Residents of Olympian Village will be the only voters in Jefferson County called to report to the polls on Tuesday (Nov. 2).
They will be asked to the decide whether the city should sell its sewer system to Liberty Utilities (Missouri) LLC for $850,000.
A simple majority is required to approve the sale, which the ballot language states that a contract was approved in May.
The city’s voters in June 2020 approved Proposition A, which gave the city permission to sell the system. This year’s ballot issue also is listed as Proposition A.
City Clerk Renee Boyer said Liberty was chosen as the highest of three bidders for the system.
She said the city’s approximately 248 sewer customers pay $50 per month, and that amount is not expected to go up for the first two or three years under Liberty’s ownership.
“I believe the bills will go down by $2 a month for the first couple of years,” Boyer said, with subsequent rate increases subject to approval by the state’s Public Service Commission.
City officials last year said the city had made improvements to what had been a problem, so it would be a good time to sell it so that someone else could take over maintenance.
Boyer said because the system meets state and federal guidelines, she does not expect Liberty to make any immediate improvements.
“The system is within codes now,” she said. “It will be up to (Liberty) to stay up to date on what is required.”
Doug Bjornstad, manager of the Jefferson County Public Sewer District, said while the district did not oppose the sale, officials would have liked to have had the opportunity to add the village’s wastewater treatment plant to its system.
The district continues to add, consolidate and make improvements to sewer systems in unincorporated Jefferson County, he said. It also supplies water to subdivisions in the county.
Boyer said the Jefferson County Public Sewer District was the lowest of the three bidders, as it offered to assume ownership of the system with no money changing hands.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Athena Elementary School, 3775 Athena School Road, De Soto.