Hot Springs benefited from water districts

Ray Owen, Jr. / Special to The Sentinel-Record
Ray Owen, Jr. / Special to The Sentinel-Record

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are excerpts from a "History of the Regional Water and Sewer System Serving the city of Hot Springs and its Environs in Garland County, Arkansas," written by local attorney Ray Owen Jr., a Garland County justice of the peace and a professional engineer, and other engineers and water system professionals.

Prior to 1940, there was very little concentrated residential or commercial development outside the city limits of Hot Springs. Beginning in the 1950s, residential and some commercial development began along the shores and in the general area of Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine outside the city. Prior to the mid 1960s, there was little or no water or sewer service extended beyond the city. As a matter of fact, prior to the 1970s, less than two-thirds of the geographical area of the city was served by sewer. At that time, there were also large areas of the city that did not have water provided by the city.

In the mid-1960s, the federal government began awarding grants and loans to allow the development of water systems lying both within and without the boundaries of the city. At that time, only about 60 to 65 percent of the city was served by city-provided water. Beginning in the late 1960s, a number of federal grants and loans were utilized to develop and expand the city water system both within and well beyond the city limits.

This was accomplished directly through the city and also by virtue of various water improvement districts, through which the owners of property within those districts paid for the infrastructure constructed to connect the area within each district to the city water system, as subsidized by federal monies.

Today, water supplied by the city covers a large area of Garland County, much larger than the geographical area of the city. The water distribution system extends to the east along Highway 70 to Crossgate Church, Highway 270 beyond the Garland County line, and Highway 290 to serve the Diamondhead Community and Lake Catherine State Park, extending into Hot Spring County. To the north, the water system extends along Highway 7 to just beyond the development at Belvedere Country Club. To the south, the water system extends along Highway 7 to Lake Hamilton Bible Camp, approximately 1 mile south of the intersection of Highway 290 and Highway 7. To the west, the water system extends along Highway 70 just beyond Lake Hamilton School and along Highway 270 to Camp Charlton.

The detailed plans and specifications for each of these waterline extensions were reviewed and approved by the city and Arkansas Department of Health. Again, this infrastructure that exists outside the city limits was not built with city funds, but rather by federal grants and assessments levied against the property owners within each respective district.

The city has received as gifts water distribution infrastructure worth more than $10 million since the mid-1960s and stands to gain more.

... Some of the districts have had the opportunity to utilize water from other sources rather than to purchase it from the city. For example, the Highway 70 West Water Improvement District, which extends along both sides of Highway 70 west from the western edge of the Highway 70 Lake Hamilton bridge to beyond the Lake Hamilton School campus, was constructed in 1984 at a cost of $3.7 million. The initial plan for that district was to connect those customers to the water mains of the city by extending those mains into the district. At one point, however, the city refused to serve those customers, and therefore the district began making plans to construct its own water treatment plant on the upper end of Lake Hamilton.

Don Beavers, the primary engineer on the project, not only had designed the plant but had also assisted the district in purchasing property upstream of the plant on Lake Hamilton to assure that it would be in compliance with the Arkansas Department of Health rules and regulations as to development near an intake site.

The plans and specifications for the plant were approved by the Arkansas Department of Health; however, before the plant could be built, the city changed its mind and determined that it would furnish water to the property owners within the district. The district's plans for constructing its own water treatment plant were abandoned and the district sold the water treatment plant site property.

In this instance, since the district abandoned its plans to furnish its own water to its customers based upon the agreement of the city to furnish potable water to all customers within the district, it could easily be concluded that the city has an inherent obligation to allow water to be furnished to the property owners within that district.

The city has, in at least one other instance, attempted to deny water service to property owners in districts. An example of this is when the North Garland County Regional Water District was formed, there was a request from the engineer of that district to utilize water from the city to furnish to the customers within the district.

The city took the position that it would not furnish the water. Therefore, the district, with the assistance of a U.S. senator, obtained permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for an allocation of approximately 3 million gallons of water per day to be drawn from Lake Ouachita. At this time, it is believed that the only public water supply allocation from Lake Ouachita is the one granted to this district.

... The city of Hot Springs owns and/or maintains water distribution infrastructure well outside the city limits in all directions except north. More than 50 percent of the customers of the city water system live outside the incorporated area of the city. Likewise, the city sewer collection system extends well outside the city limits, particularly south and west. Additionally, the city water and sewer systems have thousands of customers outside the city limits paying water and sewer bills, thus making these bills lower for customers within the city limits.

Most of these water and sewer lines were not purchased by the city but through a combination of federal grants and loans-bonds paid by the property owners in those areas through annual assessments. Because the city has accepted these water and sewer systems constructed outside the city limits as part of a regional utility area and has been serving customers within these areas with water and sewer services, it is believed by many that the city has an ethical and moral obligation (if not a legal one) not to discriminate against owners of property within areas which lie outside the city limits which are presently served by city utilities.

Editorial on 07/30/2014

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