Fort Smith directors discuss utility problems

Fort Smith Utility Director Lance McAvoy speaks during the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session Tuesday. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)
Fort Smith Utility Director Lance McAvoy speaks during the Fort Smith Board of Directors study session Tuesday. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Saccente)

FORT SMITH -- The city's utilities director apologized for residents' higher-than-usual utility bills, something he attributed in part to staff shortages and miscommunication.

Lance McAvoy, addressing the Board of Directors during its study session last week, explained the water and sewer portion of the city utility bill is based on reading water meters. Utility department staff tries to read meters every 28 to 32 days for each billing cycle.

The department started getting complaints this month that customers' utility bills were higher than expected, according to McAvoy. An investigation revealed some of the bills reflected up to 40 days of usage.

McAvoy attributed this issue to the recent holidays and a staff shortage the utility department experienced in November.

"We have hired and filled that position," he said. "We currently have four meter readers, five if you include the chief meter reader who does work in the field with them."

One of the utility department's "seasoned team members" was injured in early December as well, according to McAvoy. The employee will be out until the end of January, and although the department hired a new person in November, that person didn't start until December.

McAvoy, who has held his position a little over a year, also described a communication breakdown within the department and said he takes sole responsibility.

"It is important to me that my staff know that if there is a situation, if there is a challenge, that they can come all the way up to me and have it addressed, that we can look for a solution right then and there," he said.

McAvoy said the utility department has pulled staff who had been promoted out of meter reading to help it get caught up. These employees have been working overtime, including Saturdays, to do so. The department should be back on schedule byTuesday. Bills from Feb. 18 to March 11 may show decreased water usage because of the shorter period between the meter readings, he said. All bills should be back to normal by April.

The department is working to ensure time periods don't exceed 32 days, and, if they do, the public will be notified as soon as possible, he said.

Water leaks

McAvoy also discussed problems his department has had repairing water leaks.

The department had 331 leaks on its pending list -- leaks that have been reported and verified, but not immediately addressed -- at the beginning of June. This number rose each following month until it hit 582 in December, according to McAvoy.

He attributed some of the backlog to personnel shortages the department faced as a result of a citywide hiring freeze stemming from the covid-19 pandemic. This freeze began around April and May and lasted until late October or early November.

"In January, February and March, we utilized overtime," McAvoy said. "We had crews working six and seven days a week to address leaks. As the number of employees shrunk, we could not operate that way because we were just basically burning out staff. So, although we still used overtime, a lot of that was for emergency repairs. As we began to look at hiring, we started being hit with illnesses, people that needed breaks and vacations, and this exacerbated the situation of not having staff in the field."

The utility department had between 14 and 20 vacancies in its water line maintenance program every month between June and December, McAvoy said. The department has faced challenges finding qualified applicants, he said.

The city has more than 600 miles of water line. The utility department's water line maintenance program consists of 77 people when fully staffed.

Kevin Settle, at-large Position 6 city director, suggested city officials examine whether compensation for those repair positions is high enough.

Neal Martin, at-large Position 7 city director, agreed with Settle, saying he believes the city needs to create a timeline related to these vacancies and water leaks, with certain goals to be met by specific times.

"This is one of the big frustrations of the citizens of Fort Smith, constant leaks," Martin said. "We've got to get ahead of it."

Thomas Saccente can be reached by email at [email protected].

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