Chaffee breaks ground on $6.2 million water project

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Chaffee broke ground Thursday on a $6.2 million water system, and officials say construction should begin within weeks to provide 1,136 customers with cleaner water.

City officials said they were relieved the project is finally in the construction phase after more than two years of loan processes and design work.

"It's been a long process, but we are glad we are to this point," city administrator Lee Horton said.

Horton said each contractor must wait on a notice to proceed from the United States Department of Agriculture's Office of Rural Development. He said each contractor should have those letters by Oct. 1. Once construction begins, contractors will have 11 months to finish the project.

The project began in March 2011 when the city received a letter of consideration from the USDA, which is funding the project through low-interest loans.

The project will replace waterlines and a new water-treatment plant will be constructed near the existing plant, built in 1978.

It will consist of three phases with three contractors. Zoellner Construction of Perryville, Mo., will build the water plant; waterline installation will be handled by Kajacs Contractors of Poplar Bluff, Mo.; and water tanks will be installed by Ozark Applicators of Van Buren, Mo.

Phyllis Minner, area specialist in Stoddard County's USDA service center, said the USDA will oversee the project and service the loan after the project's completion.

"One of the keys to quality of life in rural cities, towns and villages is maintenance of infrastructure to assure delivery of the water resource," Minner said. "Chaffee recognizes the importance of this element of community management by seeking funds to make improvements to the city water distribution and treatment facilities."

Last month at a city council meeting, Marvin Nesbit of Schultz Surveying and Engineering, the firm in charge of the project's engineering, urged officials and residents to have patience during construction.

"We are completely replacing the distribution system for this town; things are going to be ugly for a while," Nesbit said. "There will be a period of time when things will not be pretty. It is going to be an inconvenience, but it's all to have better water in the future."

skluesner@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

Chaffee, Mo.