At their closest point, Holts Summit's city limits and Lake MyKee's village limits are eight-tenths of a mile apart.
But that's too much distance to allow the two Callaway County communities to consolidate under current law, Sen. Jeanie Riddle's staff explained Wednesday.
So Riddle, R-Mokane, and Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, have proposed identical bills to let communities in second- or first-class counties consolidate if they "have entered into one or more intergovernmental agreements related to municipal services and are separated by a distance of not more than one mile."
The communities also must be connected by at least two publicly maintained rights of way.
"The need for this consolidation began with the need for Lake MyKee to update their sewage treatment system," Riddle told the Senate's Jobs, Economic Development and Local Governments Committee on Wednesday.
"It was estimated to cost $1.5 million and be divided by the approximately 130 households," a cost of more than $11,530 per household.
"That really wasn't in that village's financial best interests," she said.
Jim Frazer, president of Lake MyKee's Village Board of Trustees, was out of town and couldn't attend Wednesday's meeting.
But, he told the committee in a letter: "We have a lagoon system for waste water treatment, which no longer meets DNR requirements. We have been searching for affordable solutions for five years.
"About one year ago, we concluded our most economical waste water treatment solution was to negotiate a transfer of our system to Holts Summit."
However, he added, during the last five years of searching for solutions to the sewer lagoon issues, "we realized as a village of 300-plus residents and 130 homes, we do not have the knowledge or financial resources to provide needed services to our residents."
Frazer's letter noted Lake MyKee, by itself, can't support a paid municipal judge, administrative or public safety staffs, and village volunteers can't keep pace with changing rules and regulations.
But, he wrote: "Holts Summit already has in place all the services we need," including law enforcement.
Riddle told the committee: "If they didn't consolidate, to get law enforcement to Lake MyKee might be about 45 minutes.
"If they consolidate with Holts Summit, it's seven minutes, maybe."
Riddle and Frazer both said more than 90 percent of Lake MyKee's residents support the change.
However, the companion bills only allow the two communities to decide if they want to consolidate.
"You're forcing nothing on either party," Holts Summit lobbyist Scott Swain said, adding, "the impetus for the merger began in 2002," when Holts Summit was dealing with its own sewer issues - and the state Natural Resources department was pushing "regionalization, so that they weren't building these individual (sewer) plant systems but doing it in multiple communities."
Fitzwater's bill already has been endorsed by the House Local Governments Committee, and it's on the perfection calendar waiting to be debated.
The Senate panel Wednesday didn't take any action on Riddle's bill.
She told the committee: "I hope you'll think favorably about giving them an option."