The Eureka Board of Aldermen is expected to finalize the sale of the city’s water and sewer system to Missouri American Water Co.
The vote on the contract is expected to take place during the Tuesday, Nov. 17, meeting to be held at the Timbers of Eureka, 1 Coffey Park Lane.
Mayor Sean Flower said city attorney Kathy Butler is doing a final review of the contact before bringing it to the board.
“We are going through just trying to make sure we have everything documented that we agreed to,” Flower said.
Eureka voters approved the sale on Aug. 4 when Proposition S garnered 2,289 yes votes (67 percent) to 1,127 no votes (33 percent).
Flower said the contract is available for residents to review on the city’s website, eureka.mo.us.
“In the last several months, we’ve had more repair bills and expenses coming in on that system. I feel strongly that it’s the right thing to do as I have watched the money it took the last couple months,” he said. “I am excited that we are pushing this to get it done.”
Eureka finance Director Barb Flint said the city has spent around $38,400 on water repairs and maintenance and $4,100 on sewer repairs and maintenance since Aug. 1.
If the board approves the contract, the Public Service Commission also would have to approve the sale. The Public Service Commission regulates public electric, natural gas, steam, water and sewer utilities in Missouri.
Missouri American Water senior director of operations Brian Eisenloeffel said the approval by the Public Service Commission can take up to six months.
He said the company has started design work on a 4-mile pipeline from Wildwood to Eureka to supply water to the city.
“(The engineering team) have to make sure that we size the pipeline correctly, that it has the right amount of flow and water pressure, things like that,” Eisenloeffel said.
“So, that initial engineering is being done. As we spoke during the campaign, we had a couple of routes selected. They’ve started the process of contacting property owners through certain sections.”
Eisenloeffel said the company is on track to assume ownership of Eureka’s water and sewer systems next year, and the water source will be switched from the city’s well system to a plant in Chesterfield that processes water from the Missouri River by the summer of 2022.
“We are where we would anticipate it to be,” Eisenloeffel said.
Eisenloeffel said one concern that was raised by many residents before the vote was the different meter sizes used within the city. He said Eureka officials raised those concerns while preparing the contract.
“Eureka did not really have a standard for sizing meters, and they often used what was available,” Eisenloeffel said. “Because our rates are structured (based on meter size) and residents pay a lot more if they have a larger meter size, there was concern.”
Eisenloeffel said the company plans to standardize all residential and commercial meters free of charge.
“We’re going to work with them to audit those meters as best we can, but then also give residents an opportunity to request a different-size meter, if they’re not sure or don’t think it’s accurate or right,” he said.
Eisenloeffel said when the sale is closed, Missouri American Water will adopt the city’s current rate structure. Company officials said water rates could increase over time.
The city will receive $28 million from the sale. An appraisal valued the water system at $18 million and the sewer system at $10 million.
Missouri American Water has estimated it will spend $37.2 million on capital improvements to the system in addition to the purchase price.
Flower said the money from the sale will be kept in a separate account and the Board of Aldermen will have to approve any projects financed by that money.
Flower said he would like to see about $7 million of the sale proceeds used to pay off debt related to the construction of the Timbers of Eureka recreation complex and a water softening system the city invested in.
Flower also said he hopes to use some of the money for two flood walls he has proposed.
The Eureka Board of Aldermen’s meetings have been held at the Timbers for the last several months to allow the board and residents to space out because of COVID-19 concerns.
“We will probably meet at the Timbers for the foreseeable future,” Flower said.