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Schell City mayor addresses sewage concerns
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The Oct. 5 Schell City council meeting was at times tense and confrontational as a group of area residents brought their concerns to the council over an ordinance passed at the September council meeting.
"I'd love to have some good stuff here, I grew up in this town," Mayor Tom Haddix said. "I'm not moving out of this town."
Gina Ensor, representing the Community Development Planning Committee, addressed the board on a number of issues including the recently passed ordinance amendment, state and federal funding opportunities and community development.
The primary issue at hand was an amendment to ordinance No. 41-2005 which regulates water meters.
"We had one house that was really bad, I mean it was crossing the alley and going down the street,"Haddix said, referring to sewage overflowing from the property's septic system. "That's what we did it for. My honest opinion is it's not safe for people or the environment."
Schell City does not have a centralized wastewater collection or treatment system, each property must have some means of wastewater disposal such as a septic system consisting of a holding tank and lateral lines.
Addressing concerns about the broadly worded ordinance No. 41-2005 A, Haddix said, "We are not going to go to a place and watch" a septic system be installed.
Ordinance No. 41-2005 A reads "no water meters, new or pre-existing, shall be activated without a City approved pre-installed septic and wastewater management system. All systems must meet or exceed Missouri State and County standards and described in Missouri Statues 701.025 through 701.059."
"It is confusing. It is worded wrong," Haddix said. "We will probably go in and fix it."
Haddix said the intent of the ordinance was to solve an ongoing problem with a property that continued to allow sewage to overflow the septic system. When the residents failed to pay the water bill repeatedly, the water was turned off.
"If you have a problem, you're not getting your water turned back on until it's fixed because without water, there is no problem," Haddix said.
Asked about other methods of wastewater disposal, Haddix said he did not think was the city's place to tell property owners specifically how to go about wastewater disposal.
Haddix said there is not an assigned person to drive around and look for water or sewer leaks.
During the Oct. 5 meeting, a $50 donation was offered to the city to help with community improvement projects. The council declined because the city did not have an appropriate bank account to put the money into.
"Yeah that is true," Haddix said when asked why the city didn't go ahead and open a bank account for donations. "I think we were all caught off guard."
"We do need to open an account for that." Haddix said.
In discussing other subjects, Haddix said, "Trying to keep everything maintained," was among the city's top priorities referring to the water system, the roads, and the city's street lights. He later added the dangerous and dilapidated buildings along Main Street.
Haddix said the city's switch to Consolidated Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Vernon County as a drinking water provider was completed last year. Previously, the city had operated its own water system but does not have a citywide water system."Our system is shut down," Haddix said, explaining the city's pump, aerator, and tower have all been decommissioned. Demolition of the city's water tower is currently a low priority,
Haddix said the city had to raise water rates, now one of the highest in Vernon County, in order to pay off a loan for the water system and to save for future repairs when the current pipes and valves reach the end of their useful life. At almost every monthly meeting this year, city council business has included reports of leaks found and repaired. In March, city clerk Erin Lee told the council the monthly water loss due to leaks and meter under-reading had dropped below 30 percent, the lowest it had been in years. Asked about the city's ongoing effort to acquire the dilapidated buildings along Main Street, Haddix said, "The buildings are our main priority, we know it's dangerous. If we had those building in our name the way they were and little Jimmy gets in there and gets hurt, it's on us," Haddix said.
Haddix said the city is focused on working with Wayne Cline on the southern most building along Main Street. Cline bought the property on the courthouse steps tax auction in 2014 and according to city clerk Erin Lee, has agreed to sell the partially collapsed building to the city so that it can be demolished and cleaned up.
Haddix said the owner of the next property to the north has agreed to give the building to the city.
The third property is a problem however. Haddix said the owner, whose name he could not remember, was not interested in selling what remained of the building which is essentially nothing more than the front facade.
Haddix said the fourth and fifth properties are owned locally, although both are in poor condition.
Haddix said the city had qualified volunteers willing to demolish and clean up the five dilapidated properties along Main Street once the city could acquire ownership of them.
One subject of contention at the Oct. 5 meeting was the city's willingness, or apparent unwillingness, to seek out or accept outside funding either from the state or federal government.
"Are you saying you are too busy to be part of any planning process?" Gina Ensor asked the council at the Oct. 5 meeting. "There are people willing to work with our community."
McKinney said, "we don't need someone else's money. We have all the volunteers we need in this community."
On Tuesday, Tom Haddix said, "I'll always take free money."
Haddix said he was concerned about the city having to repay a loan or the regulation that may come with receipt of state or federal funds.
"The park could use improvement and some new playground equipment," Haddix said. "I wish now, instead of going in debt to hook to rural water -- I wish we had gone into debt to get our system updated."
Another item brought to the council's attention at the Oct. 5 meeting was the possibility of the city building a wastewater lagoon or sewer treatment plant.
Haddix said the residents of the city had rejected the idea of a wastewater lagoon in the mid 1980's.
If the city built a wastewater lagoon, Haddix said they would have to hire a full time operator which would be a financial burden on the city.
This is assuming the city could even get a permit for a new wastewater lagoon from Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The city of Sheldon expects to have to conform to tighter emissions requirements as a condition of their wastewater lagoon permit when it is renewed in 2019.
Asked to clarify the city's relationship with the Schell City Community Betterment Committee and Schell City Housing Corporation, Haddix said that neither organization was a part of the city government.
Answering a final question, Haddix said, "Normally, nobody comes [to the council meetings] unless they have something to address."