EL DORADO — While the El Dorado Water Utilities is happy to assist with projects that foster economic growth in El Dorado, the hours and manpower that it takes to complete such projects often pull crews away from the utilities’ top priority: upgrading the city’s aging water and sewer infrastructure.
The matter was discussed at length during an El Dorado Water and Sewer Commission meeting earlier this month.
The topic arose with a request from EWU general manager Mark Smith to defund the utilities’ $1.3 million water construction fund and direct the revenue to the wastewater operation and maintenance fund.
Smith explained that the money, which comes from 5 percent in revenue intake on the water side of EWU operations, is needed more for wastewater projects.
“Most of the big money is spent on the wastewater side. The problem is, that money is sitting somewhere where it’s difficult to spend it,” Smith said told commissioners.
“Economic development and growth in El Dorado has really taken off in the last five, six years, and that was when the dynamic between the city and the water utilities changed,” said EWU engineering consultant Lorraine Murtha.
Within recent years, the EWU has worked on water and wastewater projects to accommodate business growth and expansion, including the relocation of the regional hub of Hugg and Hall, the new Murphy Oil headquarters, and the development of the Champagnolle Road business park and an arts and entertainment district in Downtown El Dorado.
Work to relocate water lines to make way for planned improvements to Arkansas 335 and U.S. 82, both Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department projects, also fall under the economic development umbrella, Smith pointed out.
While the EWU is being fully or partially reimbursed for some projects — the city reimbursed the EWU for recent work done in the Champagnolle Business Park and the AHTD will repay 85 percent of the cost to relocate water lines on Arkansas 335 —, Smith said the projects do not align with the EWU’s “number one goal.”
“It takes a lot of man hours to do a project like that. There’s only so many man hours a week that we can donate to line replacement,” he said.
Water and sewer commissioners have long said that the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs constant attention, with some lines at least 80 years old.
The commission previously agreed to dedicate $1 million per year to tackle hundreds of feet of worn out lines on each side, but commissioners have said the EWU can’t keep pace with the needs.
“We’re excited about economic growth in El Dorado, I hope we don’t continue to be given economic development projects that eat into our time,” Smith said.
Smith and Ross Crittendon, EWU water manager, said replacing water lines can be a time-consuming process, from figuring out how best to replace a line and killing old lines to getting final approval from the Arkansas Department of Health.
Smith said the EWU has completed more wastewater projects in recent years than major water projects, and recent wastewater line-replacements on Martin Luther King, Beech and Mount Holly and Marsh cost approximately $1 million apiece.
Several commissioners favored using the EWU’s water construction fund balance to replace water lines, rather than moving it to the wastewater side — an idea with which Smith enthusiastically agreed.
“This is something that should have been done years ago. It’s a situation where we really need to be doing something every day. We want to get it started for years to come, even decades to come,” Smith said later.
“Is this state of affairs forever?” Commissioner Michael Donnella asked, referring the issue regarding man hours to dedicate to such projects.
Smith said commissioners previously approved the hiring of additional crew members, and forming a team that will be assigned to water-line replacement projects. He said three or four new workers will be hired at a cost of less than $200,000 year, including pay and benefits.
Experienced EWU workers will be recruited for the new crew, and new-hires will be parceled out to other crews, he said.
Smith also said the EWU is compiling a least of areas throughout the city in which to start the water work, and the EWU is preparing to purchase equipment to implement a water-line replacement process called horizontal direct drilling.
Smith said the process is similar to the pipe bursting technology for wastewater lines. Trenches are not required for either process, which replaces lines in the same alignment by pulling new lines through existing lines.
“It’s a sophisticated operation, but I think it’s something we can do,” Smith said, referring to horizontal directional drilling. “I hope that we can have several projects going on at once (in various stages of completion).”
Smith also said that he is putting together a plan to present to the EWSC during the regular meeting in February.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.