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[Archived] Commission OKs Tontitown Agreement

| News | January 05, 2013

Group approves extending sewer service to town

By Bob Caudle


The Morning News


SPRINGDALE -- The only thing standing between Tontitown residents and temporary sanitary sewer service is the Springdale City Council.


Springdale Water and Sewer Commissioners approved a request Wednesday to extend sewer service to Tontitown until the city can tie into a planned regional wastewater treatment plant.


Tontitown officials agreed to finance and build a lift station to pump wastewater to the Springdale Benton Farm lift station, said Rene Langston, Springdale Water Utilities executive director.


The Benton Farm lift station can handle the 400 gallon per minute flow rate cap imposed on Tontitown for the next five to seven years, Langston said.


"We really appreciate the work the Springdale staff has put into this," said Mick Wagner, representing Tontitown's water and sewer commission.


The commission also OK'd an additional lift station on a development proposed by Phillip Taldo behind Mary Maestri's restaurant in Tontitown.


Sixty acres of the development is in Springdale and 32 acres in Tontitown. Taldo will build the lift station as part of the development and Tontitown will take possession and maintain the station.


Tontitown officials will control the lift station and sewer lines when the proposed regional wastewater treatment plant is built.


Commissioners also approved changes to the proposed Grand Valley subdivision sewer system in eastern Springdale.


Tom Hopper of Crafton, Tull and Associates told the board its best option is to kill the Grand Valley lift station project and move the lift station to a subdivision near Butterfield Coach Road.


"Our focus was to serve the full estimates and go where we could get easements," Hopper said. "This new location and route may be cheaper and easier to work with."


The sewer line will hug the route of the proposed southern east-west traffic corridor, Langston said. That will cut down on the cost of easements.


"It will save about half a million is the bottom line," Langston said.