Scott City residents to vote on bond issue for wastewater improvements

The price for upgrades to Scott City's wastewater treatment plant will be determined by voters in a coming election.

In March, the city presented a report to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources explaining plans for upgrading the plant, which is necessary to meet the agency's changed rules.

"Over the past several years, DNR has changed regulations to improve water quality in the streams, which are affecting the city's discharge permit," said Rich Cochran, a senior engineer and vice president at Waters Engineering Inc. in Sikeston, Missouri. "The current permit, issued last year, imposes new effluent limits that the existing treatment plant cannot meet. It also set a timeline that the city must follow to meet them."

The city doesn't have an option in meeting the requirements, Cochran said. It's just a matter of how inexpensively the changes can be made.

"By going through the DNR loan program with the proposed option, we can get low-interest loans to help reduce the costs. This will require a bond issue to be passed. Going other routes might not require voter approval but would cost the residents more in sewer rates," Cochran said.

If the DNR approves the city's proposal, Cochran estimated the project would cost about $4.3 million. Without the loan, the total would be about $6.8 million, Cochran said at a Scott City council meeting Monday night.

For the report to be approved, the city has to complete an anti-degradation study.

"An anti-degradation review is a type of water-quality study. It will examine the proposed receiving stream, calculate how much pollutants can be added without harming the stream and, from that, determine what limits our facility would have to have to not exceed that amount of pollutants. It also looks at the type of treatment necessary to meet those conditions," Cochran said.

This study is necessary as part of the state's regulations.

Assuming the report is approved, the bond issue will be put to vote at a time that best coincides with where the city is on the project. Cochran said it is possible the issue could make the November ballot, but it most likely will be voted on in 2016.

At Monday night's council meeting, members were concerned about how to make voters understand the importance for the bond issue to be passed.

Mayor Tim Porch discussed inviting residents to town meetings and having a discussion about the need for the bond, with Cochran present to address any concerns.

"The most cost-effective option is improvements to the existing lagoon, with pumping facilities to take the discharge to the Mississippi River. Voter-approved funds will be used to finance these improvements," Cochran said. "I don't want to say that the voters don't have a choice, because they do have a choice. But the city doesn't have a choice on making the improvements.

"State regulations mandate that they make the improvements; voters will be voting 'yes' to help keep their sewer rates as low as possible. Without passage of a bond issue, the city will still be forced to make the improvements. But (it) will have to finance it through options with higher interest rates that result in higher sewer bills."

The city has four years to complete the project after March 1, 2014, and city employees and council members have been looking at options to determine which is most cost-effective for the future.

smaue@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Scott City, Mo.