SPRINGDALE -- In a unanimous vote, the City Council on Tuesday approved poll workers and completed its part in an election to consolidate Bethel Heights into the bigger city.
Voters in both cities will go to the polls Aug. 11 to approve or reject this measure.
The council approved the polling "clerks" and "judges" as required by state law. "That's just a fancy name for poll workers," said Jennifer Price, executive director of the Washington County Election Commission.
"We already recruit and train poll workers," Price said. She said she put together a list of workers, which the council members ratified. She noted many will work at their regular polling locations.
"Their responsibility will be to conduct the election just as any other election we have," said Kimberly Dennison, election coordinator for Benton County's Election Commission.
The Bethel Heights City Council also approved a list of poll workers Dennison put together. Voters in both counties will see the measure because Bethel Heights, and some of Springdale, lies within the Benton County boundaries. The rest of Springdale sits in Washington County.
State law doesn't require approval of poll workers before general elections when candidates vie for government positions. But the consolidation law requires it, said Ernest Cate, the Springdale city attorney.
The consolidation law further requires one polling station in each ward of the city, Price said. Four polling stations will be open in Springdale and one in Bethel Heights.
With these approvals, all work remaining before the election belongs to the commission, officials agreed.
Siloam Springs will hold its own election Aug. 11 to choose officials for its city government, but those voters will not see the ballot question about consolidation, Dennison said. And Bethel Heights voters won't be asked to choose Siloam Springs officials.
The question as it will appear on ballots in both cities: "Calling for the consolidation of the City of Bethel Heights, Arkansas, into the City of Springdale, Arkansas."
Voters will chose for consolidation or against consolidation.
Cate said, if the majority of voters in either city vote against consolidation, it won't happen. The measure must pass by a majority in each city.
The vote will come after a nearly yearlong campaign by some residents in both counties. Charlene Bowen of Springdale led the petition drive saying Bethel Heights wastewater treatment plant on Lincoln Avenue for years has flooded raw sewage onto the land of family members who live next door to the plant.
Lawrence Bowen filed a complaint about the flooding in February 2019 with Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality, which prompted an investigation.
The state agency in August ordered Bethel Heights to fix its failing treatment plants and determine another way to treat its wastewater. The state in February asked Benton County Circuit Court to make Bethel Heights follow its orders. A hearing is set for July 10.
Residents wanting to consolidate their city with another must get petitions certified in favor of the change in both cities. The petition in each city needed signatures of at least 15% of the number of voters in the last mayoral election, according to Cate.
The Bethel Heights petitions needed 55 signatures, with roughly 3,000 for Springdale.
Signatures were presented to both cities March 9.
Benton County Circuit Judge John Smith on June 5 ordered Bethel Heights city officials to certify that town's signatures after the city released a statement denying certification for reasons not allowed by the law, Cate said in court.
Bethel Heights City Recorder/Treasurer Janet Nelson certified the petitions that afternoon.