Council axes water purchase

The Bella Vista City Council approved a resolution to no longer pursue the purchase of a portion of Centerton’s water system.

The vote initially tied at 3-3, with council members Doug Fowler, Linda Lloyd and Larry Wilms opposing the measure while council members Steve Bourke, James Wozniak and John Flynn — who was absent during the Nov. 18 regular meeting where this resolution was previously voted down — voted in favor of it. Mayor Peter Christie cast a vote in favor of the resolution, allowing it to pass 4-3.

During the March 2017 regular meeting, the council unanimously approved a purchase price of $243,855.49 for the 1,312 acres of water distribution area that Centerton was willing to sell, which includes areas in Gravette and running along Arkansas Highway 279 and Rogers Road.

The now-approved resolution backs the city out of that sale in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between Bella Vista and Centerton, under which Bella Vista will be required to reimburse some of Gravette’s costs related to the sale.

Christie said the resolution was brought back for a second vote because council member John Flynn was unable to attend the previous meeting and provide his input for the vote.

Flynn said he believed this was the right thing to do in part because the city administration, which does not wish to go through with the purchase, has been reliable thus far.

Potential issues with Gravette suing to force the sale of portions in Gravette city limit are another deterrent, he said.

Further, he said, it’s hard to know when, or even if, the substantial investment is going to pay off.

“I think the future benefits are too speculative. There’s no positive payback period,” Flynn said. “All that concerns me.”

Additionally, he said, it will be difficult to operate the system, which currently only has about 100 customers, because it won’t be able to benefit from economies of scale.

Wilms said he was very concerned that backing out of this sale will reduce Bella Vista’s opportunities for development in the future and put off the city’s ability to provide water to non-POA pockets.

The city will eventually need a water district, he said, and axing this purchase means all the legwork the city has done, including engineering and working toward approval from the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission for a water district, will need to be repeated.

“I think the long and short of it is it would be a sad day in Bella Vista for us to pass this motion,” he said. “It sends a message to developers that we really don’t support development in the city in a very real sense.”

Fowler said he believes this water district could be a significant opportunity for the city and backing out may be a mistake.

“I live out west, I know what’s out there, I see nothing but opportunity,” he said.