Chaffee, Historic Site to get big federal checks

Appropriations of $300,000 for water system improvements at Fort Chaffee and $362,000 for land acquisition near the Fort Smith National Historic Site survived a  conference report in Congress and should soon be headed to the area.

Members of Arkansas’ Congressional delegation reported Friday (Oct. 30) that the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives approved a joint agreement between the two bodies that could direct more than $4.36 million in water infrastructure dollars to Arkansas. The money would come from an appropriations budget with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“I haven’t put it in the bank yet, but I think it’s coming,” Ivy Owen, executive director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, said Friday when asked if the money is a sure thing. He said the offices of U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., contacted him to let him know the money would be forthcoming. Owen said he expects to soon hear from the Department of Interior as to how and when the money will arrive.

Owen said the money should help extend a 30-inch water line up Massard Road closer to Fort Chaffee property. He said the authority  recently prioritized its future water and sewer needs, with the priority projects totaling $14 million.

The appropriations bill also included $362,000 for land acquisition at Fort Smith National Historic Site. The money will fund the acquisition of property that once belonged to Forgecraft just south of the historic site.

Other Arkansas projects in the appropriation list:
• $300,000 for water and wastewater system improvements in Warren
 
• $300,000 for water infrastructure improvements in Forrest City
 
• $300,000 for a water treatment plant expansion in Dardanelle
 
• $300,000 for the Sparta Aquifer Recovery Study                                    

• $500,000 for Cabot Waterworks for wastewater improvements
 
• $500,000 for the city of Fayetteville for Elkins outfall sewer line
 
• $1,500,000 for renovation of a district office at Ozark-St. Francis National Forest

“These federal dollars will help provide critical water infrastructure improvements that will support growth throughout Arkansas,” said Lincoln. “I’m pleased to see this significant investment in our state, and I’ll continue my fight to ensure that much-needed funds reach Arkansas’s communities.”