Eureka Springs water customers will be paying considerably more for water and sewer service beginning early next year. City council gave the go-ahead to raise rates 30 percent to secure bonds to repair sewer lines and add an additional digester to the sewer plant. The repairs were mandated recently by Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ).

In an Aug. 8 letter to city Public Works director Kirby Murray, Mark Owen of ADEQ wrote that replacement of the Main Street sewer main had failed to significantly reduce infiltration and inflow (I&I) of rain water into the sewer system as had been anticipated. Excessive I&I causes overflows and bypasses at the plant in violation of ADEQ regulations.

"The city obviously has other significant sources of I&I contributing to these permit violations," Owen wrote.

ADEQ, public works and McClelland Consulting Engineers agree significant I&I can be traced to two basins in the city where the sewer lines have "outlived their useful life and need to be replaced."

Owen noted that failure of the city to act in a timely manner to replace the lines could result in fines of up to $10,000 a day for each overflow or bypass violation. He is requiring the city to make quarterly reports on progress.

Cost of I&I reduction is projected at $1.35 million, and the needed digester adds another $400,000. With the cost of bonds, the total bond issue is $1.875 million.

City finance director Diane Murphy told the council that to keep the rate increase at 30 percent, payback on the bonds had to be extended from 20 to 25 years. By the time debt is paid off in 2027, the total cost in principal and interest will be $3,236,685.

The rate increase will be equal across the board, for both commercial and residential water customers, Murphy said.

In a memo to council, Murphy explained the events that led to the current crisis. She noted that in 1998 city staff recommended a $5.3 million project to completely update the wastewater system, expand capacity and connect unsewered areas of the city to the central system. The council approved the proposal but citizens took it to referendum and defeated it.

According to Murphy, the project was modified and a $2.7 million bond issue was passed to fund a smaller scale project, one city administrative assistant Kim Dickens frequently refers to as the band-aid approach. Those improvements are still underway.

Dickens told the council the city is approaching the $5.2 million price tag of the original master plan, but will not have added unsewered areas or expanded plant capacity. "We're where we were in '98 without the increases in service or capacity," she said, noting the schedule to close on the bonds by the end of the year will be tight.

Alderman James DeVito said the project would be good for water conservation and noted installing low-flush toilets in his restaurant lowered his water bill 40 percent.

The council approved moving forward to secure the bonds, but Alderman Kelly Simon added he'd like to know how much more it would cost to complete the entire sewer system master plan. Staff will work up an estimate.