Three Vernon County towns receive water quality grants

Tuesday, July 8, 2003

Three local cities are one step closer to success in their quest to upgrade drinking water systems. Bronaugh, Schell City and Sheldon are three of 14 cities around Missouri to receive grants from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to pay for engineering report services. The purpose of the reports is to evaluate the water systems' needs and to help find solutions to any problems found. The grants are the result of Sam Foursha's, contacts with the Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission. Foursha has been pursuing these grants, among others, to help fund infrastructure upgrades that will bring increased economic activity to the area. Foursha is director of the Nevada Area Economic Development Commission. When the project started in August 2002 Sheldon, Bronaugh, Metz and Schell City were visited by a group, comprised of Foursha, the executive director of Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission, Stanley "Bud" Hayes and its engineer of record, Warner "Bud" Sherman, who met with various city officials in the first step of gathering information to begin the studies. "The communities have different needs but face similar obstacles negotiating the convoluted paths of the bureaucracy," Foursha said. The three first went to Sheldon to meet with the mayor and city clerk. The group quickly got to business discussing the best way to attack Sheldon's two main problems, the water system and the sewer system. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources looked at the water situation and suggested that Sheldon construct two 250,000 gallon water towers as part of the upgrade. Spencer looked at the engineering study and concluded that the city could get by with less. "This is pie-in-the-sky here. A town of Sheldon's size can easily make do on less. One 150,000 gallon tower would work if the old tower (approximately 40,000 gallons) could be used," Spencer said. Another problem plaguing Sheldon is the sewer lagoon. A secondary cell that was added actually short-circuits the primary lagoon with water entering the secondary cell before suspended solids have had a chance to precipitate out in the primary. "DNR doesn't like the way these type of lagoons are designed. They approve them because they meet specifications but they don't like them at all. It isn't a construction problem, it's a design problem," Spencer said. More time is needed to look into the situation, but at first glance the first thing KBRPC can help Sheldon with is refinancing their lease-purchase agreement which now carries more than six percent interest. "DNR and Rural Development have programs that carry about one and a half percent interest. Since the project is not that old there would be significant savings -- approximately $175,000 over the life of the contract -- that could be used for other needs," Hayes said. Sheldon had already made a step in the right direction because they had gotten on to the DNR's Intended Use Plan, a document that lists the communities that are attempting to obtain funds, and sets the priorities of communities. A community is judged on several factors including the percentage of low or moderate income, or LMI, households and how the water rates compare to other, similar sized towns. Bronaugh has similar problems. The city's LMI is less than 51 percent and a new income survey is needed there as well. It, like Sheldon, has problems with its water system and sewer system. The water system hasn't been updated since 1957, except for replacement of parts. The sewer system, though new in 1998, has problems with rainwater entering the sanitary sewer system. A required test may not have been done before the sewer system became operational. Bronaugh mayor Davie Evans said that a pressure test of the main sewer lines had been done but could not recall if another test, one that checked manholes for leaks had been. A quick check of the files could not locate the results of the test. The city had tried to say at the time that there was some problem but was overruled. "I stood right there and argued with the engineer that there was a problem but I was ignored," said Gary Loudermilk, water and waste water operator. Bronaugh tried to withhold payment until the problem was corrected but was forced to start paying for the system. "We tried to hold off paying on the system but we were told that if we didn't start paying we would lose the grant altogether," Evans said. To update the water system DNR wants Bronaugh to add storage capacity and treat its drinking water for radionuclides. The treatment creates an ion exchange which removes excess calcium from the water, often a problem when the aquifer is contained in limestone deposits. An income survey would have to be conducted in Bronaugh for the same reason as Sheldon, the city's LMI is less than 51 percent. "The water rate is comparable with other similarly sized cities and so is the sewer rate. If the LMI is up there then it looks good for Bronaugh," Hayes said. In Metz, where no grant has been awarded so far, the process will be more involved to help them solve their sewer and road problems. Both Sheldon and Bronaugh had recent upgrades to systems and some of the studies could still be used this time around. In Metz, there were no recent studies done so a facilities study needs to be completed which will show what the current system is and what suggested improvements would be. Foursha reiterated that Metz was in a different category than the other three cities. "In Metz they have rural water but they don't have a sewer. Eventually they are going to have to have one. We can use the grant program to fund the survey to see what that would entail and then seek money from other sources. We want to be out in front of requirements that may come down," Foursha said. Schell City also needs a facilities study done but on a more limited scale than in Metz. Schell City needs a new water tower and a new water processing facility but the water lines are newer and shouldn't need replacement. Foursha summed up the hoped for outcomes of the visits. "These projects we're looking at could easily run to a half a million dollars. That's a significant amount of money to these smaller communities," Foursha said. "These projects can help improve the quality of life for these communities and that's important. If we can help attract businesses to them as well that's gravy."

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