Small Town News

Paxico ponders water for Newbury, self

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The Paxico City Council indicated it is not excited about taking over the Newbury area water line during its monthly meeting Oct. 20.

A meeting took place the week before in which members of the water district and the city council had the opportunity to meet with Newbury residents and hear concerns.

City Attorney Keen Umbehr, who also serves on the Wabaunsee Rural Water District No. 2, said he attended the meeting and has concerns about the idea of the city taking over the Newbury system.

He said right now he doesn't feel the city has any exposure, but he said if the city were to take over the line there could be exposure problems.

He said a realistic end result could be the city having a tremendous amount of line and a handful of customers within a few years.

He also said the older line represents a huge liability. It was produced in the mid-1970s, but lines made then have had problems with leaching carcinogens into the water.

"We've got that issue as a side issue and we don't know until the water is tested," he said, adding that the city lines are OK.

Umbehr said the city's water cost is moderated by having the tax base to help with the infrastructure, whereas in Newbury the only income would be from the sale of water.

He added that for the issue to precede the city needs to outline what it would and wouldn't be willing to do.

"We need to give some kind of direction of what the city's willing to do," he said.

He said this would be to allow the owner of the Newbury pipeline, Merle Glotzbach, the opportunity to pursue other options for having the water line taken over.

Mayor Eric Theel said he also talked with Greg Dekat, who serves on the RWD No. 2 board about whether the district would be interested in wholesaling water to Paxico.

City Employee Paul Hiegert said if the city were to consider this it would have to keep in mind the rates that the RWD charges and would have to charge more than that to be able to maintain the distribution system.

Theel said he wasn't yet pursuing this option, but wanted to start the conversation.

He said he has repeatedly heard concern around town with people wondering what could be done to improve the quality of Paxico's water.

Theel said he personally has a water softener, but has had to routinely replace appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers and hot water heaters because of the water quality.

The conversation transitioned back to Newbury and Dekat said the water district's biggest concern with Newbury is making sure the people get service.

He said at the previous week's meeting the rural water board laid out some conditions, including a hook-up fee of $3,000 per meter up front and the fact the lines would need to be replaced because of the era of the pipe.

Ultimately, he said the important part is making sure the customers have water.

"However they can be best served," he said.

Council Member B.J. Speck said the biggest concern she had related to the meeting was the $3,000 hook-up fee, and whether the meters would be able to be financed.

Hiegert agreed.

"Some of them can't come up with that $3,000 up front," he said.

Dekat said the motion that had been made and passed by the water board was to require the $3,000 up front, but added he would put the concern on the next RWD meeting agenda.

The council then moved back to talking about whether the city could purchase rural water as well, and Dekat said Bartlett and West is the engineering firm for the water district, and he said he also works for Bartlett and West, but is not the engineer who works with the district.

He said to study whether the city could come on to the RWD pipeline he would need some basic information, and he said he would anticipate the city's distribution system would require some improvements to be compatible.

He added that it would be a first for the district.

"We do not currently wholesale to anybody in the district," he said, adding that it had never been requested.

A Dekat said the system would have the capacity to do. so, however, and he added that wholesale rates tend to be less than retail rates in other systems.

Speck asked whether, if the city were to do this, Newbury could be incorporated in the same plan.

Theel said the answer seemed to be yes and no.

Dekat said due to the logistics the two likely would need to be separate.

Flanary said she was on the council another time when the city discussed going on rural water and the city opted not to do so at that time because it was extremely cost-prohibitive.

However, the council agreed it would be worth going ahead and doing the study.

Council member Steve Tharman reminded the council that any project it might undertake would not be eligible for USDA Rural Development funds due to the city's statistical income levels.

However, Speck suggested going ahead with the study to see whether the city might be interested in taking it further.

The council agreed to move forward with the study about the city hooking onto the RWD water line.

As far as the Newbury line being under the city's jurisdiction, Theel said he had the feeling the city wouldn't want to assume that responsibility.

Tharman said he had done some estimates and came up with a figure of approximately $92,000 to replace the Newbury water line, and he said if the city were to take over the line it would want to have the line replaced.

Dekat said other estimates he had heard ranged from $75,000 to $130,000, so Tharman's number fell pretty central.

Umbehr said he was continuing to try to figure out a way for the city to keep it's customers in Newbury without having the liability of the line.

Council members did not take any action regarding the Newbury line, pending additional input from the Newbury area and the engineers.

Council members approved and signed the Uniform Public Offense Code and the Standard Traffic Ordinance, with the sections dealing with ATVs, 114.1-114.5, omitted from the STO.

City Employees Ryan Theel and Paul Hiegert reported on their past month. They attended a tabletop emergency exercise in Alma, fixed a water break on Paxico Ave. on Oct. 13 and are working on installing the generator. They also have been doing water testing and reported problems with aggressive dogs while they are reading meters.

Other council members reported that the same dogs also have been aggressive toward area children.

Cleanup concerns around town also were discussed, and Umbehr agreed to send out a total of seven letters addressing six properties and two dog-related concerns.

Council member Linda Flanary said the park committee met earlier in the week and got quite a bit accomplished. She said a tree service will be coming to take care of a stump in the park.

Council member Ron Etter reported that the Harvest Fest earlier in the month faced difficult weather conditions with temperatures at 33 degrees and wind chills in the 20s all day. However, he said business was steady in, the shops.



Copyright 2009 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise, Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Wabaunsee County Signal-Enterprise Alma, Kansas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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