Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Commission Told of Bids

Members of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission were informed of the second bids for the water and sewer project for the new high school during their regular monthly meeting Monday night.

Harold Hurst, water superintendent, said the school saved $35,000 with the second bid, as Bobo and Bain submitted the lowest bid. However, he said there are 13 easements still needed before the project can begin.

According to Hurst, some people simply refuse to sign over their property because they are aggravated due to delays and with the way things have been handled to date. Some of the property may have to be condemned by the city, which could take 30 days.

He said project engineer Charles Summerford is staking out where the water and sewer lines will run so people can see where they will be. "Hopefully," Hurst said, "these people will sign the easements then. We can offer them some money based on the taxes on that strip of land." He said any funds paid to property owners for easements would be handled by Clark County and not the City of Gurdon.

Hurst said meetings with the lending agencies have begun to see what paperwork needs to be done before a preconstruction meeting is held. "We can't award a contract without all easements," he told the commission.

The contract is for 75 days, with rain delays built in, just in case the weather turns nasty before construction can be completed.

In other business, Hurst said a water tower had been vandalized with a young man spray painting it. However, the culprit was caught, tried and sentenced to restitution, which amounts to $2,500. Hurst said David Jackson, of West Memphis, who painted the tower originally, said he could correct the problem for the $2,500.

The commission was informed the department is meeting its payment obligations, but is not making much money. This, Hurst said, could cause a problem with the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology (PC&E). He said the PC&E could require another rate increase if the department doesn't have adequate revenue. "I don't know where we could cut expenses," he said.

Part of the problem could be the commission has a 60-day grace period before past due customers have their water turned off. Hurst said part of the problem could be alleviated with a 30-day period instead. There were $757 in bad debts for August along, and more than $1,400 since June. The department has $3,000 budgeted for bad debts for the entire year.

Hurst said raising the deposit fee to $100 has helped, but there are simply some people who will not pay their bill until they get threatened with shut off notices.

Carroll Coston, one of the commissioners, suggested the department file claims against overdue customers in small claims court. He said the department can get a judgement against them whether it ever sees a dime or not. With a judgement, however, the department can garnishee wages and it will show up on credit checks. "I like the idea of 30 day notice," Coston said.

Pam Wilson, office manager, said she sends out between 70 and 75 shutoff notices a month for Gurdon alone. There were 94 sent out last month.

The commission agreed to ask the Gurdon City Council to change the shutoff period from 60 to 30 days in an effort to speed up collections. In addition, the panel agreed to begin filing suits in small claims court for delinquent customers.

The final order of business was a sad one, as Hurst said Wilson will be leaving herpost at the first of the year and will have to be replaced. He said a new office manager needs to be hired as quickly as possible so they can be trained before she leaves. "She'll be hard to replace," he said.