Ballot includes revenue bond issue to fund new water system

Voters in the Nell Holcomb area backed the creation of a new water district last November. Now they are being asked to pay for it through revenue bonds that will be retired with money from water system hookup and usage charges.

A $550,000 revenue bond issue is on the Aug. 6 election ballot -- the only local tax issue on the ballot in Cape Girardeau County. A simple majority is needed for passage.

Passage of the bond issue will help fund construction of the new water system and allow the board of directors of Public Water Supply District No. 5 to establish fees that water users would pay.

Joe Koch, vice president of the water district board, said the entire project could cost close to $2 million. The revenue bonds, however, are critical to obtaining grants and possibly even loans to provide the rest of the funding, he said.

Koch said the board hasn't decided whether to dig wells or get its water from the city of Cape Girardeau. "Our engineer is in negotiations with the city," he said.

Walter Denton, assistant city manager for Cape Girardeau, said there have been preliminary discussions but no decisions have been made. "It depends on how much water they are wanting and, of course, a price would need to be negotiated."

Koch said he and other residents in the rural area north of Cape Girardeau need a steady supply of good water. They currently depend on private wells that pump out water heavily laden with iron. Residents and businesses in the hilly, tree-covered area rely on water softeners and filters to make the water drinkable.

"Almost every week we have some person whose well is going bad," he said. People are tired of dealing with the hard water, he said.

The water district would have to treat the water too. "We would have a treatment plant," Koch said.

Nell Holcomb School and even Trail of Tears State Park could be served by the water system, he said.

Water customers, he said, could see monthly bills of $35 to $40. There also would be a hookup fee.

Urging early hookup

Those who sign up now will pay a $350 hookup fee. The cost will be higher later on, Koch said. The price break is being offered to encourage district residents to sign up, he said. The board wants to sign up at least 200 to 250 customers so it can decide where the water lines need to be installed.

The district extends from the south entrance of Trail of Tears State Park to the Rolling Hills subdivision along Highway 177 just north of the city of Cape Girardeau. It also would run from the Burlington Northern railroad tracks along the Mississippi River on the east to almost Route Y on the west. The district includes the Egypt Mills area.

The region is home to an estimated 2,500 residents of which more than 700 are registered voters.

By a vote of 129 to 96, voters established the district last November and authorized the formation of the water board.

Koch said there isn't any organized opposition to the bond issue.

Even if it passes, people won't be forced to hook up to the water system. "The only people that will pay for the water system are the ones that actually use it," he said.

East County Fire District officials want voters to approve the bond issue. Currently, the volunteer fire department has to haul its own water or pump it out of creeks, ponds or swimming pools to fight fires.

Hydrants would help. Still, firefighters won't be able to hook their hoses directly to the hydrants because the water lines couldn't handle such a quick draw-down, said Gary Fornkahl, president of the fire district board. But firefighters would be able to fill a portable water tank from hydrants and then pump the water from the tank, Fornkahl said.

He said a water system could lead to more development, which would increase the tax base and provide more tax money for the fire district.

But he said fire district officials can't predict how much tax revenue might be generated.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123