75¢
Carlisle has homecoming parade. See pictures on p. 8.
Volume 120 Number 41 - USPS 225-680
Community Calendar of Events
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Biscoe water lawsuit settled
Tuesday October 12 Quorum Court Meeting Annex Building 6:00 p.m. Thursday October 14 DeValls Bluff City Council Meeting 6:00 p.m. City Hall GFWC Elsie McCain club meeting at Nick’s in Carlisle 5:30 p.m. Friday October 15 Carlisle Bison vs Des Arc Eagles Fred C. Hardke Field 7:00 p.m. Hazen Hornets vs Clarendon Lions Lions Field 7:00 p.m. Thursday October 21 Hazen City Council Meeting 6:00 p.m. City Hall Friday October 22 Hazen Hornets Homecoming Coronation 2:00 p.m. Parade follows Homecoming Pregame Festivies 6:00 p.m. Hornet Field Hornets vs England Hornet Field 7:00 p.m. Hazen Class of 1971 50th Class Reunion Nick’s BBQ 5:00 p.m.
Community events brought to you by Hazen Chamber of Commerce
and the Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
Biscoe Mayor Kent Smith (left) stands with the lawyers Randy Hall, Mattie Taylor, Chance Nalley, and John Doyle Nalley in front of the Des Arc Courthouse after the trial was settled in Biscoe’s favor. (Picture courtesy of Gaylon Hale.) The four-year long odyssey is now over. The class action lawsuit brought by citizens in and around the city of Biscoe against C. J. Mahan Construction Company, LLC; ParsonsMahan Joint Venture; Parsons Construction Group, Inc.; Anthony Cruz; Scott Richardson; Chris Gentry; and Bryan Hoffman has ended with a $11.9 million settlement between the parties. “We were able to prove in court that the damage was around $7 million,” Class Representative Paul Betzner said after the trial. The law firm will receive 40% of the total settlement. The remainder will be administered by a third party. The settlement was reached to avoid further appeals, according to Betzner. During the time period between September 1 and September 6, 2017, the water lines that serve East Prairie Water Distribution Systems and the Biscoe Water System were infiltrated with raw sewage causing the sewage to pass through the water meters and into the homes and businesses that receive water from these two public water systems. The lawsuit states that the contractors working on the replacement of the Interstate 40 bridges over the White River cut the water and sewer lines, and the lines were cross connected when the contractors attempted to repair them. The defendants admitted negligence in the cross connection of the water and sewer lines, but denied that they caused any damages to the two water systems. The Plaintiffs filed the request to certify the class action suit on September 18, 2017, in the Circuit Court of Prairie County, seeking property damages and damages for personal injury due to the exposure to the sewage in their homes and businesses. The defendants answered the lawsuit and removed it to the federal court, which sent the case back to Prairie County for adjudication. On April 8, 2020, the
Prairie County Circuit Court granted the motion to certify the class action, and the defendants appealed the decision to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which on March 4, 2021, upheld the Prairie County Circuit Court ruling. The defendants originally offered to settle for just over $3.5 million, but that offer was rejected and the case was turned over to a jury trial. The trial began on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 and was settled on Thursday, October 7. The Biscoe residents’ lawsuit asked for the replacement of the public and private potable water systems and appliances that were connected to water systems inside of any home or structure that received water from the City of Biscoe and parts of the East Prairie County Water Association for the time period between September 1st and September 6, 2017; damages for bodily exposure to the sewage that entered the homes and other structures; damages for medical treatment because of exposure to the sewage; punitive damages for reckless conduct in making the cross connection; pre and post judgment interest; reasonable attorneys’ fees; costs and reimbursement of the lawsuit; and any and all other relief that the Court deemed proper. The law firms of Hall and Taylor Law Partners, PLLC, of Little Rock; and Lovell, Nalley and Nalley of Benton were appointed to serve as Class Counsel. The Class Representatives were Paul and Rhonda Betzner, James and Tiffani Alberson, Kelley Kelly, Tony Patterson and the City of Biscoe on behalf of the approximately 300 residents affected. The defendants presented spreadsheets to the jury showing how they arrived at their $3.5 million number. Insurance Adjuster Duane Herndon developed a method of estimating the damages to
various homes based upon three types of homes - those built on a conventional foundation, those built on a slab, and manufactured homes. He stated in court that he felt that his numbers were 9095% accurate. The estimated damages were based on the type of foundation, how many bathrooms the home has, square footage, finished walls, and location. He made his restitution estimates on the inspection of only three homes, one of each of the three types that are owned by class representatives. He said that the cost of inspecting every home affected would run between $330,500$450,000, which would be cost prohibitive. Herndon took information provided by the Prairie County Assessor’s Office which gave the square footage
of the home and the number of bathrooms in each and plugged those numbers into his formula. According to that formula, two homes had got a negative reimbursement. Tax and Estate Attorney John Neihous also presented a spreadsheet that he developed to assess restitution costs. He took the customer lists from the two water companies affected, the repair estimates developed by Herndon, and the assessor lists for the Biscoe residents, the type of residence, the square footage of the residence, and the total base plumbing cost for each residence based on a computer program called XACTIMATE, which Neihous said is the standard for construction companies. His numbers came to $7.14 per square foot for a home built with a crawl
space, $14.69 per square foot for a manufactured home, and $31.38 per square foot for homes built on a slab. Neihous also figured in the cost of displaced residents’ living in a motel in Brinkley during the repair time, the cost of eating out, and the mileage cost of 56 cents per mile for travelling back and forth between the motel and the home. His total cost based on the information he used came to $3,514,731.40. “I think this is a very reasonable and reliable representation of the costs,” he said. After those two presentations, residents testified to the damage incurred at their homes. None of the residents were contacted by the Arkansas State Department of Health, warning them of the danger after the cross contamination occurred.
What’s that overhead... On October 7th, the DAHS Career-Tech classes had the honor of having the Wilbur Mills Educational Cooperative and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission present a session about using drones in their careers.
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