The Airport and Utilities Committee, meeting Monday afternoon, asked Blytheville Finance Director John Callens for an update regarding the Arkansas State Police (ASP) investigation into the Blytheville Waterworks.
Callens indicated that he had not heard anything since the last meeting. Councilman Snow, however, announced that he had just received an email a couple hours earlier that showed that the Mayor was asking the ASP for a recommendation regarding whether or not the city can hand over the Waterworks printers that De Lage Landen Financial Services Company is requesting in a separate lawsuit against Blytheville Waterworks and the City.
According to Snow, the email indicated a recommendation was made by City Attorney Mike Bearden that the city give possession of the printers to the company, since the ASP has not said that the city needed to keep them. A hearing has been set for Aug. 4 to determine whether the city should be ordered to return the printers.
Bearden's recommendation, if followed, would render the hearing moot. No decision will be made on this matter until a response is received from the ASP.
Callens told the committee that the Waterworks Department had put out bids on having a couple of nonfunctioning wells capped on the Aeroplex. The lowest bid, by Jones, was for $8,930 plus the company gets to keep the salvaged wells which have not been used since 2007. The committee instructed him to ask Bearden whether or not both the contract and the agreement to transfer the property could be handled with one resolution.
The committee approved the work with Councilman Snow making the motion to accept and Councilman R. L. Jones seconding.
Callens also said, "We recently had a tank burst at the water tower. The tank had a submarine hatch and when they finished it up they didn't seal it properly."
Utility Services was called, and when they reviewed the work they determined that they did not "seal" the hatch properly. Therefore the company has agreed to fix the seal on the hatch and pay the cost of tearing out the ruined dry wall. They also agreed to pay to kill the mold.
"They will be covering all monetary damages," Callens added.
Callens also explained how the department has been trying to find a way to reduce the amount of backwash. He explained that engineers suggest using a "good bacteria" that eats iron. This solution would not only reduce backwash, but would also cut down chemical usage by 50-66 percent, thereby saving chemical costs. The process uses "bio filters".
Callens told the Committee that Mayor James Sanders has already approved the $1,500 necessary to test the water to make sure that using bio filters is even a feasible solution. Once that test is passed, then Callens said they will be talking with the health department to set up a pilot study of between 30-90 days to make sure it works.
"A 'good bacteria' has been used for years in the Northeast and in Europe. It's a bacteria that eats iron. If we run into a problem, we could revert back to the old way of treating by simply turning a valve -- no problem," Callens said.
Callen also said, "The kiosk is up and running. We had about a 25 or 26 transactions, but it was not even a whole month. As more people get used to it, we'll hopefully get more usage."
Callens was asked about duplicate water bills this month. He explained that it was due to an error on due dates of only six days. He added that they thought about mailing out letters, but the cost of postage and folding all those letters would be such that it just made more sense to reissue water bills with the correct due dates.
Wastewater Plant Director Richard Depriest informed the committee that 10 to 12 years ago, sewage was moved out by where the hospital was going to move. One small portion, between the fourth and fifth manholes evidently has some sewage piping that has collapsed.
"We put these out for bids and the lowest bid was Dennis Allen, with $17,250 for the entire project," Depriest said.
This area is now out about where Love's Truck Stop is planning to build. The committee agree that it needed to be done and said that money would have to be moved from somewhere else because this project takes priority.
Councilman Stan Parks moved that the project be approved and Councilman Jones seconded it.
Depriest next told the committee that a new "curtain" was needed for both the North and South wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Process Systems, out of Conway, submitted the lowest bid at $18,691 per curtain. He also agreed that this needed to be done for public safety.
"These curtains are used to keep our ponds clean and over time they disintegrate. They are usually good for about ten years. They should have been changed already, we've been using them for fourteen," Depriest explained.
Depriest also stated that the department would like to do repair and construction at the old 8th street pump station. He explained how there were two pumps originally, but that one is not functioning and hasn't for quite a while. Also, the one that is working, has had to be rebuilt numerous times.
"These date back 39 years, with one completely out and has been. The other one having been rebuilt and rebuilt. It's an eye sore and probably the oldest one in the city," Depriest said.
Various committee members stated that the current "little tin building" is in bad repair, and that it would be replaced with a concrete building. Depriest said that there were four bids and that the best way to go would be a combination (Tim Carver and Jowers General Contracting) and will cost $47,374. Councilman Parks moved for it to be approved and Councilman Jones seconded.
thenry@blythevillecourier.com