City of Mountain View Educates Public on Water/Sewer Bond Issue in Townhall Meeting

The Mountain View City Council held a town hall meeting to discuss improvements needed to the city’s water and sewer system on June 19. Voters recently approved a $6 million bond issue to pay for the improvements. The discussion featured engineer Bob Summers of Horner and Shifrin Engineering in Poplar Bluff, and Rural Development area specialist Emma Hohenberger. 
     Summers told the city council, and those in attendance, that a video inspection of the city’s sewer system showed three “big items”. The first issue is that the portion of the sewer system, which he calls “the main backbone”, stretching from downtown to the wastewater treatment plant, is in very poor condition. Summers said the line is nearly half-filled with debris, is undersized and needs replaced. Summers stated that the second issue is three lift stations in the sewer system that need work. The third issue, which he says is a common problem in municipal sewer systems, is that storm water was found in the sewer system. Summers estimated that construction costs would be about $4.3 million, and the total project cost would be about $5.6 million. These repairs would address problems in the main sewer system, but would not cover the costs of problems that might be found in sewer lines coming from individual homes in the city.
     Money coming from the bond issue passed by voters in May will serve as collateral for federal loans and grants that will be used to fund the improvements. An approximately $2.5 million loan will pay for the project, with the rest of the money coming from grants. And though  it may seem wise to look for areas to trim costs on the project, Summers strongly cautioned against doing so, since the $2.5 million loan has to be used before grant money goes toward the project. That means, unless the project budget is trimmed by more than 60%, any apparent cost savings would come directly out of grant money, and leave the debt incurred by the city at the same rate. 
     Rural Development area specialist, Emma Hohenberger, told the audience that time is of the essence in applying for loan and grant money. The approaching start of a new federal fiscal year brings uncertainty to the approval of funding. Rural development will propose new user rates, once the funding is applied for. Hohenberger stated that when the city does apply for funding, there is no fee, no risk and that the city would not be locked into the project at that time. 
     The obvious question among residents is how much the sewer improvements will increase water sewer bills. At this time, there is no specific dollar amount. A financial review of the City will first be conducted before Rural Development gives a proposed bill amount to the city. At that time, it would be up to the City Council to determine how much user rates will increase.
Mayor Donnie Pruett told the crowd, “We can’t sit on our hands and do nothing,” saying that if repairs aren’t made to the sewer system, the City could face steep fines from the Department of Natural Resources.

Howell County News

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