City directors eye if, when to replace failing sewer filters
“We could have one collapse today; we could have one collapse in another five to seven years.”
— Utility director Lance McAvoy
FORT SMITH — City officials are weighing how — and if — to replace two failing water filters responsible for treating sewage for about a third of Fort Smith.
The Massard Water Reclamation Facility has two failing trickling filters to treat wastewater for up to 30,000 residents on the east side of the city. Utility director Lance McAvoy in June said the drains beneath the filters could collapse at any time.
This would force the facility to reduce treatment to half its capacity, according to a presentation given to city directors at a Tuesday study session.
Garver engineers in June estimated the two filters cost about $22 million to replace between design and construction. It’s one of eight recommended projects in a full buildout of the facility estimated in June to cost more than $230.6 million, according to the engineers.
City directors at the Tuesday study session questioned the urgency of the project given that both trickling filters would have to fail for the wastewater to go untreated. The wastewater from the failed filter could be moved to the operational one and treated less efficiently, McAvoy said.
“We could have one collapse today; we could have one collapse in another five to seven years,” McAvoy said, adding the city could rent a package plant or synthetic media to treat water if they fail.
McAvoy has determined the filters can be paid in full through a traditional bidding process or through a pay-asyou-go method involving a construction manager who hires subcontractors. He said the Utility Department is looking at pay-as-you-go — he said it’s “a little bit quicker.”
Either way, the project has been included in city’s 2022 capital improvement plan, McAvoy said. Items in the plan for the upcoming year are approved or rejected by directors before the end of each calendar year.
Ward 3 City Director Lavon Morton noted the city is slated to receive more than $20 million in American Rescue Plan money between 2021 and 2022. The federal government requires the city to spend that money by 2024, he said.
While Morton was told the filters wouldn’t likely fail at the same time, he said he doesn’t believe the cost of the project will go down
in the next five years.
“We have not been asked, nor presented, any ideas on how the city wants to spend that money,” said Morton.
City Administrator Carl Geffken said the city has requested $637 million from the $1.5 billion given to Arkansas from the American Rescue Plan for utility-related projects. The request includes money for projects in the city’s federal consent decree. The decree orders Fort Smith to fix failed wastewater infrastructure that allowed sewage into the Arkansas River.
Geffken doesn’t expect to get all the money from the state but said city officials have prioritized city projects in the request nonetheless.
At-Large City Director Kevin Settle pointed out the U.S. Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill Tuesday. The federal government has not yet determined how the money will be appropriated.
Settle said city directors could have quarterly discussions on the project to monitor progress and make up-todate decisions.