Oak Ridge officials seek $900,000 sewer bond issue

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- City officials want to clean up the stink in Oak Ridge.

The town board is asking voters to approve a $900,000 bond issue in the April 2 election to help fund construction of a sewer system. It takes a four-sevenths majority to pass the bond issue, city officials say.

Individual septic tanks currently take care of the sewage in the town of 200 people in Cape Girardeau County. But many of the septic systems don't work well, resulting in sewage seeping out of the ground.

"It downright stinks sometimes at night," said Danny Stratton, who serves on the town board. "It is just unsanitary. There are too many people in a little area with no sewers."

The proposed sewer system involves new septic tanks that would be connected to pressurized, two-inch-diameter pipes that would be connected to a treatment plant or sewage lagoon.

"It beats tearing up the streets and the big pipes and all the maintenance," Stratton said. "This is the only economical way to go."

Mayor Marilyn Sedgwick said residents would pay for the system through sewer charges, which would run about $25 a month for the average household. There would be no hookup fee for the city's current residents.

The monthly charges would go to pay off the debt and maintain the sewer system. The city would have to employ one or two people to maintain it, she said.

The town board has scheduled a public meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church to explain the bond issue to residents.

Sedgwick said Oak Ridge residents can't afford to ignore the sewage problem. Sooner or later, the city will have to put in sewers, she said.

The entire project is expected to cost about $1.25 million. State and federal grants and a federal loan are expected to pay for much of the cost.

Stratton said the city may only have to issue $500,000 in bonds. The town board is asking voters to approve a $900,000 bond issue just in case more funding is needed, he said.

If voters approve the bond issue, the project could be under construction by spring 2003 and completed by spring 2004.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123