SPRINGDALE -- The mayor of Elm Springs said he wants to phase out part of the city's sewer treatment system and permanently connect to Springdale's system.
Mayor Harold Douthit and Springdale officials discussed the possibility at a Springdale Water and Sewer Commission meeting Wednesday. Springdale's City Council approved an agreement in May between the two cities allowing Elm Springs to send some of its sewage to Springdale's system for 1 1/2 years.
Commission business
Commissioners approved the following items at Wednesday’s Springdale Water and Sewer Commission meeting:
• Reappointing Chris Weiser to the commission.
• An engineering agreement with McClelland Consulting Engineers to increase sewer capacity in industrial areas on Springdale’s north side.
• An agreement with Engineering Services for a sewer study concerning an industrial area on Springdale’s east side.
• An agreement with Crafton Tull for a sewer study concerning another industrial area on Springdale’s east side.
• Permission to bid equipment for flow monitoring.
Source: Staff report
Elm Springs has a septic tank effluent pumping system, which includes a drip field, treatment process and septic tanks. The city's population has grown, and the system is approaching capacity. Douthit said the population is between 1,700 and 2,000 people.
Elm Springs is connected to Springdale's system at the Ball Lift Station. Douthit said the connection has been "a tremendous success." He explained Elm Springs is only sending liquid to Springdale, and the practice would continue under a new agreement. Each house in Elm Springs has a septic tank where solids settle.
Douthit said he thinks Elm Springs can handle growth for a while with the city's drip field -- where treated liquids are discharged -- and the existing connection, but there will be a point where that won't work. He would like Elm Springs to phase out its drip field, although he anticipates the city still using it for at least five years.
Heath Ward, executive director of Springdale Water Utilities, said Elm Springs officials will need to tell Springdale what capacity the city wants to purchase, meaning Elm Springs will need a good estimate of how much capacity it will need in the future.
Elm Springs would need to pay for a portion of the Spring Creek sewer project and the Benton Farm lift station to establish a permanent connection to Springdale, Ward said. Work on the Spring Creek project hasn't begun, but the left station is operating, he said. A lift station is included in the work involved in the Spring Creek sewer project.
A slide at Wednesday's meeting estimated Elm Springs costs between $758,765 and $2.5 million, depending on capacity.
Chris Weiser, commission chairman, said the commission needs to protect the capacity of Springdale's plant. He said he doesn't think he'd be agreeable with the highest capacity option.
Douthit said he's comfortable with the lowest capacity option because of the cost and the growth he's seen in Elm Springs. He also said it's cheaper to send sewage to Springdale than to operate the plant in Elm Springs.
An intermunicipal agreement for a permanent connection would have to be approved by both Elm Springs and Springdale city councils, Ward said. It would go before the Springdale Commission before it would go to the City Council.
It would take two to three months for Elm Springs to bring the agreement to Springdale's City Council if all goes well, he said.
Ward said the permanent connection could take up to two years.
NW News on 01/21/2016