Water association sues city of Beebe over service area

The Southwest White County Water Association contends in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday afternoon that the city of Beebe is encroaching on the association’s service territory and must be stopped.

The lawsuit, filed in Little Rock, alleges that the city has installed, and is contemplating the further installation of, water and sewer lines within the association’s territory. The suit contends that violates federal law, which protects associations that have received rural development loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The White County association has received such loans.

The underlying purpose of the law — Section 1926 (b) of Chapter 7 of the U.S. Code — “is to assure that the cash flow and revenues realized by a rural water association and pledged to the United States not only remain stable but also increase through water system and customer growth,” according to the suit filed by the Gill Ragon Owen law firm in Little Rock.

In addition to installing water and sewer lines that infringe on the association’s territory, the suit contends, the city has caused previous association customers to switch their water service to that provided by Beebe.

Beebe Mayor Mike Robertson said Thursday evening that he had heard that the association might file a suit but that he didn’t know the details of the dispute because the city’s Water Department is governed by the Water Commission instead of the City Council.

John Hayes, chairman of the commission, said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and had no comment.

The association is seeking a declaration that it has the “sole and exclusive right to provide potable water service to customers within the disputed territory.” It also asks that Beebe be prohibited from providing water service in the area. A map attached to the suit points out 136 Beebe meters in areas it describes as the “disputed territory.”

“The association’s service territory … has wrongfully been invaded,” it contends.

In addition to seeking an injunction to stop Beebe from “encroaching” on the association’s territory, the lawsuit seeks monetary damages. It specifically asks that the city be ordered to pay the association for the city’s past and future sales of water within the disputed area, until the “encroachment is eliminated,” and that the city be ordered to pay the association’s attorney’s fees.

The case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.