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Centerton council concurs to send prioritized sewer-capacity list to ADH; blue-phase infrastructure drives sequencing
Summary
Council reviewed a staff-prepared, color-coded sewer-capacity priority list and concurred that staff should send it to ADH. Staff said projects coded blue are prerequisites for many other developments and that ADH letters will be issued on contingency tied to infrastructure improvements.
Centerton city staff presented a prioritized, color-coded sewer-capacity list during the city’s April 27 special meeting and asked the council to concur to forward the list to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). Council members voted to accept the list as presented.
Staff said the list is ordered by the sequence projects were received and will be emailed to developers and ADH. The list uses color coding: green projects have ADH and city approval and can proceed to connection; red projects are bid-ready but awaiting ARDOT permissions; blue and yellow projects currently lack funding and are tied to the city’s blue-phase infrastructure project. Staff emphasized that "as of today's rules, everything I'm saying is today's rules," and cautioned that ADH letters will be released on contingency tied to completion of the Decatur wastewater treatment plant improvements and the city's infrastructure work.
Staff described options for managing timing and risk: the utility will request realistic development schedules from individual developers, and if a developer's projected build-out does not align with the city's construction timetable, the city may hold pre-construction activities or require the developer to accept schedule risk. The staff presentation noted that some developers agreed to phase their projects to enable overall sequencing and that a few parcels served by Centerton sewer lie within Bentonville city limits, creating service-area and annexation complexities.
Council members raised questions about optics—for example, where a large commercial project such as Walmart sits on the list—and staff clarified that reserved capacity does not automatically allow connection: developers must still submit approved plans, receive ADH contingency letters, and obtain building permits and fire protection approvals before physical connection. Staff said ADH '88' letters were expected to be released soon, after which the utility will draft letters to developers outlining timing and contingencies. Staff further stated the city expects the blue project will be prioritized for funding if both blue and another project cannot be funded concurrently.
Council members moved and seconded a motion to accept the list as presented; the motion passed and the meeting concluded with adjournment. The transcript does not record specific dates for ADH letter issuance beyond "soon" or firm timelines for construction starts; staff said lead times for large commercial projects could be 14–16 months.
The council action was to concur with staff's submission of the prioritized list to ADH; the meeting record does not reflect any binding policy changes to the list order, which staff said would require council action to modify.
