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http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2007/07/24/news/news03.txt
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 9:18 AM CDT
City Makes Strides On Projects
By Jeff Arnold
TIMES RECORD •
JARNOLD@SWTIMES.COM
Work is well under way on $75 million in municipal
projects made possible when Fort Smith voters extended
the 1 percent Lake Fort Smith expansion sales tax 14
months ago.
On May 23, 2006, voters overwhelmingly approved
extending the sales tax to provide up to $12.3 million
for a new public radio safety system and $63.1 million
to finance sanitary sewer wet-weather improvements
mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Two of three towers to support the new digital public
radio system, which will replace an aging analog system,
are complete, while work on the final tower began
Monday, said Maj. Jeff Barrows of the Fort Smith Police
Department.
The final tower at Crowe Hill, off Old Greenwood Road
not far from ABF Freight Systems, is expected to be
complete by the end of August.
Planning is under way for temporary relocation of the
dispatch center, within the police department building,
so the new digital console and work stations can be
installed.
The contract with Motorola for the new system, which
includes towers, equipment in the dispatch center,
radios for police and fire department vehicles,
hand-held radios and mobile data terminals, is $10.5
million before taxes, Barrows said.
Barrows said it appears the project is on target be
completed for less than the $12.3 million approved by
voters, although unforeseen circumstances could change
that.
The new radio system should be operational by April
2008.
While construction of the radio system is partially
complete, design work on the sanitary sewer wet-weather
projects is still under way, although it is nearing
completion.
Steve Parke, city utilities director, said he expects to
open bids in August for site preparation work for Phase
II improvements to the P Street Treatment facility and
to purchase some “long-lead materials.”
Parke said the long-lead materials are items such as
pumps that need to be purchased far enough ahead of
construction in be delivered by the time construction
begins.
Advertisement of bids for construction of the $36
million Phase II improvements could go out in November,
Parke said. The estimated completion date would be in
the first quarter of 2010.
Design for projects in the Sunnymede Basin — in central
and east Fort Smith — is also nearly complete, with
those projects expected to be put out for bid before the
end of the year.
Parke said replacement of almost 35,000 feet of 10- to
30-inch sanitary sewer lines (estimated at about $11
million) will actually be bid as three projects because
of its size, and should be opened for bid in November.
Construction of a facility to partially treat excess
flow in the Sunnymede Basin — during heavy rains — and a
20-million gallon equalization basin (estimated at about
$17 million) should be opened for bid in November or
December.
Parke said he is hoping the line projects, treatment
facility and equalization basin will be complete by the
end of 2009.
The $63.1 million sewer bond is being supplemented by a
57 percent sewer-rate increase phased in at 8 percent
annually over the next six years beginning in 2008, to
fund a total of $123 million in EPA-mandated
improvements.
The city has been under an EPA administrative order
since 1988 to make significant improvements to alleviate
sewer overflows during heavy rainfall; prevent storm
water from entering the sanitary sewer system; and
improve the capacity of treatment plants to prevent
untreated water from bypassing plants and being
discharged into the Arkansas River during heavy
rainfall.
In late 2005, the EPA turned the matter over to the U.S.
Department of Justice after the city failed to satisfy
the EPA it was making substantial progress toward
completing the improvements.
City officials met with EPA and Justice Department
officials in Dallas in early 2006, and subsequently
provided both agencies with the results of the May 2006
election and approved rate increases, which provide
funding for the required improvements.
However, so far Parke said neither agency has said if
the city’s plan is acceptable or it will face further
enforcement action.
In an absence of comment from the Justice Department or
EPA, Parke said the city has to move forward with its
plan, because to do nothing would be unacceptable. |
