City council extends water discussion

The Bella Vista City Council, during its regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 26, voted unanimously to table a resolution to pursue the purchase of a portion of Centerton’s water system until the November regular meeting, thus signifying the city’s desire to no longer pursue the purchase.

Mayor Peter Christie said that he would prefer to back out of this purchase to focus on police, fire and streets.

“I’d rather address what the

citizens want us to do,” he said.

This resolution was previously discussed and tabled in June. Christie said that with this ongoing discussion, officials from Centerton have requested that Bella Vista indicate its intentions to continue pursuing the sale or back out by Dec. 1.

The council voted to table until November to allow continued research and discussion before making a final decision.

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.

Gravette filed suit in September 2017 against Centerton aiming to force Centerton to sell all portions of its water system in Gravette city limits to Gravette.

Christie said he’s also concerned that the costs to develop this system to meet the city’s goals could be in the millions.

Councilmember Doug Fowler said that he doesn’t believe purchasing a water system is something that might immediately spring to mind as a concern for most residents, but the economic development potential that this system has can help improve the city’s tax base and, as a result, its services.

It can also help get water to areas the POA does not and cannot service, he said.

“It isn’t necessarily just opportunity in this area,” he said.

Councilmember Jim Wozniak said he’s generally in favor of the purchase, but he’s also concerned about how long the system might lose money and how much it might actually cost.

“The bottom line is we don’t have a clue what this is really going to cost us until all these little things kick in,” he said.

Councilmember John Flynn said he believes, if the administration doesn’t wish to proceed, it’s likely the best course of action; and, while the city hasn’t seen extensive development, sales tax revenue has continued to climb.

It’s also hard to say whether an investment here will actually pay off, he said.

One resident, Scott Comiskey, came to speak in support of the purchase during the meeting’s public input session.

“I think there’s an opportunity here for Bella Vista,” he said. “It becomes more than just a way to deliver a commodity. It becomes, quite frankly, a tool to increase the size of the city.”

Comiskey said he’s a former Bentonville city council member and, when Bentonville purchased utilities, it was always a benefit, even if the timing wasn’t great.

“We never ever really regretted it,” he said, noting the Sam’s Club store was built in Bentonville rather than Rogers because Bentonville could supply water.

The council also approved a resolution to pursue a voter referendum to support infrastructure projects with a bond secured by a 1 percent sales tax, a change order for above-ground trail crossings on the central trails project, a repeal of existing city council rules by ordinance and a reinstatement of those rules by resolution, the sale of three surplus city vehicles, and an unmanned aircraft system policy for the police department.