Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Generator Fixed; Hearings Set On Easements

A generator problem at the Red Springs water station has been corrected.

According to Harold Hurst, manager of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department, a different emergency service generator has been installed, is on-line and is fully operational.

This back up generator, he told member of the Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission at its regular monthly meeting Monday night, is required by the Arkansas Department of Health as a back up power supply in case something happens.

Charles Summerford, the project engineer for the Gurdon Rural Water Project has been working with the bond company on getting the area where the water line was installed cleaned up as was agreed in the contract. However, Hurst said, there has been no response.

Summerford has also been working on a problem with stale water in the Moon Valley and Smithton communities. The lines have been flushed repeatedly to alleviate the problem, which has improved somewhat. Hurst, though, pointed out there are few customers on the line in these areas.

In another issue with the addition to the system, Hurst said there are some people saying they didn't know they had to pay a minimum bill for 36 months whether they hooked up or not.

They have, he said, told him they didn't read the agreement. These people, he continued, will continue to get a bill if they are hooked onto the system or not because they paid their deposits up front.

But, Hurst informed the panel, if they don't pay this bill for six months, they will lose their deposit and connection rights. Then, should they want to hook onto the system, it will cost them a good deal more.

Under an ordinance approved by the Gurdon City Council, the fee for connecting to the rural water system is $350 or the actual cost of the connection whichever is higher.

Hurst said the average cost of connection has been $500, but could be considerably more if the department has to drill beneath a state highway. He said there's no way to be specific on connection costs because of the variables involved.

In discussing the Greenville community getting hooked onto the rural water system, Hurst said nothing is being done at this time, even though there is about $50,000 left in the grant and loan monies.

Part of the reason, he said, is because the generator had to be bought for the Red Springs station, and another reason is because there is still some dispute over easements for the project.

A total of 33 sections of property had to be condemned because the owners refused to sign easement agreements. This means each owner involved is suing the department for payment of the land in question.

The first 13 cases are scheduled to be heard, Hurst said, on June 15. The idea, he told the commissioners, is to get a monetary amount to pay the owners. The owners, though, are asking for more than the assessed value of the land.

All cases are being heard individually. "There's no telling how long it will take," Hurst said. "I had to sign the form (for condemning the land)."

There is money in escrow to pay the landowners, but, he said, it was established at the appraised value set by the court. If more is awarded, it will have to come from the rural water funds, as will the fee for the appraiser (who is paid $75 per hour) during his court appearance.

This, Hurst said, is another reason nothing has been done in the Greenville area.

In other business, he said, there is a leak in the city lines at 10th and Pine streets needing to be repaired because it is damaging the street.

Insurance will also have to be obtained for the storage tank and booster stations. This is required by the lending agencies for the project, Hurst said, and was not figured into the original operational cost of the system.

No truck has been purchased by the department as yet, Hurst informed the panel, but the 1990 International owned by Michael Garrett is looking better all the time.

This vehicle is a model 4700 4x2 without metal sides and a tailgate. In this condition the asking price is $17,075. With a tailgate and metal sides, the price increases to $18,030.13.