Pocahontas planning $1 million sewer system

The village of Pocahontas received a $780,000 check from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service Thursday to help pay for a $1 million sewer system.

The rural Cape Girardeau County town of 54 households is mired in septic tank problems with reports of raw sewage leaking out into the streets. Last year voters approved a $500,000 sewer bond issue 30-1.

Mayor Mark Kasten said Thursday that $200,000 of the $780,000 came in the form of a small loan to be paid back with funds from the bond issue. The remaining $580,000 does not have to be repaid.

The rest of the $1 million will be secured through a community development block grant which will be reimbursed by Pocahontas residents, who will have to pay about $35 to $40 in monthly sewer fees.

Kasten said the village is working with property owners in acquiring easements. About 60 percent of the easements have been secured.

"They're going well," Kasten said. "We're definitely on schedule."

Depending on easement acquisition and how quickly Pocahontas receives the block grant, Kasten said the project could begin as soon as the end of August.

The plan calls for 11,000 feet of sewer mains and a lagoon.

"It's a relatively simple gravity-flow system and it will probably take four to six months maximum to get it done, depending on weather and all of that," Kasten said.

Some residents will be required to hook onto the system, depending on how many feet they reside from the nearest main. However, hookups have been included as part of the grants.

"The grants will actually take the pipe up to the house -- not in the house, but to the house," Kasten said. "The actual cost to the home owner will be virtually nothing."

Most of the Pocahontas residents and neighbors are thrilled about the project. A few are critical of the lagoon placement.

"I just don't like where they're putting the lagoon," Jeanne Holley said. "I'm sure all the folks up town like it, and they need it. But they put the lagoon down the road and across from me and if they don't take care of it, when the wind blows from the west, I'll experience some unpleasantness. I've been told that won't happen, but the government has told me a lot of things over the years."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635