$1.92 million in consent decree items OK’d by Fort Smith Board

The Fort Smith Board of Directors approved three resolutions related to the city’s federal consent decree totaling $1.929 million at Tuesday night’s (July 18) meeting. The resolutions all related specifically to the Riverlyn Wastewater Pump Station (Pump Station No. 8) at the bend of Kensington Way and Free Ferry Road.

The largest of the items was a resolution authorizing the city to execute a contract with Columbus, Kan.-based Crossland Heavy Contractors, in the amount of $1.755 million, around $45,000 below the $1.8 million the city had budgeted for the project. Bids were opened on June 27 with Crossland beating out two other companies — Goodwin & Goodwin of Fort Smith ($2.033 million) and Crawford Construction Company of Van Buren ($2.209 million).

Per terms of the consent decree, the city is required to implement improvements to wastewater pump stations and force mains. Riverlyn is one of three stations in the group one listing and was initially scheduled for 2017.

Fort Smith Utilities Director Jerry Walters said the improvements are expected to be finished by the end of the year. The original was constructed in 1968, just two years after the other two pump stations on the list — Walnut and Riverfront, which are scheduled for replacement in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Also Tuesday, the Board authorized $153,845 toward a contract with Morrison-Shipley Engineers related to the Riverlyn pump station for construction observation services. Walters said the $45,000 under-budget number would be applied to the contract to defray some of the costs and the aforementioned $1.8 million budget figure would increase to $1.911 million — $111,000 of which will be drawn from the P Street Wastewater Treatment Plant Screening, Scum, and Grease Removal Project to finish covering costs.

Lastly, the Board authorized a $19,591.50 expenditure to Morrison-Shipley for two “major changes” to the design and operation concept the utilities department had initially submitted to the engineering firm with the objective of reducing construction and operating costs. Funding for the final contract is available from the 2015 Revenue Bonds issued for sewer system improvements.

Pump stations are facilities that include pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one location to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.

The federal consent decree became effective on Jan. 1, 2015. The overall price tag is estimated at $480 million with a 12-year deadline. It has resulted in significant increases to the average Fort Smith sewer bill. While from 2006-2017, average charges per bill have risen from $16.49 to around $48 — an increase of 190% — average bills have climbed from $18.10 to current levels in the last three years, accounting for 165% of the overall increase.