Gravette's lawsuit against Centerton is an attempt to acquire the portions of Centerton's water system in Gravette city limits, including part of the portion Bella Vista is working to purchase from Centerton.
In the legal complaint, filed Sept. 20 with the Benton County Circuit Clerk, Gravette alleges that Centerton officials are obligated to meet with Gravette officials and negotiate in good faith the sale of this portion of its water district.
Jason Wales, attorney with Wales Comstock, represents Gravette.
The city, he said, is attempting to acquire all of the facilities and customers within its city limits.
"It's a very strange lawsuit, I've never heard of one quite like this," he said. "I would venture a guess there's never been a lawsuit like this in the history of Arkansas."
Frank Holzkamper, utilities director with Centerton Utilities, said he doesn't believe this suit has legal grounds or that it would be in anyone's best interests.
"We think it's frivolous. We understand Gravette wanting to serve the people in their city limits, we totally understand that," he said. "And if we wanted to sell our water service area in the Hiwasse area we would sell that."
Moreover, he said, he believes that if Gravette took over this portion, Gravette would take on additional costs that would need to be passed on to the customers. That cost, he said, is something people should be considering.
Centerton agreed to sell a portion of its service area to Bella Vista, he said, in part because it's an offshoot and in part because it will allow Bella Vista to provide water to areas the POA does not serve. It's worth noting, he said, that Bella Vista initially requested to purchase portions Centerton does not intend to sell. Those portions are not in the pending sale.
The in-progress sale includes a 1,312-acre portion of Centerton's service area, including areas in Gravette and running along Arkansas Highway 279 and Rogers Road.
Holzkamper said he does not expect to see any delays or changes with the sale. Currently, he said, the cities are discussing the sale with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funded the system's installation.
The Centerton water system is largely constructed as a loop, he said. The system serves Centerton as well as portions of Gravette, Bentonville and Bella Vista. The portion Gravette wants, he said, would cut that loop and could compromise the system's overall integrity.
"By cutting that portion out, that lessens the stability of our existing system," he said. "We're not willing to jeopardize the remaining system by cutting off a portion of it."
Holzkamper said he believes the city is protected by a federal statute. The statute, he said, protects the city from anyone taking possession of water infrastructure it has acquired with federal loan funds.
"We're willing to work with neighboring communities," Holzkamper said. "But what we're not willing to do is be forced into making a sale that we don't want to."
General News on 10/11/2017