Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council approves bond for water treatment project

Barring complications with easements, work on Prescott's water treatment plant could begin before the end of the year.

The Prescott City Council met in special session Monday, Sept. 10, to pass an ordinance for the bond issue to pay for the system.

Shep Russell, with the Friday Law Firm of Little Rock, read the 30-page document, telling the council members it was a "complicated document" and included information for the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes.

Carie Smith, with Stephens Inc., the firm handling the bond transaction for the city, said the interest rate was in line with what had been expected. The bonds were sold with a net interest rate of 5.106 percent.

In all, $1,205,000 in bonds were sold, while the city will receive $1,102,522.50 for its share. The rest of the money will be used to pay off expenses related in the sale of the bonds.

Smith said the bond issue was set up so the city will make two payments per year. The first will be on the interest, while the other is on the principle.

This is a 20-year bond issue, which is scheduled to be paid off Oct. 1, 2021.

Smith said the bonds were actually sold on Aug. 21, with the maximum amount the city will be required to pay during any given year of the 20-year life cycle being $98.080.

Funds generated from this bond issue can only be used for the purpose of upgrading and improving the water treatment facility.

James Rice, with NRS Engineering, was also on hand to update the council on plans for the project.

He showed preliminary plans, reminding the council the clear well will have a capacity of 1.5 million gallons

The actual site of the tank, he said, was selected because it's the only place in the area large enough to put it.

Once the clarifiers are moved to this facility, Rice said, with the water lines being split to both clarifiers, the structure can handle up to four million gallons of water daily.

Along with the addition of the clarifiers, two more filters will be added, bringing the total to four. The filtering system, he said, will also be able to handle up to four million gallons daily.

This is being done because of changes in regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2003, Rice said, EPA regulations won't allow the city to put chlorine in at the river.

Because of this, the facility needs larger storage capacity, with the chlorination process being done in the clear well. The bottom three feet of the well, he said, will be maintained as a minimum level so there will be proper contact time with the chlorine and water.

Organics will be removed before the chlorine is put in, so the water will be better purified for Prescott residents.

The clear well will be bid out as a concrete structure because it will be built 18-feet deep and 120-feet in diameter. The reason it will be so deep, Rice said, is to avoid the shrink/swell problem with the area's soil.

The tank will also have baffle walls to hold up the ceiling and provide further purification of the water, as the water will be "turned over" on a regular basis.

There will be three pumps at the tank itself, with the tanks being five-feet lower than the floor of the clear well. This is done, Rice said, so all of the water can be pumped out when the tank needs to be cleaned.

Along with this, there will be room for a fourth pump, to be added later on as needed.

The depth of the tank is to ensure the slab is below moisture changes in the soil, he said. The shallowest it will be is 14 feet.

The pipe used will be mechanical pipe, which is more flexible. The tank's design is geared to allow 1.5 inches of movement.

No changes will be made to the "guts" of the plant, Rice said, with the upgrades designed to expansions can be made in the future if necessary.

If all goes according to plan, he said, with the Arkansas Department of Health approving the final plans, the project can be let for bid in another two weeks. The city will be required to advertise the project for bids for 15 days to meet state law.

The bids can be opened at the October meeting, hopefully, Rice said, and with a little luck, work can begin before the wet weather hits.