Council selects professionals for water storage, wastewater projects

GENTRY — The Gentry City Council chose engineering professionals on Dec. 4 for planning work on two major projects the city anticipates it will need to complete in the not-too-distant future, a new water storage facility and a new wastewater treatment facility.

The council reviewed qualifications and selected, in two separate votes, the following three firms with which the mayor may negotiate contracts for services (in the order listed) to begin planning for future water storage facilities and for a new wastewater treatment plant: 1) Garver Engineering Services of Fayetteville; 2) McClelland Consulting Engineers of Fayetteville; and 3) ESI (Engineering Services Inc.) of Springdale.

Kevin Johnston, Gentry’s mayor, said there were no problems with the city’s current wastewater treatment plant but it was approximately 40 years old and more stringent federal and state regulations could mean the plant would not meet future standards or be able to handle future growth. He suggested it would be wise for the city to begin working on plans to replace the plant in the future. He said there were no plans for the proposed new Simmons poultry processing plant to send wastewater to Gentry.

Additional water storage tanks would increase the city’s capacity to supply water during peak usage and the proposed new poultry plant would affect the need for additional water storage capacity, Johnston said.

According to David McNair, the city’s former public works supervisor, at a July 2014 meeting, the Benton-Washington Regional Public Water Authority is requiring cities to have storage capacity sufficient for at least 24 hours to ensure cities have an adequate water supply during times of peak usage. Gentry does not have that storage capacity and depends on the Two-Ton storage tanks for its supply of water during peak usage times. McNair said in 2014 the city may not actually need the additional water storage tanks for as long as 10 years, but owning land suitable for the water tanks and beginning to prepare for the need would be advantageous for the city.

In 2014, council members discussed in committee meetings the possibility of purchasing approximately one acre of land between Peterson and Luedecke Roads, northeast of Gentry, for the future placement of a water tower there and, if needed, a second water tower. McNair said much of the waterline construction could be completed by city workers.

The location would enable the water storage towers to be filled by gravity flow from the Two-Ton tanks and could provide additional water pressure for areas of the city with low water pressure.

In a Monday email, Johnston stated that “as the housing and development market has picked up the pace again, we have been making plans to fulfill our needs of an additional storage tank.”

He further explained: “In 2015, we worked to acquire a one half acre tract of land within the Y-City pressure plane area that would provide adequate space to construct an approximate 100,000- to 150,000-gallon storage facility to supply the customers within this zone. A couple of months ago, we learned that there may be a

potential need to service a large customer that would also be within this zone.

“Fortunately, we were made aware of this potential need prior to the construction of the originally planned tower as we may have found an opportunity to possibly utilize a different location which would allow us to build one storage facility to cover all customers within this zone as opposed to building two new facilities.

“The recent selection of professionals will allow us to proceed with plans to construct the necessary storage facilities to meet the demands of our customers while also addressing the requirements of ‘Two-Ton.’

“Additionally, I would like to point out that these improvements will not change the pressure to the service area, but will provide additional storage of quality drinking water.”

In other business, the council unanimously voted to appoint Dan Erskin to fill the Ward 2 council seat vacated when Kyle Jordan resigned due to his relocation to a different ward in the city. Also expressing interest in filling the ward post were Bobby Hogan and Jeff Parks.

The council adopted a 2018 budget which included a balanced general fund budget with anticipated income and expenditures at $1,935,029; library fund at $131,725; street and alley at $512,500; water and sewer at $2,729,500; Act 209 incarceration fund at $10,000; Act 833 at $30,000; fire equipment sinking fund income at $13,000; and solid waste at $48,600. Also approved by the council was a salary schedule for elected officials and city employees, with the highest salaries ranging in the mid to upper $50K range.

A resolution was adopted authorizing the city of Gentry to enter into a participation agreement with the municipal health benefit fund. According to Johnston, the authorization reflected no change in the city’s participation or level of coverage but was a legal requirement.

Luke Klassen was reappointed to the city’s park advisory committee for a five-year term.

The council adopted a resolution supporting Simmons Foods Inc. and the company’s plans to build a large processing plant along Arkansas Highway 59 between Gentry and Decatur.

Adopted on its first reading was an ordinance establishing policies, procedures and regulations for the erection and placement of cell phone towers within the city limits. The ordinance was recommended by the city’s planning commission.

A petition was shared with the council requesting that the speed limit in rural areas of Taylor Orchard Road and Marion Lee Road be increased from 30 mph to 45 mph. Johnston told the council he would present the request to the city’s Safety Committee for review.

Johnston also reported on progress with the city parks master plan and with work on the Dawn Hill Bridge over Flint Creek to repair damage caused by spring flooding. Johnston said he was awaiting word from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in regard to what the agency would pay for bridge repair and mitigation work, after which the work to repair (or possibly replace) the bridge can move forward.

In information supplied to the council by the Gentry Chamber of Commerce, it was reported that three natural-stone benches had been installed along the trails in the Flint Creek Nature Park, with part of the money for the benches coming from a grant funded by the Arkansas Center for Obesity Prevention.

Also reported was the upcoming Chamber of Commerce Quilt Show, set for Jan. 12-19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the McKee Community Room of the Gentry Public Library. The show is again being sponsored by McKee Foods Corp.