Residents adversely affected by the policy of not extending water service to new homes and commercial developments outside the city limits were in full voice Monday night at the Garland County Court House.
About 40 to 50 people attended the joint meeting of the Garland County Quorum Court's Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee and Public Works and Building Committee in the third floor courtroom. Their input had been solicited to help justices of the peace draft requirements and qualifications for firms bidding to advise the county on implementing a regional water system. The quorum court appropriated $100,000 to fund the proposed study during its Aug. 11 monthly meeting.
Declining values for property isolated from water access, along with a water policy perceived to be insulated from political accountability, highlighted the discussion. Several speakers said the Hot Springs Board of Directors was remiss in ceding to City Manager David Watkins the authority to grant water access to commercial developments, decrying it as executive fiat usurping what they maintain should be a deliberative determination lead by elected officials.
The revelation last month that earlier this year Watkins denied Wal-Mart's request for water and sewer services to support the retailer's plans for a Supercenter and Neighborhood Market outside the city limits brought the dismay to a head. Watkins cited limited water capacity as his rationale, pointing to what the city has said are 55 instances in 2012 when more than 80 percent of its water treatment capacity was tapped.
"It's being denied by one person," said District 9 JP Matt McKee. "Not because of the city board or planning commission. Watkins denied it arbitrarily."
Several speakers said the policy had markedly reduced their property values, an assertion supported by realtor and county equalization board member Gary West. He said the policy has devalued mutli-acre tracts south and west of the city.
"I sold 40-acre lots for $7,000 to $9,000 an acre," he said. "Today it's way down. If you can't get water on these farms, they're not going to sell for $8,000 an acre. There's no way in the world."
Attorney Skip Davidson urged the JPs to consider a legal recourse, asserting the city was obligated to serve the proposed Supercenter site at Highway 70 west and Pittman Road. Citing County Judge Rick Davis' earlier recounting of the area's decision to forgo its own water district in light of an agreement with the city to have it provide water to all customers in the district, Davidson said the city was in breach of contract.
"There could be a contractual claim against the city for not providing the services that they agreed to provide in those agreements," Davidson said, arguing that the 50-percent premium county water users pay is subject to approval from the state's Public Service Commission.
"There may be a basis for a claim against the city for a refund for all these people paying one and a half times what they should be paying," he said.
John Bethel, PSC director, said the commission doesn't have jurisdiction over the Hot Springs Municipal Utilities, explaining that PSC authority is limited to utilities that operate as private enterprises. He said Liberty Utilities, serving the Pine Bluff area, is the state's only investor-owned water provider, requiring the commission to approve rate increases.
Davidson continued the litigious thread, claiming the city had devalued his client's property without bringing a condemnation action. Davidson represents Barry Wright, who owns property where the proposed Supercenter would've been located. Wright also filed a related terroristic threatening complaint against Watkins.
"If the city passes a regulation or does something that devalues the person's property without actually condemning it, the city can be liable under inverse condemnation for the decrease in value of the property," Davidson said.
Many in attendance claimed the city will profit from developing DeGray Lake as a water source, allowing it to sell water to other counties and beyond. They said a map that has since been excised from the August 2013 water supply study conducted by Crist Engineers supports the assertion. It outlined proposed areas of expansion encroaching into Hot Spring County and connecting to Interstate 30, which opponents of the DeGray plan have said will be used to convey water outside the state.
Crist engineer Stewart Noland said during a Thursday meeting at the Garland County Library that the city never adopted the expansion plan represented in the map.
"That's an area not currently served by anyone," he said of the proposed expansion.
County Attorney Ralph Ohm said purveying water outside of its existing service area would be a lucrative revenue source for the city.
"You always make money with water," he said. "Water is never a losing proposition."
Attorney Cliff Jackson told the quorum court that he will submit signatures by the end of the week that he and others have been gathering for an ordinance to be placed on the November ballot. Its passage would prevent the city from implementing the DeGray plan. He said the signature gatherers have collected well in excess of the 468 threshold, which is 15 percent of the 3,121 votes cast in the 2012 District 6 city director race between Jack Sternberg and Randy Fale.
State law sets the threshold for a city manager form of government as a percentage from the board of directors race that received the highest vote total in the most recent election.
Ohm said the city informed him Watkins wouldn't be able to attend a meeting the quorum court and city board had planned for Thursday. The proposed gathering would have followed up on the July 31 presentation attended by both bodies, Ohm said, adding that the county will proceed with its own water plan if the city refuses to participate.
"If we can't work something out, we are going to move forward and do something else," he said. "If the city is willing to work with us, I think we'll be willing to talk to them. If they're not willing to work with us, then (the JPs) are moving forward."
Local on 08/20/2014