Perryville seeks voter approval of bond issues to build new sewage plant

Perryville city officials want voters to approve three bond issues on Tuesday's election ballot to fund construction of a sewage plant to replace an aging facility that increasingly can't meet environmental regulations.

City administrator Brent Buerck said Wednesday that "it is not a tax increase. It is a tax extension."

He said, "There are three ballot measures because there are three funding sources."

To fund the proposed project, all three measures must pass, Buerck said.

The ballot measures would generate a combined $26 million, he said.

They include issuance of more than $12.3 million in sewer revenue bonds, extension of a property tax in connection with issuance of $5.1 million in general obligation bonds, and extension of 3/8th-cent sales tax in conjunction with issuance of nearly $8.5 million in bonds.

Both taxes would be extended for 20 years under the proposals, he said.

Those taxes were approved by voters 20 years ago to fund construction of a water plant, city officials said.

In a public letter, Mayor Ken Baer and the city's aldermen said the water plant will be "fully paid off" in June 2019.

As for the 40-year-old sewer plant, city leaders wrote it "needs to be replaced with new, modern technology and equipment that will better purify the increased volume of wastewater and better protect our environment."

Buerck said the aging plant was never designed to meet ever expanding environmental regulations. The plant's filters were not designed to treat ammonia, phosphorous or metals in the wastewater, he said.

"As regulations increase and you are required to treat those things to higher levels, our plant can't keep up," Buerck said.

At some point, the city will have to build a new sewage plant whether voters approve these ballot measures or not, Buerck said.

"We are already seeing ammonia violations. We know our plant is not capable of meeting future (environmental) permits," the city administrator said.

"If the city doesn't take corrective action, somebody is going to force us to fix this," he said.

In that case, the city may have to raise sewer rates to pay for the project, Buerck said.

A new plant would cost an estimated $17 million to $20 million, according to Buerck.

The ballot measures, if approved, would provide enough funding for future expansion of the new plant if necessary, he said.

If voters approve the measures, the city could use a state loan, which would be paid off with the local funding, Buerck said.

The new plant would be built on the same property that houses the existing plant. Buerck said it could take about three years to design and construct the new plant.

City officials had considered piping the treated wastewater to the Mississippi River as part of the plant project. But that would have cost millions of dollars, Buerck said.

"At this point, I believe we will continue to discharge into Cinque Hommes Creek," he said. The creek empties into the Mississippi River.

A simple majority is needed to pass Proposition 1, the revenue bond issue.

Each of the two tax measures requires 57.14 percent approval to pass because they involve the issuance of bonds, Buerck said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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