Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Meeting Has Mayor Begging For Help

Round three of the rural water meetings opened with a plea for help.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the project will have to have the assistance of residents in rural areas in order to become a reality. In fact, Taylor asked those few who showed up to help find volunteers to go door to door in an effort to get people to sign up for water.

There were eight people in the audience at the meeting.

Mike Marlar, project engineer, informed those on hand work began on the project in March. He said the City of Prescott will serve as the supplier of water and act as administrator of the system.

The estimated cost of the project is $3.9 million. The Arkansas Industrial Development Council (AIDC) has approved a grant for the project, while the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission said it will loan the city enough money to make up the difference the grant doesn't cover.

This means, basically, the money is in place for the project. However, in order to keep the costs to the customers at a minimum, at least 80 percent of the 758 who would be affected by the system need to sign up.

Now, Marlar said, residents need to pay the meter fee and connection fee. He said the minimum bill will be $19 plus the cost of water used. The $19 is to retire the debt for the system.

But time is of the essence, according to Marlar. He told those present the AIDC will be looking at reallocating funding for different projects, and those who are farther along stand the best chance of receiving funds.

He said the Prescott project stands a good chance of being funded because of the surveys which have been completed.

Clinton Wingfield, grant administrator for the project, said he recently attended a meeting with state agencies and Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. The agencies, he said, were told there would be cutbacks across the board, but not informed how much they would be. This means money for projects such as the rural water system will be even harder to come by in the future.

"The money is there now," he said, "and we have to tap into it. If we don't, we don't know what we'll run into."

In addition, he said small cities and rural communities will find it even harder than ever to get state and federal funding. This, he said, is because most have trouble administering the funds once they've been approved.

Wingfield said Prescott is fortunate in its water project because there is an existing water supply which will provide plenty of water to the system, once it's in place.

Some areas, he noted, either had to dig deep wells or find another source to supply them with water.

In discussing some of the particulars in the project, he said residents will be allowed to put the lines from the meters to their homes themselves, but before they will get water, the work must be inspected and approved by a licensed plumber.

Additionally, those residents who plan on having the city water hooked up to their homes will have to disconnect their wells from the structures. This is to prevent the possibility of contamination in the system in case of a leak.

Wingfield said residents also need to sign easements to allow the construction be done. "We're not taking anybody's property," he said. "We're just using the land to install and service the lines."

The audience was told the landowners could do anything with the property used as easements except build permanent structures on it.

Where possible, the easements will be at the front of the property, and will be parallel to existing easements such as county roads.

Marlar said when the water lines cross an existing pipeline, such as a natural gas line, the water line will be placed either above it or below it, with plenty of separation between the two to protect both.

When questioned about buying the easements, Wingfield said it would take from the grant monies. Marlar concurred, saying the rates to customers would be much higher as well.

"The mayor and all of you here need to help with the signup," Wingfield said. "We need volunteers to go to houses and inform people about the project."

Those signing up for city water will have a number of papers to sign when they do. All will have to pay a meter deposit, though those considered to be low-income families will get their connection fee back.

"This is something the people need," Wingfield said, "and want. We need people to sign up or there won't be a project. This is your (tax) money coming back to you.

"You need to take advantage of what you've got, and you're fortunate to have a city willing to do this."

Rosston resident John Teeter, spoke up, saying, as a volunteer firefighter, there have been many times he's wished for 10 more minutes of water to battle fires with. He said many structures have burned because of the lack of water.

"This opportunity is within our reach," he said. "We need to reach out and grab it."

Marlar said there would be a variety of pipe laid ranging from two inch to eight inch depending on where it runs. The larger pipes will be along main thoroughfares, while the smaller pipes, primarily two-inch, will go to homes.

It was brought up the county initially applied for the grant. Questions were asked about why the city is involved and how it can legally act as administrator of the grant and operator of the rural water system.

Marlar said the loan is issued to the entity which will be operating and maintaining the system. In this case, the City of Prescott. This, he said, is being done because the city already has everything in place to operate and maintain the system.

Wingfield said most county judges don't want to be in the water business, and prefer city's operate and maintain the water systems.

A breakdown of the $180 residents are being asked for on the deposit and connection fees, shows $50 is for the meter, $110 goes for the actual connection. The remaining $20 is a service charge for bookkeeping and paying off the bond issue. Taylor said the service charge is mandated by law.

The debate ranged around the topic of signing up for water but not having it connected to a home. Marlar said this can be done, but those having the meter installed will still have to pay the $19 per month basic fee for debt service reduction.

Taylor said several people have already done this. They will have the meter installed when the system comes by their homes, but it will not be connected to the houses.

At the time the customer wants the service hooked to their home, they will have to pay the connection fee then.

When the topic of paying the $180 deposit and connection fee came up and how low income people could come up with this much money, Taylor said both local banks have approved short term, no interest loa