NACA board exploring changes to leadership

BENTONVILLE — The Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority started a search Thursday to determine whether to hire a new executive director, a consultant, a lobbyist or make other staff changes, the authority’s board announced Thursday.

Chairman George Spence of Bentonville announced plans to name a three-member committee from the board to explore which, if any, of those options to pursue. He took the action only after giving board members a chance to object. None did and those who spoke up supported the idea, although no vote was taken. Spence didn’t name the committee at Thursday’s meeting at NACA headquarters.

The authority runs a regional wastewater treatment plant, completed in 2010. An executive director was needed to get the plant built, to finalize plans and seek money for the project, Spence said. The director was left with little to do after the plant began operation though, according to Spence. Whatever finance, legal or planning duties were needed were done by whoever the board chairman was, he told the group.

Now the authority plans to double the plant’s capacity under an expansion project and replacing a pipeline in a combined cost of $55 million, using a state loan that garnered final approval last month. The authority also has an ongoing legal dispute with a contractor and has other matters that could justify an executive director, at least part-time, the board said in discussion.

Another alternative is to hire additional staff to keep the plant running smoothly so plant manager Mike Neil could devote time to other challenges, board members said.

The authority needs more planning for its future, insists Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman. Orman isn’t a member of the board but asked to speak to the body both last month and at Thursday’s meeting. Bentonville ratepayers use most of the plant’s capacity and pay most of its costs.

Orman told the board she would like Rogers and Springdale to give tentative date for when they would link to the system. She also said authority member cities, including ones not tied on to the wastewater system yet, should split the costs of an executive director.

Board member Todd Brewer of Rogers said it would be a “tough sell” to city councils to pay a share of the costs of any position without a clear, solid proposal of what the position’s duties and costs would be. Spence told the board the committee will recommend a position, if any, costs and how to pay for it.

The board will meet again May 6. In a related issue, the board decided to meet every month. Previously, the board met every quarter, plus occasionally holding a special meeting.

The plant expansion will take three years, according to estimates, from the time design work is complete, Spence said. The design work is under way, he said. The expanded plant will be able to process 7.2 million gallons a day, up from about 3.6 million now.

The plant’s original design anticipated a need to expand to 5.4 million gallons a day, but growth is faster than expected, Spence said. Almost all the growth requiring the expansion is from Bentonville, he said.