NEELYVILLE, MO. -- An emergency grant has offered a stop-gap measure to restore the operations of a failing wastewater treatment system for the city of Neelyville.
Two new pumps have been installed at the city's lift stations and a back-up pump has been purchased, thanks to just under $6,000 from the Delta Regional Authority, according to officials.
The grant was awarded in mid-July and the pumps went down in early May.
The system was kept operational at first by a worker who manually pumped waste from each city lift station and hauled it by truck to the city's lagoon multiple times a day, officials say.
Neelyville was later able to borrow pumps from the City of Poplar Bluff.
These repairs provide temporary relief for the 30-year-old failing system, according to a grant application from Mayor Lee McComb. McComb provided the information to Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission, which assisted with the grant.
Voters approved a $2.5 million bond issue in 2015 to borrow money to make repairs and an engineering study has been completed, but the city is still applying for additional grant and loan money.
Both the drinking water and wastewater treatment systems need repairs, said Matt Winters, OFRPC associate director.
Any additional money will help lessen the burden on the community and keep residents' monthly water and sewer payments down, he said.
Neelyville has been approved to borrow money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, but is waiting for a letter of conditions, officials say.
The letter cannot be issued until funding becomes available to the department, USDA has told city leaders.
The wastewater collection system was constructed in 1986 and serves nearly 500 residents at approximately 160 homes and businesses.
While the normal average daily flow is 22,000 gallons, the system is frequently impacted by storm water infiltration. Storm water can increase the flow to more than 70,000 gallons, McCombs' grant application said.
Missing seals, root infiltration and broken laterals allow storm water to enter the system, which has more than 25,000 feet of collection lines.