The Southside Public Water Authority (SPWA) Board of Directors voted earlier this month to proceed with the construction of a wastewater expansion project that will provide sewer to customers along Highway 25/14 and Fred Street in Desha.
NLS Construction, LLC from Rose Bud, Ark., was awarded the contract of $1,802,514, according to an SPWA news release.
The water authority said the project will provide for the current needs of existing customers within the new service area that signed up to take the sewer, as well as for the future residential and commercial growth within the service area. The area includes the heavily traveled Highway 25/14 corridor leading into the Southside-Batesville area.
The project includes an additional force main lift station as well as approximately four miles of force main, 31 simplex grinder pumps, three duplex grinder stations, and one quad grinder station, the release said.
“The area to be served has issues with private septic systems during the wet weather times of the year,” said SPWA Board President Keith Harmon. “This will provide a much more sanitary service during those times of the year and allow the landowners to fully utilize their properties year-round.”
The project will be completely funded by money that was secured when the water authority took advantage of low-interest rates and re-issued municipal bonds totaling $16.5 million in early 2020.
“We were able to leverage our savings in interest and gain additional capital to fund projects that would provide beneficial services to our customers,” said Authority Manager Scott Williams. “This also provides additional revenue that helps to provide long-term stability to our rate structure.”
The bond re-issue was done without increasing any additional monthly debt to the authority, the release said.
“When the project is near completion, we will continue to look at other densely populated areas for sewer improvements within the Southside area. It is important when we reach out, that customers respond in a timely manner,” said Harmon. “We need to have a large percentage in the proposed area to sign up to take the service to allow us to fund the capital improvements. We were right at 90 percent participation on this project — that is why it is becoming a reality for these residents.”
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