Tax season may stall the Arkansas State Police's investigation into Blytheville Waterworks.
Monday night, Finance Director John Callens told the Airport and Utilities Committee that the ASP has been unable to find an independent auditor because firms are busy with tax season.
"They said they haven't found anybody," Callens said. "We said we're trying to find somebody also. We're trying to find an independent auditor, but the problem is everybody is doing taxes right now. They don't have the manpower to do that."
Callens said ASP has given the city no timeframe on the investigation.
"A lot of people may not realize that our hands are tied because it is a state investigation," said Councilman Kevin Snow, chairman of the Airport and Utilities Committee. "It's not in our hands. All we can do is do what they tell us to do and right now we're just doing our normal business."
ASP investigators arrived in Blytheville on Nov. 20 to begin actively investigating discrepancies in water deposits and certain expenditures.
On Oct. 1, the Blytheville City Council accepted the resignation of former Waterworks general manager Gary Phillips.
At the time, Mayor James Sanders told the Council that a small sampling has shown an estimated $9,000 discrepancy in deposits.
A Blytheville Police Department report says on Tuesday, Sept. 30, the Finance Department reported to the BPD that a brief audit of the Sept. 22 deposit "confirmed that the funds were missing when compared to the Waterworks daily accounting records."
"The Finance Department further reported finding other discrepancies in Waterworks deposits over the course of the last few months," the report reads. "The amount of missing funds is undetermined at this time."
A special prosecutor has been assigned to the case, at the request of Second Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington, because of his friendship with Phillips.
The special prosecutor is Jason Barrett, with the prosecuting coordinator's office in Little Rock.
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Meanwhile, Callens reported that Waterworks lost an office worker and one crew member. He asked the committee to replace the crew member, who helps with shutoffs, pulling meters, etc. Currently there are five, and each truck requires two men each for a total of six. The committee sent the request to the Finance and Purchasing Committee, which is scheduled to meet Thursday night.
Callens also told the board that Saturday's power outage damaged a motor on a well and the city has filed a claim with Entergy.
In other business, Wastewater Superintendent Kenneth Ellis told the board that he recently toured the old Fairview School.
Ellis looked at the pros and cons of putting a wastewater lab in the building. He said there would be no issues having the chemicals at the facility.
Ellis noted if the city bought the building from the Blytheville School District, he would have to split up his crews.
He added most cities have their wastewater facilities on the outskirts of town because they are dealing with raw sewer.
"That's not to say that that isn't a nice building and something to look at," Ellis said.
Jowers Construction has offered to construct a new wastewater office and lab building for $139,531.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com