FAYETTEVILLE -- A completely new board of directors for Washington Water Authority held its first meeting Feb. 6 in the Quorum Court room and pledged to do its part so that the project to widen two miles of state Highway 170 in Farmington can move forward.
County Judge Patrick Deaton appointed all new members to the board and has given the oath of office to those members: Mick Wagner, chairman, David Bolinger, Bo Speed, Larry Delozier, Doug Chambers and Nathan Prince. John Everett also was appointed but has since determined he did not meet the qualifications to serve on the board.
The county ordinance that created the board says a member must live within the WWA service area and must be a customer of WWA. The new board last week approved a resolution to amend the qualifications for board members so that a member must only meet one of the two criteria, either live within the service area or be a WWA customer. This resolution will be considered by the quorum court for adoption.
Another change at WWA is that general manager Josh Moore has resigned, effective Feb. 3, and for now staff engineer Zak Johnston will serve as interim general manager, Wagner said after the meeting.
Wagner opened the first board meeting with his own chairman's comments.
"I just want to say this one thing, that I think the WWA board, maybe to no fault of these people here, we've got to improve the image of being a customer-oriented utility," Wagner said. "We want to be very transparent. Here before, it's been kinda difficult."
After his comments, Wagner asked each member to introduce himself and give some background. The board then decided that its monthly meetings will be held in the quorum court room at 1 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. Previously, the WWA board met at the WWA office in Farmington.
Next, the board turned its attention to the Highway 170 project in Farmington.
"Gentlemen, this is not a day that lives in infamy, but I think it's been a period of years that's lived in infamy," Wagner said about the project. "I can make a commitment that I don't think this body will be suing any of our neighboring cities and/or our state agency."
Wagner was referring to a lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court by Washington Water Authority on Sept. 15, 2021, against the Arkansas Department of Transportation and city of Farmington asking a judge to stop work on the Highway 170 widening project until an agreement is reached about compensation to move the authority's water lines.
A circuit court judge dismissed the complaint, without prejudice, in an order filed March 22, 2022.
Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn attended the meeting and Wagner invited Penn to address the board and give a summary and status of the project.
"I'm excited about having a board that is going to make it a priority to take care of all our citizens out there in WWA's locations," Penn told the new board members. "I think we'll have a good working relationship that will be very productive in the future for us and all the cities."
Penn said the project to widen two miles of Highway 170 from Main Street to Clyde Carnes Road started about four years ago with the approval of state and federal funds allocated to the project. The city of Farmington also is paying 20% of the costs for some of the phases.
Utility companies had to agree to relocate their lines, with the state paying about 95% of the costs to relocate and the utility the remaining 5%.
The project was ready to go out for bids to construct the new road except, Penn said, WWA had not agreed to relocate its lines that were in conflict with the new right of way for the highway.
"We've had numerous meetings, several in the last year in person, and honestly nothing ever progressed from those meetings," Penn said. "We never got any compromise, never got an agreement. It's been at a standstill for the past two years."
Wagner said he's never heard of a utility "sitting here trying to arm wrestle, when you are going to widen a road and you're asked to move." He said he was "embarrassed" that the former management and board thought it was a good idea to sue a city and a state department.
Between engineers and lawyers, WWA has spent about $150,000 because of the Highway 170 project and the authority has "nothing" to show for that money, Wagner said.
The rub, Wagner said, appears to be that WWA wanted the state to pay to relocate 9,055 linear feet of water lines but the highway department says only about 3,915 linear feet is in conflict with the new right of way and the state would pay to relocate those lines.
The lines that would not be relocated would be extremely close to the new highway. If there is a leak, it would be virtually impossible to repair the leak without damaging the road, Wagner said.
From that standpoint, WWA might have had a reasonable argument wanting to relocate 9,055 linear feet but on the other hand, Wagner noted, two consenting adults who are reasonable and have common sense should be able to work something out.
Wagner asked Penn if he thought the city would be willing to approve a "hold harmless clause" so that WWA would not have to repair the new road if it has to repair water lines near the new highway. Once the Highway 170 project is completed, the highway department will turn over that stretch of road to the city of Farmington.
Johnston said the authority will need to get easements from Farmington School District and some private property owners and then come up with an updated cost to relocate its lines since prices have gone up dramatically since the last estimate. The last estimate by the transportation department in June 2020 indicated the total cost to relocate 9,055 linear feet would be $1.5 million.
When that information is ready within the next couple of weeks, the city, WWA officials and representatives of the ArDot will schedule a meeting to finalize decisions so that the authority can move forward with relocating its lines and the project can go out for bids.
"This thing is beginning to smell it's been around so long," Wagner said. "Let's try to put this in four-wheel drive and high speed and get on down the road."