Archived Blogs from Original Website:
Chapter 1
August 20, 2014
Joe T.
Chapter 1: The voters in the Fruitland Area voted to form the Cape Girardeau County Common Sewer District during the 1997 November election. The results were certified in January 1998 by the Circuit Court. The District was formed to try to formulate a solution to the problems that residents were having with their on-site septic systems serving their homes. The District had no funding and no ability to borrow money. The Board tried to get a project moving but lack of funds ultimately led to the Board to become inactive, evidently. I have some details about the incorporation of the District, but very little in the way of meeting minutes or other details. Note the name of the District at that time, as it has changed. This will be discussed in later "Chapters". Before I go any further, I will state that I'll post about the District to the best of my ability, and opinions expressed are mine and may not represent those of the entire Board or the individual Board members. Please feel free to post questions and comments and I will respond as best as I can. Thanks, -Joe.
Chapter 2
August 24, 2014
Joe T.
Chapter 2: New Board! Just to recap the main point of Chapter 1, The District was formed by a vote of the people. It was a mandate, in my opinion, for the District to address the problem of unsewered areas in the greater Fruitland area. In 2009, the County Commission appointed a new Board of Directors for the District. I had expressed interest in working on the Board in 1998, but was not selected at that time. I was invited to apply to be a board member in 2009. I applied and was appointed to the board. Several Board members have come and gone since 2009. Since 1998, The Village of Pocahontas built their own collection and treatment system, but little else has changed to help with the problem of unsewered areas. However, increasingly stringent EPA regulations on discharges from wastewater treatment facilities, enforced by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, has created a problem for many of the 25 permitted systems that serve businesses, schools, and subdivisions in the area. Almost without exception (in my opinion) every one of the 25 permitted systems has issues with required upgrades, compliance schedules, maintenance, breakdowns, or operational issues. Fact is, few permit holders want to be in the "sewer business". I see the challenges faced by the permit holders as the District's second mandate. We are in a position to not only help the unsewered areas, but also help with the existing collection and treatment systems in the Fruitland Area. The five-member Board currently consists of residents of various subdivisions and/or represents a business in the Fruitland Area. I was elected Board President and currently serve in that capacity. We Board members are not compensated in any way for our service to the District.
Speak Out - Response
August 29, 2014
Joe T.
A friend told me there was a Speak Out comment in the SE Missourian on Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't see it and can't seem to find it online. The caller's concern was that he or she was on a fixed income, their septic systems works fine after a recent repair, and he or she basically was opposed to the District plan to install a system in the Fruitland area. Unfortunately, there will always be complaints such as this with a project like ours. However, the fact that the resident just had to spend a small fortune on their system is exactly the reason for the District to install sewers. We would like to prevent others from having to do the same thing, by installing a cost-effective and permanent solution to the wastewater problems in the area. For every person who has needed to repair or replace their septic system recently, there is a dozen more that will need to do the same thing in the near future. I feel it will be better for the entire community to have a sewer system in place. It is good for property values, economic growth, and jobs in the area. I'm certainly getting ahead of myself by commenting on current issues now, when I'm trying to give the history of District activities in chronological order here, but the whole point of this blog is to keep citizens informed and communicate what is going on. I would like to point out that if and when a sewer is installed near your house, the hookup to the system will cost you nothing up front. The District will cover the cost of the connecting your house to the sewer and restoring your yard to a reasonably good condition. There will be a $100 refundable deposit needed, similar to other utilities serving the area, and monthly bills will start arriving the next month. The costs of removing or filling septic tanks with sand or gravel will be the responsibility of the homeowner.
Subdivisions want out of Sewer Business
September 13, 2014
Joe T.
Several subdivisions have contacted the Board, asking if we would take over their sewage collection and treatment systems. We set up a process to transfer ownership to the District. Typically, it includes an agreement to transfer the system, as well as the transfer of a deed for the real estate the treatment plant is located on. What it comes down to is this: Homeowner's Associations do not want to be in the sewer business! It is difficult for them to get payment from all the homeowners, and dealing with permits, testing, and expenses is difficult. We require a $500 application fee, half of which is used to pay our lawyer to review the covenants and legal basis of the transfer, and write the transfer agreement. The other half is used to pay our engineering firm, Strickland Engineering, to perform an engineering review of the system.
In the last year, the District has taken over ownership, maintenance, operation, and full responsibility for five systems. These include:
Westbridge Place, Spring Lakes Estates, Forest Meadows, Arbor Trails, and Pleasant Lake Estates, for about 250 customers. Each homeowner or renter paid a $100 deposit to the District. The monthly bill is $35 for the first "yearly" billing cycle. In June, water usage records for the previous December, January, and February are used to come up with an average monthly water usage, in months when folks aren't watering lawns, washing cars, or filling swimming pools. The next July through June monthly bills for each residence are then set at $25 plus $2/1000 gallons of water used.
President's Update
September 14, 2014
Joe T.
We are up and running! Yes, we had growing pains! During the first few months of operation, we hired a part time clerk to do the billing and accounts. We had some real problems with our phone service and the first clerk resigned for personal reasons. We then hired our current clerk, Dana Lynch, and are happy to have her! Our new customer service number is (573)837-0588. Our email address is Payments can be made via mail to our address at 113 W. Main Street, Suite 6, Jackson, MO 63755. We have a dropbox outside our office door at that location, and at the Amerimart Phillips 66 gas station in Fruitland. You can also set up automatic payments if you wish. Dana is part time and we haven't set up fixed office hours at this time. If you call and get no answer, please leave a message and Dana will return your call, normally the same business day.
What if you don't pay your bill? Well, we will NEVER shut off your sewer, for obvious reasons! According to State Law, we have an agreement with the Public Water Supply District #1. Our statement dates, due dates, and shutoff dates are identical to the PWSD. I suggest you get in the habit of paying both bills at the same time each month. If you don't pay either bill, your water will be shut off according to the PWSD and/or theCape Sewer District's policies and procedures. In the near future, we will transition to new utility billing software, and mailed bills will probably be a postcard very similar to what the PWSD uses. We hope the transition goes smoothly!
President's Update
October 14, 2014
Joe T.
We reorganized! Our District was originally organized as the Cape Girardeau Common Sewer District. We added "#1" to the end of the name in the event a second sewer district was formed in the County. Last summer, we "reorganized" under the Revised Missouri Statutes to become the Cape Girardeau County Reorganized Common Sewer District. This was done with the cooperation of and through the County Commission and the Circuit Court. The Reorganization allows the District to borrow money through the use of Revenue Bonds. These bonds must be payed through the revenues of the District. We are not able to levy taxes. This reorganization gives the District the needed flexibility to borrow money for our operations or expansion without a voter referendum. This is important and the District is responsible for maintaining, operating, and upgrading wastewater systems in an increasingly strict regulatory environment. It would be impractical and difficult to be responsible for systems that face required upgrades, if the District needed a voter referendum every time a project was required.
Sewer District Activities: The Sewer District operates under Missouri's Sunshine Law. All our meetings are open to the public. We want to be transparent in our operations and let people know what is going on. I'm going to briefly discuss each system we operate now. This is by memory so I may have some specific facts wrong.
The system at Westbridge Place was the first to be transferred to the District. The homeowner's association transfered the system according to theircovenants. This system has 14 homes on it, and is a two cell lagoon with a small aerator on the first cell. The HOA had just completed adding a UV disinfection unit just prior to the transfer. Since the District took over, we have treated the lagoon with herbicide to control excessive duckweed (a floating plant), and dealt with several problems, including the replacement of the aerator unit. Weekly monitoring and cleaning of the aerator is required. The DNR permit has a "compliance schedule" attached to it. This gives the District six years to perform a major upgrade or replacement of the system to deal with increasingly strict ammonia limits. It would be prohibitively expensive to perform such an upgrade or replacement for 14 homes.
The lagoon system at Spring Lake Estates was also transferred to the District. Like Westbridge, it is a two cell lagoon system with disinfection installed by the HOA prior to the transfer. The permit for this system has the same type of compliance schedule on it as Westbridge Place.
The homeowner association of Pleasant Lake Estates transferred their collection and treatment system to the District. The treatment facility is called a mechanical plant, a package plant, or an extended aeration unit. There is a major rust problem affecting the tanks of the plant. The District will "nurse" this system along for as long as possible in hopes that alternatives to a major renovation or replacement can be found.
The Forest Meadows homeowner association transferred their system to the District on the advice of their attorney. This is a large four cell lagoon. The HOA completed some repairs to the facility prior to the transfer of the system. The District will be doing some repair to the piping system in order to better operate the system. This lagoon system will not meet the DNR ammonia limits in the long term and will need eventual upgrade or replacement.
Arbor Trails is a fast growing development located near the intersection of highways 177 and W. This is a relatively new extended aeration facility servicing approximately 85 homes. Prior to the transfer, homeowners paid for the operation of the system through their homeowners association fees. In my opinion, the HOA was loosely organized and finances were always limited. As a result, virtually no maintenance was performed over a two year period prior to the transfer to the District. With 85 users, this system brings in a significant revenue stream to the District. Folks may think we are overcharging or that the system is a "money maker" for the District. To the contrary, the District has spent almost $9,000 in the first few months of operation of this system. It required a complete cleanout, new diffusers, fence repair, access road construction, and other maintenance and improvements. Because of an increasing amount of District customers, we have the ability to cash-flow these expenses, something most Homeowners Associations have difficulty doing. The plant is now running better than ever and its discharge has been cleaned up significantly.
A recent addition to the Sewer District is Sun Valley Estates, a system serving the subdivision near the intersection of Highways 61 and C. This system serves 14 homes in a subdivision with 37 lots. With the small number of users, the developer was having trouble keeping up with the costs of operation and maintenance of the plant. The homeowners have paid their HOA fees up to June 2015. With that understanding, the Sewer District will wait to send an invoice for the deposit so that homeowners are not "doubling up" their sewer costs. The $100 deposit will be due June 16, 2015. The first montly bill will be due July 16, 2015. As with Arbor Trails, this system will benefit by being operated by the Distrct. With our revenue, we can address problems as they come up, without the need for the HOA to levy special assessments to cover the costs. Our operator, Strickland Engineering, also has the talent and ability to keep the systems running efficiently, to protect the water quality and health of the citizens in the area. The Sun Valley treatment plant has been operating for a number of years while exceeding its ammonia limits in the permit. Our initial inspection revealed two blown pumps and a nonfunctional blower. Repairs will likely exceed $2000 or $3000 initially. We also diagnosed the problem with the poor performance of the plant and will take immediate action to rectify the situation.
The latest addition to the District is Saxony Lutheran High School. The School has been "under the gun" of the DNR to address a lagoon leakage issue and add disinfection. With the transfer of the system to the District, it is no longer a problem between the DNR and the school. It is an issue that will be handled by the DNR and the District. I'm sure the school board is happy to be out of the sewer business! The District is working with the DNR to evaluate both short and long term solutions to the problems with the lagoon system. At this point, it seems the worst-case scenario is that the School will have to pay the cost directly of converting the system to a "no-discharge" system. The District will work to prevent this, in the hope that we can come up with better alternatives in the longer term.
Now what? As the District continues to acquire and operate more of the 24 permited wastewater treatment facilities in the Fruitland Area, we must look at the longer term. For the most part, we can say that lagoon systems are on their way "out" Basically, a lagoon system will have a hard time meeting the more stringest ammonia discharge limits that are being put in place. Whenever a new 5 year permit is issued by the DNR on a lagoon system, there will likely be a compliance schedule that requires a major upgrade or replacement of the lagoon system to meet the new limits. If a HOA or business owns the lagoon, they will be given three years. If a municipality owns the system (such as the District), the DNR has given a six year window. The District must come up with a plan to deal with this timeframe as the clock is ticking on the various lagoon systems in the District, including three systems we now own and operate. I see the District has having a "dual mandate". The first is to do something about the unsewered areas. We received this mandate by a vote of the people in an election in 1997. With increasingly stringent DNR regulations on the existing wastewater treatment systems in the area, our second mandate is to help address those systems.
To take on our "dual mandate", the District has hired Strickland Engineering to draw up a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) to investigate alternatives to address both the existing wastewater treatment systems as well as the unsewered areas served by on-site septic tanks and leach fields (septic systems) . Strickland Engineering has subcontracted the services of Horner & Shifrin, Inc. Engineers to assist with the PER. This is made possible because the District now has a revenue stream to pay for the PER, something that wasn't possible when the District was first formed in 1998.
The PER was completed on August 29, 2014. The preferred alternative is a $14.2 million wastewater collection and treatment system that will service approximately 1200 customers. The system could eliminate up to 20 wastewater treatment systems, while providing sewer service to nearly 500 customers currently on on-site septic systems. I will provide a draft servcie area map and post here when I get a chance. It will take several additional posts to fill you in on the details for the PER and where we go from here! Stay tuned!