Benton facing more than $1 million in infrastructure work

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Gerald Chambers and Sons crews tear down and remove debris from the old Benton City Pool house Thursday in H.H. Lovett Park in Benton. The city expects to begin construction on a new 1,900 square-foot facility Oct. 15.

Infrastructure concerns are looming for the City of Benton as it looks at ways to provide necessary services to residents.

On Monday, Mayor Rita Dotson said the city is facing more than $1.3 million in three different projects to keep water flowing to Benton customers. Dotson discussed the issue during the council’s regular monthly meeting.

For residents in the Symsonia Highway area, water repairs have been an ongoing issue for several years. According to Dotson there were nine water main breaks in 2015 along the road, down to seven in 2016, and then up again to 10 in 2017. There have been eight breaks causing residents to not have access to water during the first four months of 2018.

“It’s been a problem for probably the last 15 years, maybe 20,” Dotson said. “The lines were old when we took [the system] into the city. It’s on us. If I woke up two or three times a month without water, I’d be hopping mad. It’s time for us to step up and do something.”

Dotson said she has contacted the Purchase Area Development District in hopes of securing grant funding or low interest loans to repair lines. She said the project will likely cost at least $1 million.

“That’s probably conservative,” Dotson said of the estimate, expecting engineering and labor costs to increase overall expense. “It’s not a can we can continue to kick down the road. We’re going to have to figure out a way to service this debt.”

Dotson said the city likely had even bigger concerns with two wells needing rehabbed, which would cost $150,000 to $175,000 per well. The city water plant is also becoming an issue as it’s becoming “obsolete” and difficult to obtain parts for.

“That has to take priority over anything else, because one day you’ll crank that plant up and it won’t produce any water,” Dotson said. “We’ve got to — as a city — sit down and decide what we want to do. We can’t service a debt on all three of those things unless you raise the water and sewer rates so high a person can’t pay it.”

The council did not put forth a time-frame for discussing concerns.

Also during the meeting, officials said work is progressing at the city pool, which is likely to open by Memorial Day weekend. Construction of a new building at the site has been ongoing since last summer.

It was the city’s first meeting since Tater Day. Dotson said everything she had heard about the event was positive. The city collected $6,074 this year in fees, up from $5,400 last year and $5,925 in 2016. Despite the increase, the city only profited $911 after expenses, which included $1,188 in portable toilet rentals and $2,048 in police department overtime.

Councilwoman Rita Murray said she would like to see the city attempt to bring more people back to the courthouse square during future Tater Days.

“I sat out there and there wasn’t 50 people watching the parade,” Murray said. “Everything is [at the north end of the city] or up at the park. That’s where these charities come in, bring them back to the court square.”