Arkoma delinquent water and sewer bill part of Fort Smith Board discussion

A delinquent water and sewer payment issue with the neighboring Oklahoma city of Arkoma and a proposed new system services contract will be part of Fort Smith Board of Director discussions at the May 13 study session.

According to a May 8 memo from Fort Smith Utilities Director Lance McAvoy to Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman, Arkoma owes Fort Smith $120,000 for water and sewer system services. Arkoma has been a Fort Smith customer since 1976, and has been delinquent on payments for three years.

Arkoma officials, including Mayor Josh Johnson, have proposed paying an additional $2,000 a month until the outstanding balance is paid. Under that plan, the balance would be paid in 61 months. Arkoma and Fort Smith officials met April 7 to discuss the payment and negotiations for future services.

There also is a negotiation over future payment amounts and usage rules. Arkoma, a city of around 1,800, wants to no longer be billed as an industrial customer because it needs to operate as a “complete” residential system.

McAvoy’s memo also advises that Arkoma has a troubled system that makes it difficult to account for all the water it buys from Fort Smith.

“Arkoma is also dealing with collection system and water distribution system failures. During the April 7 meeting, Arkoma informed Fort Smith that only 20% of the water purchased from Fort Smith is billed and they suffer from an 80% unaccounted for water loss,” McAvoy noted.

Arkoma has received grants and loans of almost $2 million to make system improvements.

Arkoma officials also say they can’t afford the $8.75 ccf sewer rate set to begin June 1. The existing rate is $2.69 ccf, meaning the new rate would be a 350% increase. But McAvoy noted that Fort Smith has to collect fees for services to support its costs.

“However, Fort Smith faces the same need to maintain the collection and treatment system (Arkoma does not need to maintain a treatment system), meet regulatory requirements, set the appropriate rates, etc. that Arkoma cites,” McAvoy wrote. “Fort Smith has also made improvements to the sanitary sewer collection system to accommodate the additional flow from Arkoma to achieve compliance with the Consent Decree.”