Council Opts To Help With Valley View Sewer Line

PRAIRIE GROVE’S COST WOULD BE UNDER $600,000

PRAIRIE GROVE -- Bids to construct a sewer line to connect Valley View Estates and nearby subdivisions to the Prairie Grove sewer system brought good news for the city of Prairie Grove.

City officials have been waiting on the bids to decide whether to participate in the costs of the project with Washington County Property Owners Improvement District No. 5, owners of the community sewer system that serves customers in Valley View Estates, Walnut Grove Acres, Meadowsweet, Highland Green and Saddlebrook subdivisions.

The Council approved longevity bonuses for employees: $350, 10 years plus; $300, 5-10 years; $200, 1-4 years; $150, less than one year and part-time.

The improvement district sought bids for two options to connect the area to Prairie Grove's system.

In the first option, the district would build a forced-main sewer line from Valley View Estates to the city's lift station at Sundowner Estates.

In the second option, the district would run a line to a metered location near Tristan Lane on U.S. Highway 62, then would cost-share with the city in building a gravity flow line from that point to the Sundowner lift station.

Prior to the bid opening, Prairie Grove estimated its portion of the cost could be as high as $820,000.

The improvement district recently opened bids and for the second option, Prairie Grove's cost would be less than $600,00, according to Jerry Kopke, Arkansas state coordinator with Communities Unlimited, a non-profit rural development organization that is running the improvement district's sewer system at this time.

Valley View's sewer system was placed in receivership in April 2016 with Communities Unlimited because of ongoing problems and violations with state law.

Prairie Grove City Council passed a resolution at its Nov. 19 meeting to enter into a partnership with the Washington County Property Owners Improvement District #5 for the sewer project. In the resolution, the Council agrees to pay the additional costs of about $566,466 to upgrade the sewer line from forced-main to gravity flow.

The resolution notes that a gravity line will allow the city to deliver sewer services to homes and business from near Battlefield Park east along Heritage Parkway to a point northeast of Triston Lane. It also provides the potential to extend the line northeast in the future.

When the project is finished, Prairie Grove will take ownership of the gravity flow line.

"We look at this as an opportunity to be able to serve the 62 corridor beyond the Illinois River where we haven't been able to before," said Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works. "It's a good partnership and will help them out (by treating their waste) and we'll benefit in the process."

Prairie Grove will pay its portion of the costs using reserve funds, including money left over from a 2012 bond fund for sewer improvements.

The improvement district is using loans from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to pay for the project, one a 32-year loan and another, a deferred loan.

Kopke said the construction bids came in higher than expected for the total project and the Natural Resources Commission has approved an additional deferred loan for $618,000.

The low bids, Kopke said, were $349,740 from H & H Directional Boring Inc., to bore underneath the Illinois River and $2.8 million from Goodwin & Goodwin Inc., for the line work and lift station.

The bids will have to be approved by the Natural Resources Commission and the improvement district is scheduled to close on the ANRC loans on Dec. 13.

"It looks like we are good to go," Kopke said last week.

The improvement district has secured easements from 30 different tracts for the project for a cost of about $100,000 paid to property owners.

The construction contract has a 280-day timeline and Kopke said he anticipates construction will start around the first of the year and be finished "hopefully" in eight months. The improvement district's engineering firm, Engineering Services Inc., of Springdale, will serve as project manager.

One issue to be decided is the sewer rate customers will pay in the future to help retire the construction debt. Now that the costs are known, Kopke said, the district's three member commission can begin looking at future rates.

One change will be to charge customers based on usage, in addition to a base fee for debt. Currently, customers pay a flat rate of $40 per month.

Until the project is completed, the district will continue to use a private company to haul untreated wastewater to Prairie Grove's sewer treatment plant. This is costing the district about $40,000 per month to pay the private hauler and to pay Prairie Grove to treat the wastewater.

General News on 11/28/2018