Barling to help pay for water system master plan

The Barling Board of Directors agreed Thursday (Oct. 10) during a special called meeting to contribute 20% of the cost of a water system master plan to support ongoing future development on the east side of the city.

Mickle Griffin Engineers & Surveyors presented a proposal to the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) Wednesday that stated the plan would include an existing conditions review of the entire Barling water system and modeling analysis to guide recommendations for the development of an East Barling Water Master Plan, including future development on remaining FCRA parcels in Barling.

The plan will offer water system capital recommendations, budget construction cost estimates for projects, and recommendations for reserving land and/or easement to support future water activities, according to information from Mickle Griffin.

The work will include reviewing existing system infrastructure, demands and operational characteristics with the Barling utility staff, performing flow and pressure tests for system hydraulic model development and validation, and review potential land use and develop future water demand assumptions in undeveloped areas of Barling with focus on east Barling.

Mickle Griffin also will perform system demand modeling to determine future infrastructure requirements for lines, pumps, tanks and more (including a possible new water tower), prepare a preliminary analysis summary and meet with stakeholders for input, and finalize a design scenario.

The final report analysis would include water system infrastructure size, location recommendations including maps/exhibits, budget cost estimates and potential timeline recommendations for reserving land and/or easements for future infrastructure, the proposal said.

Developments underway in Barling indicate water usage will go up in the next five years, said City Administrator Steve Core. The FCRA Board of Trustees approved Wednesday the sale of 26.75 acres on H Street in Barling to ERC Create for $513,000 for the development of single-family housing. This is just the latest development that will add to the city’s water needs, Core said, noting there has been a number of developments on the east side of the city in the past few years.

“After completion of this effort, and upon FCRA request, MG will provide a new proposal to complete permitting and final civil design including preparation of a construction plan set,” the proposal said.

The FCRA Board on Tuesday tabled a decision on whether to pay for the go ahead with the master plan. FCRA Board Chair Dean Gibson said they wanted to wait to see if Barling would cover 20% of the cost of the plan. Tuesday’s proposal said the plan would cost approximately $84,000. However, Gibson said some of the work has already been done by the City of Barling, so the final cost will probably be lower.