County still seeking solutions for sewer district
The county’s long-delayed sanitary sewer district project continues to face significant financial hurdles as officials attempt to find an economical solution for providing the service to county customers.
The council raised the issue while discussing a bill from Baker Tilly for ongoing negotiations and contractual work related to Jasper’s plans for a new wastewater treatment facility that will serve both county and city customers.
Central to the project’s delays is the ongoing negotiation with the city of Jasper, which would treat the sewage at its facility. Jasper would like for the county to pay for a portion of the new treatment plant, preliminarily estimated at $4.5 million.
This first phase of the project, originally designed to serve both Haysville and Portersville, has been scaled back to include only Haysville due to rising costs.
“It’s really contingent upon where the city of Jasper falls with their costs and expenses in all of this and what they feel that our capacity usage from this project will take up their plant space,” said Councilwoman Deena Lewis.
The financial projections have created significant concern among county officials about the project’s viability. With current cost estimates, monthly sewer bills for customers could range from $200 to $300, which officials acknowledge would likely prevent residents from connecting to the system.
“Now who’s going to pay that, that kind of sewer bill at your house?” Councilman Mike Kluesner asked. “Otherwise, we won’t have anybody hook up.”
Officials are working to reduce costs to achieve a target monthly rate of $100 to $125, which the USDA Rural Development program considers acceptable. Even at $150 per month, officials expressed doubt about resident participation.
“We’d (sic) be cheaper just putting half a septic in for them,” said Councilman Ryan Craig, highlighting the challenge of making the sewer system cost-competitive with septic alternatives.
He expressed frustration with the progress on the project, which began in 2020, although discussions had been ongoing before then.
The project has faced numerous changes and delays since its inception. Originally, officials expected to be in construction by now, but the scope has shifted significantly as circumstances evolved. Those circumstances include the impact of inflation on the materials and construction costs.
The county also received a $1 million grant for the project, but officials say that funding must be used by next April or risk being reallocated to another entity.
The council approved advertising for an allocation of $15,000 to continue to use Baker Tilly’s financial services during the ongoing negotiations and budgeting process for the project.
