Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Railroad Crossing Approved For Emmet

Emmet received some good news and not so good news recently.

Emmet Mayor Dale Booker told the Emmet City Council, at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, April 14, a minute order was passed by the Arkansas Highway Commission to go ahead with plans to get a railroad crossing gate installed at the Elm Street location in the community.

The next step is approval from the Federal Highway Administration, at which time plans for the gate and crossing lights will be developed and a work order issued for installation.

However, Booker pointed out, it will still take two years before the gate and lights are actually in place.

Still, he said, this is good news for Emmet.

The not-so-good news entailed the proposed new well for the city's water project.

According to a letter received from the Arkansas Department of Health, the planned location of the well caused this portion of the project to be put on hold at this time.

The letter states the site does not have the required 100 foot radius protective zone free of any possible sources of contamination.

ADH studies show an access road 62 feet from the site, along with a drainage ditch from the nearby industrial property (Arkla), and a parking lot 22 feet to the south of the location.

Other problems with the well included the well head slab needing to be at least 24 inches from the outside rim of the casing on all sides and extending at least six inches above ground.

The ADH, though, has stated the city can seek another location for the well and submit it for possible approval.

Booker said the city needs to meet with the engineers as the city's options are limited due to the size of water line needed to pump water into the well.

Councilman Dick Snell suggested getting a representative from the ADH to come down and let the council know if the well is a viable option at all before anything else is done.

Booker again said the project engineer needs to look at the situation and see if there's somewhere else the well can be dug.

In other business, Booker said the contractor for the water project is getting little work done on the system. The contractor is running out of time and could face fines for not making the deadline if construction continues at its current pace.

Next up the council talked trash and how to keep people from dumping their garbage at the truck site.

The council voted to fence in the area where the garbage truck is kept to prevent people from coming up and leaving their trash on the site, as some are currently doing.

This requires the sanitation worker to spend time compacting the garbage left at the site before beginning his rounds.

Booker said it would be best to have a washing slab for the truck and the fence done at the same time.

The enclosure would have one gate for the truck to go in and out of, though some of the council suggested two gates.