HSV Director Ken Unger Works to Forge Mutually Beneficial Relationships

Recently I sat down with Hot Spring Village Public Services Director Ken Unger to discuss the POA’s development of mutually beneficial relationships. This subject was previously mentioned In an article titled “HSV Coordinates With Area Agencies on Disaster Response Review & Future Preparedness.”

Unger explained, “Part of our goal in general is to be more integrated with our surrounding communities, specifically the counties. The tornado was a good example of how the relationships that Kelly and we [the POA] had built helped us when we needed it the most. Frankly, it doesn’t get any better than that when there is a disaster, and you get all this outgoing support.” Click here to read GM Kelly Hale’s report on help received during the aftermath of the March 14, 2024, tornado.

Developing win-win connections for emergency water supply – three-way agreement

One example of the advantage of foraging mutually beneficial relationships is apparent in Unger’s plans to interconnect with North Garland County Water District to obtain an emergency water supply for the Village. This plan is not as straightforward as it sounds, as it is a multi-faceted deal involving North Garland County Water District and Hot Springs Water. The first step involves eliminating a water connection contract that is a liability to the Village but could benefit Hot Springs.

Unger expressed, “What I am going to do is work a three-way agreement with North Garland County Water and Hot Springs.”

Transferring a contract to someone who can use it

Unger shared, “We’re probably going to allow Hot Springs to acquire our rights to Lake Ouachita. I am in the final stages of that right now, and it will probably culminate in the December 9th meeting with the MAWA (Mid Arkansas Water Alliance} Board.

Unger hopes Hot Springs will take the balance of that liability off of us. “This liability is somewhere between $800,000 and $900,000 over the next twenty years. They have access to the water.” We don’t. (This contract was initiated by a previous Public Services Director.)Unger said, “Having water rights is a good thing. It is important. It is an asset, but like any asset, it only has value if you can use it. There are limited people [entities] that can use that resource, and one of them is Hot Springs.”

“North Garland County could potentially use it down the road, but right now, they are not in a position to use it.”

Current Interconnect agreement with North Garland County Water

“We have an interconnect agreement with North Garland County Water, already. We just never affected the connection, and that is primarily because it is not in a location that I think will be advantageous to us.” (This connection is on the East side of Hot Springs Village.) “We may still use this connection in the future if we have multiple connection points [with North Garland County Water], but without knowing what was going on, there was no way I was going to connect to an outside water source. We can do it in two weeks if we need to.”

North Garland County Water does not have the water to supply us. “They told us that unless it were the middle of winter, they wouldn’t be able to give us water. In the summer, they are tapped, and they have to buy water from Hot Springs. That is what they are doing right now.”

It is difficult or impossible to move water from the east side to the west side of the Village due to terrain. “We don’t have the infrastructure in place to do that. You could service part of the east side with that connection if they [North Garland County] had the water, which they don’t.”

Solving the problem

North Garland County Water is already connected to Hot Springs Water. If we can connect to North Garland County at a favorable location, then we can access water coming from Hot Springs.

Unger hopes to work a path with North Garland County Water where we can help them, not necessarily monetarily, but with support to upgrade their infrastructure from their connection to Hot Springs to our West Gate or somewhere on the west side of the Village. We would have an interconnection agreement with Hot Springs and North Garland County. “We help them [North Garland County] obtain the funding that they need. They can get the tax dollars that we can’t get. They can get grants, hopefully interest-free grants. That way, we are just a customer, and we’re helping them with our political weight and our friends, the county and the state, to help them get the grants that they need to upgrade their lines so they can supply us with water that they get from Hot Springs. This is not a tomorrow project, but it will be an effort and take years to make happen. This will be water that we can use in a location where we can feed the entire Village.”

“This is where the relationships pay off with the counties and the towns,” noted Unger.

Continuing to work with multiple organizations

Unger said they have meetings with regional-type organizations. “We just rejoined the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. We are also a member of the Hot Springs Village Chamber, and I believe we are still a member of the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce. Those relationships are critical. We want people on our Governmental Affairs Committee who know people in these places, so we already have relationships established. We get people on the committee that know these people.”

“We find ways to work together to solve problems that affect not only us but affect the areas around us. I am sure there are areas other than water, such as roadway systems. The bypass was a good example of how we, in the past, worked with the county and the state to get major projects approved that help the entire region. That is something we need to kickstart again. COVID probably knocked a lot of that down, and frankly, I think we have the right people in positions to help put that back into motion and make a difference for the whole area.”

Working with politicians

General Manager Kelly Hale and Director Unger have worked extensively for almost three years to foster relations with politicians. The following are some of the individuals they have worked with:

• Paul Childress, Arkansas House Representative
• Richard McGrew, Arkansas House Representative
• Matt McKee, Arkansas State Senator
• Bruce Westerman, United States House Representative for Arkansas
• Keith Keck, Saline County Justice of the Peace, Quorum Court

Newly elected Karen Crowson will assume J. P. Keck’s seat on the Saline County Quorum Court. Keck is retiring from his J. P. role, so he will have more time to serve the community in other ways.

Sometimes a mutually beneficial relationship is forged when least expected

Unger gave an example of an instance of making a friend and contact when he least expected it. At the recent Arkansas Parks, Heritage, and Tourism Commission Dinner, Unger met a Hot Springs community advocate and businessman who oversees the Arkansas Golf Trail.* The businessman also owns several hotels in Hot Springs. When talking to this person about upgrading Balboa Clubhouse, the gentleman mentioned that he had a whole warehouse of brand-new, commercial-grade carpeting that he had no use for. Purchased very reasonably, the carpet goes well with the Hot Springs Village color scheme, and there was enough to replace all of Balboa Clubhouse.

A new era dawns

We understand the importance of mutual support, recognizing that there will be occasions when we need assistance and times when we can offer it. A new era dawns, with the spirit of reciprocity guiding us as we continue to foster friendships and solidarity with our neighbors, government agencies, organizations, and political figures.

By Cheryl Dowden

*Hot Springs Village’s Isabella Golf Club, ranked as the number one course in Arkansas by Golf Digest and the Arkansas Business Journal from 2002-2006, is a part of the Arkansas Golf Trail.