties for violations that reduce funds available to pay for compliance, Geffken said. At the time of the statement, Geffken said, the city was complying with all requirements in the consent decree.

Geffken said in the statement that Fort Smith is experiencing "utility rate fatigue" and the burden to fix the sewer system is affecting the ability to pay for water projects such as building a new water transmission line from its treatment plant in Mountainburg and replacing thousands of residential water meters.

City directors meet at 6 p.m. in the Fort Smith Public Schools Service Center, 3205 Jenny Lind Road.

State Desk on 04/03/2018

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