The City of Parkville has turned daily operations of its sewer system over to the Platte County Regional Sewer District
Late last month, the Parkville Board of Aldermen voted to enter into an agreement with the Platte County Regional Sewer District (PCRSD). to operate and maintain the city’s sanitary sewer system.
In 2022, the city contracted consulting firm Baker Tilly to look into the future of the city’s sewer system, and the April 2023 report offered several options for the city. First, the city could retain ownership and continue to contract with an outside contractor, currently Alliance, for operations and maintenance; it could retain ownership and terminate the outside contractor; it could sell the assets of the system to the private sector; or it could negotiate an agreement with PCRSD to absorb city customers, thereby creating a centralized sewer utility – this, however, would require a public vote.
City Administrator Alexa Barton said after much discussion the city opted to go with an agreement with PCRSD because as partnered with another governmental entity, the city would still be eligible for Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant funding for future projects.
PCRSD’s board approved the agreement the week before the Dec. 19 city meeting, and Barton said the arrangement will allow the city to see how things would operate under control of PCRSD before bringing any potential permanent change to a vote of the people.
According to the staff report, discussion with PCRSD regarding feasibility and interest between the parties ensued with both agreeing to transition operations and maintenance from an existing contractor to PCRSD for familiarization of the city system, commencing Dec. 27, 2023, and assess and determine an acceptable level of service to the City’s customers.
This agreement encourages and will help the city and PCRSD determine if the transition of these services to a centralized location is best for the customers of the City of Parkville sewer system, as well as determine the impact on the PCRSD current customer base.
Should all go well, the city could move to a second phase, where PCRSD would assume administration and utility billing for Parkville sewer customers.
“I think it’s a great way to proceed so both sides can get comfortable with it before we make a big move,” Mayor Dean Katerndahl said.
A public hearing – with no public comments – was also held for a three percent rate increase for the city’s sewer rate in 2024. The increase would generate an additional $53,000 for the sewer department to handle maintenance and upkeep of the sewer system. The city has incrementally increased the sewer rate by three percent per year for the past several years.
Also at the meeting, the board heard an update from the newly created PACE organization, which came from the merger of the Parkville Economic Development Council and Parkville Area Chamber of Commerce. The two organizations came together after the retirement of the chamber director and a blended board made up of the two organizations was created, with membership including Katherndahl.
The City of Parkville has also selected a design firm to update its Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
Last month, Parks and recreation director Brittanie Propes presented the agreement between the city and SWT Design for approval. SWT design provided a base contract not to exceed $78,000 plus $1,500 for reimbursable expenses for the project.