$14.4 million in federal funds to help pay for sewer system in Fruitland

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved $14.4 million in funding to construct a sewer system that will eliminate hundreds of septic tanks and private treatment systems in the Fruitland area.

Funding from the agency’s Rural Development program consists of a $5 million grant and a $9.4 million, low-interest loan, which will be paid off through sewer fees, said Joe Tousignant, local resident and president of the sewer district board.

Crews recently surveyed where lines may be installed, leaving behind survey stakes marked “sewer.”

Tousignant said Thursday the funding approved last week and the survey work are key to moving the long-sought project forward.

“It has taken a long time to get to this point. The citizens in the area identified the need for this project almost 19 years ago,” he said.

Lack of funding in years past hampered efforts to build a new sewer system, he said.

Voters created the sewer district in 1997 to address the sewage problems in the Fruitland area, Tousignant said. In July 2014, the district was reorganized and became the Cape Girardeau County Reorganized Common Sewer District.

The district operates 12 existing, private treatment facilities and lagoons and is acquiring an additional six systems in the area.

In addition, some 400 homes in the Fruitland area are served by private, individual septic systems.

State and federal regulations make use of septic systems increasingly difficult, Tousignant said, adding septic systems eventually will fail. Replacing them would cost property owners thousands of dollars, he said.

Plans call for construction of an area-wide sewer collection and treatment system, which would replace 18 existing treatment facilities and hundreds of septic tanks, he said.

The new sewer system would serve about 820 residents, 38 businesses and two schools — Jackson’s North Elementary School and Saxony Lutheran High School.

Tousignant said the sewer district has begun finalizing design of the planned system. The board hopes to let bids for construction of the system by June 2018.

He said the sewer system could be up and running in 2019.

Mark Ruark, principal at Saxony Lutheran High School, looks forward to having the school served by the new sewer system.

“It is a godsend for us at Saxony,” he said.

The school’s sewage is handled by a lagoon system, which used to be operated by the school and now is managed by the sewer district.

“We pay them a monthly fee, and they take care of everything,” Ruark said. “So, we got out of the waste business.”

The new sewer system will eliminate the need for the lagoon.

“For us, the sooner, the better,” he said.

Ruark said the school’s desire to hook into the planned sewer system also aided the district in its successful effort to secure federal funding. The district, he said, had to show there was a need for the sewer system to obtain federal funding.

Drenna Shive, human-resources manager for RapcoHorizon and Major Custom Cable, said the two Fruitland-area businesses will benefit from being able to do away with their lagoons and eliminate future costly upgrades that likely would be needed to meet federal environmental regulations.

Major Custom Cable spent $30,000 to upgrade its lagoon last year to meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

RapcoHOrizon may have to spend as much as $60,000 to upgrade its lagoon in the coming years unless granted an extension.

“Every six years, we spend about $50,000 for sewer upgrades,” Shive said of the lagoon system.

“The cost savings could be huge,” she said of hooking up to the new sewer system.

Meanwhile, Major Custom Cable has turned over its lagoon operation to the sewer district.

“Now, we pay a monthly sewer bill,” Shive said.

A 36-unit apartment complex at Fruitland opened recently. Its sewage is handled by the Major Custom Cable lagoon the district now runs.

Like Ruark, Shive looks forward to the new sewer system.

“We are excited, excited as we can be about sewage,” said Shive, who also serves as treasurer of the sewer district.

The board has yet to decide what residents and businesses will have to pay in sewer charges.

“The actual charges can’t be determined until the project can be completed,” Tousignant said.

Tousignant acknowledged people want to know what the sewer service will cost.

Still, he said, “there are a lot of folks that are very, very happy about it.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Fruitland, Mo.