COUNTY NEWS
$4.5 million water funding ‘is a godsend’ for Miller County son said.
Te announcement Sept. 20 that Miller County Public Water Authority will receive a total of $4,589,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture Recovery Act funds to make im- provements to the area’s water system was met with enthusiasm from Miller County citizens and leaders. “Tis is a godsend for the people in this part of the county,” said Haze Hudson, president of the water system, who also serves on the Miller County Quorum Court. Te funds will be used to construct a mas- ter meter with a building, pumps, chlorination, system controls, 100,000 gallons of ground storage at the water source, 150,000 gallons of elevated storage, and 26.5 miles of water main pipes to connect residents to the new Miller County Public Water Authority system. Tese improvements will create or save ap-
proximately 106 jobs, and will provide a de- pendable supply of water to 400 rural residents, many of whom are currently facing water qual- ity and/or quantity problems with their existing
Arkansas sees improvement in highway rankings
Arkansas ranked 29th in the nation in state highway performance and cost-effectiveness, according to the Annual U.S. Highway Report by the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation. Te annual study by the California think tank measures the condition and cost-effec- tiveness of state-owned roads in 11 categories, including deficient bridges, urban traffic con- gestion, fatality rates, pavement condition on urban and rural Interstates and on major rural roads, and the number of unsafe narrow rural lanes. National performance in all of those key areas improved in Arkansas in 2008, the most recent year with complete data available. Te new report shows Arkansas had an im-
provement of three spots from 2007, but still below a 27th-place ranking in 2006. Arkansas moved well beyond its 46th-place ranking in 2000, when the think tank called the state’s highway system “dangerous” because of ongo- ing interstate construction and bumpy roads.
– Roby Brock,
TalkBusiness.net, Sept. 13: COUNTY LINES, FALL 2010 23
private wells, according to a press release issued jointly by U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representative Mike Ross. Te total funding consists of a $2,137,000
Recovery Act grant and a $2,452,000 Recovery Act loan. Citizens in the affected area, currently de- pending on well-water with high acid content, have to put up with water that stains fixtures and even their clothes, said Hudson. “People are eat up with chemical costs just trying to keep up with this. Te people are jumping with joy to have this made available to them.” Impetus for the project came when some people he knew in the paper mill industry in Ashdown asked Hudson several years ago if he could help them get water, he said. After get- ting the ball rolling, he was asked to serve as president of the entity. Although this position is independent of his service as a Justice of the Peace, “Anything to help people in the county, that’s what the Quorum Court is about,” Hud-
“Tese will be high-paying jobs. I hope we can get started on this in mid-summer 2011,” he added.
“Te U.S. Department of Agriculture is the largest investor in our rural communities, and as Chair of the committee that oversees the USDA, I am committed to ensuring that USDA Rural Development dollars are flow- ing directly into Arkansas’s economy,” Lincoln said. “Tese funds will help provide reliable wa- ter service to families and businesses in Miller County, an investment that will create jobs now and strengthen the area’s economy.” “Tis grant and low interest loan will im-
prove Miller County’s water infrastructure,” Ross said. “I will continue working to secure investments that help communities in Arkan- sas grow and prosper, to ensure the health and safety of our families and to give businesses es- sential resources to save existing jobs and create new ones.”
Arkansas County Clerks met at
the AAC facilities in Little Rock in July. Above, Hollister Bundy with Inclusion Solutions shows some of the County Clerks a variety of election-related products. At right, AAC Legislative Director Jeff Sikes visits with some of the County Clerks during a break between business sessions.
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