Valley View Seeks Permission To Connect To PG Sewer

PRAIRIE GROVE — The nonprofit organization running Valley View’s sewer system has formally asked for permission to connect to Prairie Grove’s wastewater treatment plant.

Prairie Grove City Council took the request from Communities Unlimited under advisement following a presentation at a special meeting held April 5. The Council is expected to vote on the request at its regular meeting April 17. Most aldermen indicated they would be in favor of moving forward, with the details to be worked out at a later date.

“I’m fine with the theory. The devil is in the details,” said Alderman Dale Reed. “I agree with the theory, as long as we cover the citizens of Prairie Grove.”

The community sewer system, which serves Valley View Estates and surrounding subdivisions, is owned by Washington County Property Owners Improvement District No. 5.

The improvement district was placed in receivership with Communities Unlimited in May 2016, following a lawsuit filed in Washington County Circuit Court. The receiver is charged with bringing the system into compliance with state laws and obtaining a new wastewater permit from Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

The sewer system has been operating without a valid ADEQ permit since January 2016. It has been cited numerous times by ADEQ for sewage overflows and violations since 2014.

Currently, sewage from Valley View Estates subdivision and nearby subdivisions is being pumped into trucks and hauled to Prairie Grove’s wastewater plant for about $40,000 per month.

“That is a short-term and expensive solution,” Jerry Kopke with Communities Unlimited told Prairie Grove City Council last week.

He said he did not want to hurry council members in making a decision whether to allow the system to connect to Prairie Grove, but at the

the same time, told them, “We want to move as deliberately and quickly as possible.”

If the council approves the request, then Communities Unlimited will be able to apply for funding to pay to hook onto Prairie Grove’s system.

Communities Unlimited is proposing two options for the city to consider.

In the first option, the improvement district would pay to run a sewer line from Valley View Estates to the city’s lift station at Sundowner Estates subdivision for an approximate cost of $2 million.

This pipe would travel from one of Valley View’s lift stations to U.S. Highway 62, follow along the highway, cross under the Illinois River, then connect to the Sundowner lift station, a total of 12,500 feet.

In the second option, the improvement district would run a line to a metered location near Tristan Lane on U.S. 62 Highway, then would cost share with the city in building a gravity sewer line from that location to the Sundowner lift station. Prairie Grove’s portion of this cost would be about $820,000.

A letter to Prairie Grove Mayor Sonny Hudson on the request notes that the improvement district has 492 customers, with obligations to serve an additional 531 customers in the future. Since August 2016, the district has hauled about 8 million gallons of sewage to Prairie Grove, an average of 88 gallons per day per customer.

Larry Oelrich, the city’s director of administrative services and public works, told Council members the city has the capacity to accept the improvement district’s wastewater. Prairie Grove’s facility is operating at about 50 percent capacity and this includes the sewage now being hauled to Prairie Grove from the Valley View area.

Costs to Prairie Grove in accepting the improvement district’s wastewater would include possible upgrades to the Sundowner lift station and treatment plant and costs for additional maintenance and increasing plant capacity at some time in the future.

Benefits to the city, Oelrich said, would be additional revenues from customers served by the improvement district and new commercial development along U.S. 62 with the construction of a gravity line.

As part of any agreement worked out between the two, the improvement district would be responsible for billing its customers and responsible for system maintenance, lines, pump stations and operating costs. The district also would have to comply with the city’s ordinances relating to wastewater treatment.

The city would be responsible for treatment. Rates for improvement district customers, which were not discussed at the meeting, would be established at a later date.

Mark Johnson with Engineering Services Inc., said the firm has looked at the project “inside and out” and also is working with ADEQ for a temporary sewer permit so the system will be legal again.

He said the proposed construction is basic civil engineering. The most difficult section would be getting it across the river.

“We can do that with good engineering,” Johnson said.

Johnson said ESI looked at several options and believes connecting to Prairie Grove would be the most beneficial to the improvement district.

“We hope the council will look on it favorably,” Johnson said.

Kopke thanked Prairie Grove officials for working with the improvement district and accepting its wastewater for the past eight months.

“We’re on the path to making a long-term solution for a very troubled sewer system,” Kopke said.

William Stephenson, who is president of Valley View Estates Property Owners Association and also serves as a commissioner for the improvement district, said he appreciated the Council’s willingness to consider the request.

“We have a really good community. Even with all these troubles, we haven’t had people selling out and leaving,” Stephenson said. “We want to be a part of a proper utility.”

After the meeting, Tim Mays, vice president and secretary treasurer with ESI, said he thought the project would take 20-24 months to complete, including permitting and approvals from various agencies and construction.