After hearing a presentation Thursday night on Central Arkansas Water’s proposal to take over as Maumelle’s water provider, almost all of the 70 Maumelle residents in attendance raised their hands when asked whether they would approve of the change.
“I’m willing to pay more to have better water,” Binnie Owings, one of several audience members who asked questions at Maumelle’s Jess Odom Community Center, said after the meeting. “I took time to come over here for this. I’ve lived here since 1984, and the water has always been a problem.”
Central Arkansas Water has made an offer to take over as Maumelle’s water provider from Maumelle Water Management by March 1. There would be a two-year transition period during which Maumelle’s current rates would continue to be charged before “CAW water” is provided to Maumelle customers through an $8.3 million pipeline that would need to be built.
The three-member Maumelle Water Management Board of Commissioners expects to vote on the proposal at its next regular meeting Oct. 13, Chairman Dave Kaufman said Thursday. Central Arkansas Water’s Board of Commissioners on Sept. 10 approved making the offer to consolidate based on a feasibility study that began in June.
Maumelle’s board decided in a special meeting Sept. 22 to delay its decision until residents were given an opportunity to hear a presentation from Central Arkansas Water.
“I love your water,” said Owings, the first in the audience to make a comment. “I do want to say that.”
When Owings made the same comment during the meeting about her willingness to pay for water that “tastes better,” there was a spatter of applause from the audience.
Maumelle’s water comes from a series of wells from an aquifer near the Arkansas River. Central Arkansas Water’s supply is provided from Lake Maumelle and Lake Winona and has won regional and national awards for its quality.
“We don’t get to choose what we treat,” Mary Peyton, a Maumelle water commissioner, said to the crowd when complaints of water quality came up.
Jim Payseno, another audience member who raised his hand in favor of consolidation, said he considered the presentation “very informative.”
“I’m sure there are some questions that probably haven’t been asked yet,” he said.
Regina Hunt, another audience member, said she still has “mixed feelings” about the changeover because of the higher costs facing Maumelle customers.
While Maumelle water rates would hold steady during the two-year transition period, Central Arkansas Water’s proposal includes a $19.21 monthly surcharge to cover the 30-year bonds that will purchase the Maumelle utility. An $8.25 debt service fee charged now by the Maumelle utility would come off, though. After two years, the new surcharge would decrease by almost half, but it wouldn’t go down again for another 10 years before ending in 2046 at the latest.
“I understand the need to make this happen,” Hunt said. “I mean, the water is horrible out here. But a lot of people in Maumelle don’t know about what’s going on. There were just a few people here tonight. They [the utilities] really need to make every effort to try to explain the whole presentation to the average person so they can understand it.”
The Maumelle City Council isn’t involved in the consolidation decision, but a resolution on its agenda for Monday supports consolidation as being “in the best interest” of residents.
Maumelle Water Management operates water and wastewater treatment for Maumelle and has about 10,500 metered customers. Central Arkansas Water has about 125,000 customers, with the vast majority of those being in Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Central Arkansas Water’s proposal only involves taking control of Maumelle’s water operations. The proposal’s wastewater options includes North Little Rock Wastewater taking over wastewater treatment for Maumelle, but a decision on that hasn’t been made.