Byrnes Mill city officials have agreed to sell a half-acre of land to Public Water Supply District 6 for $35,000.
City Clerk Debbie LaVenture said the sale of the land, which is directly behind City Hall, 141 Osage Executive Circle, was expected to close today, April 1.
The Board of Alderpersons voted unanimously March 17 to approve the sale.
Public Water Supply District 6 manager Kevin Ritz said a well and pump station are slated to be built on the half acre, which is a wooded, vacant lot.
He said the pump station would be contained inside a well house, and construction on the project is expected to start in May.
“Everything will be inside the building so you won’t see anything,” he said. “The well will be underground; all the pipes will be underground.”
Ritz said the well and pump station are expected to be operational by September.
He said the new well would provide additional water supply to the area, addressing water supply deficiencies in the current system.
Ritz said last July the district’s main well went down, causing a water supply issue.
He said the well located at the district office “barely” kept up with the demand.
“We almost lost water supply to some customers, and we made it through luckily,” he said.
Ritz said the new well would be the fifth in the district.
“It will provide extra capacity the residents need, especially in the summertime, and then there’s talks of some expansion of some subdivisions in the county that will be in our district,” he said. “So, that would definitely help for those as well.”
One of the possible expansions is a 263-home Bear Ridge subdivision proposed along Bear Creek Road in House Springs.
The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended denial of the proposed subdivision, but the County Council has the final say, and as of Monday, the item had not been placed on a council agenda.
LaVenture said the water district plans to remove a small number of trees from behind City Hall, where the well and pump station are planned.
She also said there will be no smell from the pump station.