SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. - After years of preparation, the plan to provide Sunrise Beach businesses and residents with citywide sewer service is finally nearing reality, says City Administrator Roger Corbin.
Earlier this week, workers began installing the necessary tanks and equipment for creation of a sewage-treatment plant and Corbin said with the necessary piping already in place, the first customer should be hooked up within 30 days.
"Because of the contracts we have in place for the Woods Supermarket development project, that store will be the first business to be hooked up to the new system," Corbin said. "Once that is done, we'll begin connecting the remainder of the businesses and residences within the parameters of the Phase I project."
Phase I includes installing sewer mains from the Hurricane Deck bridge north to Lake Road 5-39 and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant near the Captain Ron's entertainment complex.
Once that portion of the project is finished, work crews will move to the north end of the city so service can be provided to the new Hurricane Deck Elementary School complex currently under construction.
The town began considering different options for bringing sewer service to residents several years ago. The project was put on the fast track when it was learned that Woods Supermarket planned on building a large grocery store near the junction of Highway 5 and state Route F.
Last spring, Mayor Curt Mooney said building a citywide sewer system was a must if officials hoped to bring new business into the village.
"Having the right infrastructure in place is the key to bringing development to the city, and a sewer and water system is the most basic part of a good infrastructure system," Mooney said.
Phase I of the citywide water system has already been installed, and many residences and businesses are connected to it. Now, Corbin said it's imperative that work on the sewer system move forward.
Most of Phase I of the project is being paid for with a $2.5 million grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) with the city footing an additional $629,000 of the construction bill.
"The city has sold bonds to pay for its share of the Phase I project," Corbin said. "And we are starting to take the necessary steps to get the funding for Phase II in place."
Originally, the city had been approved for a low-interest $2,555,000 loan from the Missouri State Revolving Fund for Phase I. But last fall, city officials learned that another town that had been in line to receive the DNR grant was disqualified and the money had been awarded to Sunrise Beach, instead.
The Missouri State Revolving Fund is a DNR program through which towns around Missouri can borrow money for the construction of public infrastructure projects at a lower-than-market-based interest rate. In most cases, the interest rate on bonds issued for sewer and water projects through the State Revolving Fund is set at a rate of 3 percent or less.
However, because the city received the grant for Phase I of the project, officials say they will now be able to set monthly user fees at a lower rate than originally anticipated.
"Now that we have the grant money coming in, we'll only have to issue low interest bonds for $629,000," city officials said. "And that will let us set the user rates at a much lower rate than we had originally anticipated."
Corbin said city officials plan to submit the necessary plans and applications for Phase II of the project to the DNR within the next year, and once they are approved, work on that phase can begin in earnest.
"Approximately 160 businesses and residences will be connected to the sewer system when Phase I is complete," he said. "After that, it will take us another three to four years to provide complete sewer and water service to every business and residence within the town."
Sunrise Beach is one of the first communities on the lake's Westside to install citywide water and sewer systems.