The Carroll-Boone Water District Board of Commissioners learned at the Oct. 20 meeting that the first section of the parallel transmission line project is almost ready for service. The 36-in. pipe extending from the Freeman-Raney Water Treatment Plant overlooking Beaver Lake to Hwy. 23 south of Eureka Springs is in place ahead of schedule by several months.
However, another section of the project has not fared as well. Engineer Chris Hall of McGoodwin, Williams and Yates told the board the attempt to bore a tunnel under the Kings River met difficulties at every step. Negotiations with a property owner stalled the project at the start. Then the borings found rock, then gravel, then rock, then gravel. Hall said they were looking for solid rock because gravel sinks into the boring. At one point the drillers hit “a river under the river,” and Hall described it. After more borings, the team realized they might have to go much deeper than expected which would mean starting the tunnel much farther back.
Hall commented they were beginning to wonder if deeper borings might cause too much damage. They might even drill into a void and alter the river. Eventually the team decided, since the water level was at its lowest, another option would be an open cut which would put the pipe three to five feet below the river bed. Hall said the open cut would take three to five days.
Brad Hammond, also an engineer for MWY, said the unforeseen problems cost the project approximately $415,000, but expected they might be able to save money on the next phase of the project.
The parallel transmission line will eventually reach all the way to Harrison.
Manager’s report
Plant Manager Barry Connell brought the board up to date on projects accomplished recently as well as alerting them to identified needs he will address in the next year. Connell said there have been upgrades to the coagulant pumps and more safety equipment has been installed around the plant. He said it has been a good year for load shedding, but did not yet have figures on how much the plant had saved on its utility bills. He also mentioned he intends to get rid of some equipment the plant does not need any longer such as an old dump truck, but commented it is hard to find a buyer for old telemetry equipment.
One concern he has is preparing for the retirement for some employees in the next few years. Office Manager Cathy Klein reported that half of the work force has the potential to retire within 10 years. Connell said it takes two or three years to get a person certified as an operator, so he wants to hire as many as four part-time employees. Chair Jim Yates told Connell to come up with a plan and present it to the board.
Connell brought up automating some tasks, and Hammond stated the Clarksville water plant has installed automation technology and sophisticated cyber-security. All employees go home during the night, but the plant is in town so someone could get there quickly if needed. Connell said the remote location of the Freeman-Raney Plant was a concern because staff now manually monitor parts of the operation, so they would need safeguards in place for monitoring the mixing of chemicals, for example.
He also intends to either refurbish or upgrade pumps in the next year, and consider the benefits of a pH adjustment.
Filter issue
Attorney Dan Bowers informed the board there have been problems with early deterioration of the coating on walls of the filters. After many meetings to determine who would be responsible for the considerable cost of recoating filter walls, they tested an area and Bowers stated they might be close to an answer. However, there is a statute of limitations deadline looming, so he arranged for a preemptive lawsuit to be filed, and now the parties are not speaking. He said once they have the accurate figures, they could negotiate with the other attorneys to find something mutually agreeable. He will report back to the board.
Financial planning
Hammond told the board he had worked with Connell and Office Manager Cathy Klein to prepare a financial outlook for the plant for the next few years. His figures indicated catching up on deferred maintenance might cost $4.8 million and they could plan to spread the cost over five or ten years, but it should be accounted for. He said, “You’ve been doing well keeping costs and rates low. Next you must figure out how to use your money going forward.”
Yates replied that he wants to implement a systematic, planned maintenance program to repair equipment every year. “We need to get our equipment into good shape within five years,” he commented.
Next meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 19, at 10 a.m., at the Freeman-Raney Water Treatment Plant.
Thank you very much for a thorough report on pipeline river construction.
There are only two people who claim digging a tunnel under an Arkansas river is easy and safe: Mr. Lee, the project manager for the Diamond Pipeline, and Mr. Henry, the Pipeline Safety Officer for APSC. Based on these biased and false opinions, APSC gave a perpetual permit to Diamond. This is what the Honorable PSC Judge Susan said in her Order No. 4. “Mr. Henry recommended that DP should be granted approval to operate and maintain the requested navigable water crossings of the Arkansas River, the Illinois Bayou, the White River, the St. Francis River, and the Mississippi River.”
The Arkansas PUC gave the Diamond Pipeline a free pass, stopping the public from Intervening on the secret proceedings, or even making comments.
Public Comments are posted in the APSC docket 16-038-U, by law, are posted and then ignored as uninformed, dumb, irrelevant opinions. There are two comments you may want to check, they are posted by date: 10/10/16 and 10/20/16.
To see public comments, please use http://www.apscservices.com then choose Public Comments, View, and enter 16-038-U. Thank you!