Wastewater committees in Sherwood and North Little Rock took a first look Tuesday at an analysis that recommends either merging the two utilities or creating an agreement to share collection and treatment services to better serve their customers.
Neither panel took any action, citing a need for further study and exploration of other alternatives.
"We will move forward with planning for the future," said Amy Sanders, chairman of the Sherwood Wastewater Committee, which held a special meeting to discuss the study it received late last month.
North Little Rock Wastewater Committee members were given the study at their regular monthly meeting Tuesday, but no discussion of the findings was held, city spokesman Nathan Hamilton said.
"They want to take a little time to read it and they will take it under review," Hamilton said.
The study, by a University of Arkansas at Little Rock task force, was requested in 2009 by Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman and former North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays to explore the feasibility of a merger of the two utilities. The study was "put on hold" between 2011 and 2013 before being concluded this year, the task force reported.
North Little Rock Wastewater has sewer lines inside Sherwood and services part of that city. Wastewater from about three-fourths of Sherwood residents is treated at North Little Rock's Five Mile Creek Treatment Plant.
The system as it is "leads to confusion to customers," the study said. The study recommends two alternatives for the cities to consider.
The first alternative is to unify the two wastewater utilities into a single, consolidated entity north of the Arkansas River that isn't attached to either city, adding that this option would be the most efficient over the long-term. This would be based on the model for the earlier merger of Little Rock's and North Little Rock's water utilities to form Central Arkansas Water.
The task force's second alternative would be to maintain two separate utilities, but create an interlocal agreement to allow Sherwood to handle all wastewater billing and collection for Sherwood customers, while wastewater treatment would be the responsibility of the North Little Rock utility.
"What is clear to the Task Force is that one of these options must be chosen," the study's recommendations stated. "Otherwise, the utilities are not acting in their customers' and citizens' best interests."
Sherwood Wastewater Committee members questioned whether either alternative would best serve Sherwood.
"There is no requirement that we have to act on these two options," said Sherwood Alderman Kevin Lilly, who is a City Council representative on the committee. "That's not to say there is not an Option 3 or 4 out there as a possibility."
As Sherwood expands north, Lilly said, wastewater extensions will be necessary and Sherwood wouldn't want to hand control of that development to an entity outside the city.
"Any option has to mention that Sherwood has control over our own growth," he said.
Dennis Benson, Sherwood Wastewater manager, told the committee that he didn't like the second option listed in the study "at all."
"I don't like the idea of having a separate, or basically a satellite, payment system," Benson said. "There would be hidden costs in taking over a collection system. Option 1, based on the CAW [Central Arkansas Water] model, over the long-term, I think that would be a better way to go."
Metro on 09/10/2014