A town hall meeting was held on Thursday, Sept. 10 to discuss the proposed one percent sales tax and bond issues. The meeting was announced on Facebook that morning. Mayor Butch Berry apologized for the short notice and said at least two more public meetings would be held, the next one on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. in the Aud.
Those at the table included two engineers from McClelland Consulting Engineers – a firm the city has partnered with for decades. Alongside the mayor and engineers were Public Works Director Simon Wiley and City Finance Director Michael Akins.
Berry illustrated the proposal, explaining that voters will be considering three related measures on the Nov. ballot: a one percent sales tax, a water bond, and a sewer bond. The sales tax would be used strictly to support the restoration and repair of water and sewer infrastructure in Eureka Springs and aims to spread those costs out among visitors.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Berry said city sales tax revenue dropped by 50 percent, and he estimated that now approximately 90 percent of the city’s tax revenue comes from tourists.
Berry emphasized that the proposed sales tax and bonds are separate from the city’s $6 million wastewater treatment plant project. That project is funded by a low-interest loan that has already been financed. Once restored, Berry said the plant is projected to last another 25 years.
Wiley read a list of identified areas that are “historically problematic” and needing repair: White St., Thomas Dr., Howell St., College St., Armstrong St., Black Bass booster station to the 1894 water tower, and Van Buren between Le Stick Nouveau and Huntsville Rd. The four water towers also need repainting before rust drives them out of compliance.
On the wastewater side, Wiley identified areas in the city where old, leaky clay lines exist and contribute to problems at the wastewater treatment plant. Those areas included: Dairy Hollow Ct., lower Mountain St., the ravine between Spring Garden and King St., the ravine between Inman and Kimberling St., Spring St. and Hillside Ave., Hayes Ave., Clear Spring School, Anderson Ravine, the sewer line at Little Lake Eureka to Flint St., the west side of Linwood Ave., northeast side of Singleton St., both sides of Fairmont St., and E. Mountain between Florence and Oak Ridge.
Wiley estimated repairs would cost $8.15 million for water, and $7.4 million for sewer. He also included a sanitary sewer expansion proposal with a gravity feed, force main line and lift station at Lake Lucerne, estimated at about $3.2 million.
Jack Moyer, general manager of the Crescent and Basin Park Hotels, spoke on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee, stating that the group wanted to continue supporting the initiative, but needed clarity on what exactly voters would be paying for.
Moyer asked if there were an updated water and sewer map. The latest map is from 1999. He also asked if the city had a five-year capital improvement plan for water and sewer infrastructure and whether McClelland had been engaged to develop one. He said that city council had established a directive to do so, according to newspaper records, which Berry denied.
Moyer argued that the city needed to establish a professional baseline of the system and identify which projects would be addressed during the next five years to support the initiative and educate the electorate.
Akins clarified that the money the city has spent with McClelland was associated with the $6 million wastewater treatment plant improvements – not developing a capital improvement plan.
Moyer brought up the recently completed Low-Moderate Income Survey, an effort led by Alderman Rachael Moyer, and asked what “shovel-ready” projects McClelland and the city might have so as not to lose an opportunity to receive a community development block grant (CDBG). Berry said he had asked McClleland’s CEO, and they did not have any “shovel-ready” projects, but that nothing is wasted as the survey is valid for three years.
Akins explained that city officials were aware that it would be extremely difficult to meet the September application deadline for CDBG money. “The deadline is the end of September, they go to committee in October, and don’t receive an answer until June of 2027,” he said. “Then you’re competing against all the other cities in Arkansas that are qualified for these types of grants. The fact that we now qualify in a small section does not guarantee that we would get a grant. It just says that we qualify to apply for a grant. Our mission now is to survey the rest of the town. If the whole town doesn’t qualify, then we do have a portion to ask for a grant.”
One resident spoke “representing the average person here in Eureka Springs,” saying he owns three homes and four rental units that he tries to keep below or at market level. He expressed concern for workers being pushed out of the historic district, and suggested the city look deeper at potential solutions and the issues that face everyday people who are struggling to pay water bills already. He also emphasized confusion with the billing system, and inconsistencies in water bills.
Dave Hartmann, co-owner of Gotahold Brewing, noted the city is already an expensive place to visit. “‘Tourists will pay the tax, no big deal,’ doesn’t fly when you’re a business owner and you have to charge these people,” Hartmann said. He went on to describe ongoing issues with water leakage at the top of his brewery’s driveway, saying that Public Works had made the problem worse during excavation and abandoned the problem after not being able to locate the water’s source. Hartmann questioned whether Wiley was a competent leader of Public Works.
A resident with 25 years of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) experience discussed the limitations of old utility maps and said she had been compiling data about the city. She proposed combining historical water-billing information, property locations, topography, and water and sewer maps to identify unusual usage, possible leaks, and geographic patterns.
She publicly requested historical water-usage and billing data (without residents’ private information), current water and sewer mapping data and engineering drawings, and GIS-compatible files that she could use on her own analysis. Akins directed her to city hall to fill out an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act form for each of her requests.
She also pointed out that such analysis could help people considering investment in the city understand the condition of the infrastructure.
Another resident asked whether the proposed water and sewer projects consider the health and natural flow of the city’s springs. The official response was no. The last study performed on the town’s springs was done in 1980. The study was led by Pat Costner and can be viewed at the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library.
Wiley noted that Public Works routinely tests the springs for coliform bacteria and E. coli.; and that replacing clay sewer lines would indirectly improve spring health.
Akins responded to residents’ concerns about billing and affordability, saying that a change in online billing is already in the works and reminded residents the city does have a water bill assistance program.
“We are looking at avenues to help people with their water bills, because we live here, too. I live here too, and I rent because I can’t afford to buy a house,” Akins said. “I don’t have two or three or five or four or six houses. I make a good salary with the city, but I don’t make enough to afford a house.
“We really do listen and we really are trying to come up with other solutions. We had a committee, we met several times with various citizens, and this sales tax was the best solution we could come up with to provide the money for the water and sewer that we need and to put as much of that burden on visitors and not just the citizens.”
If the sales tax does not pass, Akins said the city will likely need to increase water rates further to fund capital improvement projects. Under the Act 605 required rate study, rate increases have been implemented incrementally to ensure the water department can sustain itself. The final increase will be approximately 8 percent, taking place in Jan. 2027.