City ready to bring Area B into fold

Hot Springs is preparing to extend services to the 621 acres it added to the corporate limits more than two years ago as the window closes to challenge the state Court of Appeals ruling upholding the annexation.

City Attorney Brian Albright said last month that property owners in the tract known as Enclave Study Area B, who sued the city in 2016, have 18 days from the March 14 filing of the court’s majority opinion to petition the state Supreme Court for review. The Court of Appeals affirmed Garland

County Circuit Court’s January 2017 dismissal of the lawsuit.

Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Lance Spicer said Friday that the police and fire departments will begin servicing the area, which includes Lake Hamilton and Lakeland drives and Buena Vista Road, within 30 days of receiving notice that no appeal has been filed.

He said agencies will work to ensure there are no gaps in service during the transition, explaining that the new boundaries have to be incorporated into the city and Garland County GIS maps before the mapping system dispatchers use to direct police and fire service can be updated.

“Once the notice is put out that the suit is final, that’s when the police chief, sheriff, fire chief and volunteer fire department will make sure to coordinate activities in those areas,” he said. “The coordination between those public safety agencies has worked really well in the past.”

The city already provides water and sewer service in the area, but Spicer said residents could see lower rates by as early as next month. City residents don’t pay the 50-percent premium assessed on meters outside the corporate limits.

“It’s a timing issue of when we’re notified, but I would believe that they’ll notice a reduction in water and wastewater within the first part of May,” he said.

Spicer said it’s more efficient for the county to continue billing for sanitation services through the end of the year, as some Area B residents have paid the county in full for 2018. Suburban Sanitation Inc. entered into a five-year agreement with the county, with the option for a one-year renewal, in January 2015 to service the area. The contract allows it to continue servicing annexed areas for the duration of the term.

“Solid waste is kind of the one outlier, due to the prepayment of residential services,” Spicer said. “The city will likely begin providing those residential services through contract at the beginning of 2019. It’s likely the contract with Suburban will continue. They provide a great service throughout Garland County.”

He said a two-year grace period will be in effect before the city begins enforcing its neighborhood and property maintenance code.

“It’s one of the codes we really have to do a fair bit of education on what’s permissible and what’s not,” he said. “You can’t really expect overnight compliance.”

Spicer said Area B residents will be eligible to vote in the election for District 5 city director in November. It’s one of four Hot Springs Board of Director positions up for election this year. He said the area contains about 1,200 address points and according to the 2010 Census, about 500 permanent residents.

“It’s a large tract, and has some dense development,” he said. “For the most part, it’s a dense residential area.”