Citizens speak out as Strong council seeks solution to water woes

Citizens in Strong expressed their frustrations and sought details on a plan to move forward after a weeks-long boil order was issued for the city last month during a city council meeting on Thursday, March 11, at Strong City Hall.

A boil order was issued for the the entire Strong Water Works system, including the Aurelle extension, on February 19, shortly following the winter weather and snow that struck the region.

As explained during the council meeting, the boil order was related to compounded problems in the water system stemming from the winter weather.

The boil order itself was lifted on March 3.

Citizens at the meeting expressed frustration on how long they were without water.

The meeting began with approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, approval of revenue and expenditure reports and approval to pay February’s bills.

Resident Cindy Smith spoke first, addressing Mayor Daryell Howell on behalf of the community.

“I’m not only here representing my community, but the school as well. We have 300-plus bodies down there and if we’re out of water for a long period of time, we have to cancel school. In our homes, we were out of water during this [winter] storm for almost seven days, and I think Freehope was out of water a little longer than that. We would just like to know what the update is, if there’s anything being done and what’s the plan moving forward. We’d like to know what the water situation will be six months from now or a

year from now. We have a serious situation and would like to know where we stand,” Smith said.

According to information in a February 23 email from Strong-Huttig superintendent Kimberly Thomas, the school district returned to on-site instruction on February 24 thanks to “all water-related repairs [being] completed in the city of Strong,” although at that time staff and students still needed to drink bottled water due to the boil order.

Mayor Howell responded to Smith.

“I can respond to that question with the information I have and answer what we’ve done. The water is back up and wells Five and Six have been given new motors this year, so that has been attended to. We have been given some information about getting a new well. Well Five was put in in 2002, and Wells Six and Seven were put in in the 1980s. We have submitted a [grant] application with Arkansas Natural Resources for a new well and have gotten two bids that I’m waiting on… We do [also] have resources and, based on the price of the bids that come in, have the possibility of the city doing the well without a grant or loan. So an application has been put in to put a new 80 GPM (gallons-per-minute) well in,” Howell said.

Howell added that although a location for a new well has not yet been determined, the city worked alongside Gaunt Engineers, the firm that placed the current wells in Strong, to submit the Arkansas Natural Resources application and that engineers would determine any future well placement.

Howell said he expects the city to find out further details about the grant application on March 15.

A second Strong resident, Tina Bennett, also spoke.

“Is there any looking forward to repairing the new (water) lines throughout the city? Even if we put in new motors and pumps, if the lines are not viable then the problem isn’t fixed,” Bennett said.

Howell responded to this question as well.

“We did, in 2016, replace the lines in the city limits, but to do a total line replacement is not just a couple of dollars. We’re trying to do it in phases because with the resources we have it’s not something where we can go in and do a $20 million replacement,” Howell.

“Can you go in phases and have a laid-out plan that says, within this year we’ll do however much we can do with the money available, and keep reapplying for grants?” Bennett said.

Howell responded that the city has been gradually working to improve the water system, including the water line replacement within city limits in 2016 and a water and sewer grant sought in 2020.

“This part, with the well, is phase one, and hopefully within the next month or so we will have a laid out plan for moving forward with replacement, not just here in town, but for Aurelle as well,” Howell said.

Several citizens also present during the discussion expressed that they did not know, as of the council meeting, that the boil order had been lifted.

Dennis Sternberg, CEO of the nonprofit Arkansas Rural Water Association, spoke next.

Sternberg sent a team to assist Strong restore water and eventually visited himself, and explained in detail his takes on the problems faced by the city and offered his recommendation for resolving those problems.

Arkansas Rural Water Association, Sternberg said, provides “training and technical assistance to all water and wastewater systems in Arkansas, certification training and on-site technical assistance.”

“The storm hit and affected systems around the state… and your system wasn’t the only one affected. But what it did show is that the weaker systems were not prepared… I actually got called by State Representative Sonia Barker about concerns she had been getting about citizens not having water or having low pressure,” Sternberg said.

Sternberg said that he immediately sent ARWA circuit rider Terry Fortenberry to Strong and had them contact the city water systems water operator, Jimmy Hargis, who also manages other regional water systems, according to statements made during the meeting.

“At the time, [Hargis] stated he didn’t know they were out of water but that there might be low pressure… When [Fortenberry] came down here, we verified that the pumps at the pump station that pump to Aurelle were running but were running with no water… What happened when that freeze happened, it froze a lot of pipes and as it started to warm up and hit the systems, draining the systems. Not having an operator on hand hurts your system more than anything. You didn’t have someone here who is licensed and knowledgeable of what to do. You have three men [including council members Charles Perry and John Williams, Sternberg later stated] who worked with us with the city who were excellent, who got in the holes and know the system,” Sternberg said.

Sternberg went on to explain details about the work done to restore the system and the problems encountered during that process.

“We had so many problems out there with service line leaks, homes leaking; we had a two-inch line that apparently had been leaking for a while, that nobody wanted to address, in a creek. You need to thank your neighboring operator for coming over, getting in the creek, diving in with a full circle repair clamp, putting in on the line and sealing if off. That two inch line will eat up your wells; all they’re producing is going out into the creek. You always need to be maintaining and looking at the records,” Sternberg said.

His chief recommendations for the city were to find and hire a licensed water operator specifically for the city and to build a well higher than 80 GPM to ensure water continuity; he also suggested city staff learn about valve locations. Sternberg said he provided the two larger recommendations in his report to the Arkansas Department of Health.

“You have a significant problem. You have a school system that is dependent on the water system being up-and-running properly. When you’re under a boil order, they have to provide bottled water… You have three small wells… You mentioned an 80 GPM well, I think that’s ridiculous. I’d go for a 250 GPM well, minimum. It’s going to cost more but you are going to have a long-term solution,” Sternberg said.

Following the discussion, the council passed a resolution regarding the water problems.

The resolution, read by Howell during the meeting, authorized the Mayor to apply for the Drinking Water and State Revolving Loan Program, administered by the Natural Resources Division of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. The resolution passed unanimously.

The next Strong city council meeting will be on Thursday, April 8.