Judge To Decide Makeup Of Wastewater Board
By Richard Prudenti
The W Arkansas Morning News
6/1/05
FAYETTEVILLE -- A Washington County circuit court judge is expected to decide today how many people can legally serve on the Osage Basin Wastewater District board.
Tontitown, a member of the regional wastewater district, is suing to settle an apparent contradiction between a state law requiring nine board members and a court order establishing 12 members in January 2000.
Representatives want to settle the board's composition so members can legally conduct business.
The hearing is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. today before Fourth Circuit Judge Kim Smith at the Washington County Courthouse.
Tontitown officials say they should have the majority vote on a nine-member board because state law requires the composition be proportional to the population of participating cities.
Originally Tontitown, Highfill, Cave Springs and Elm Springs formed the district, and each member had three representatives on the board. Cave Springs and Elm Springs later dropped out.
Tontitown is the larger of the two remaining towns with a population of 942 versus 379 Highfill residents, according to the 2000 census.
Highfill representatives support three representatives per municipality because, when Smith issued the order creating 12 positions, he had in mind three delegates for each town.
