HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. - On Tuesday, Holts Summit came one step closer to growing.
At the Holts Summit board of aldermen meeting, the board conducted the first and second readings of an ordinance to add the consolidation of the village of Lake Mykee with Holts Summit to April's ballot.
"Tonight, we're getting it on the ballot for April," City Administrator Rick Hess said. "Mykee has to do the same."
The ordinance was unanimously approved.
Lake Mykee is located just north of Holts Summit and has about 355 residents, according to census.org.
The process of consolidation began when Lake Mykee realized its sewer system needed a $1.5 million update to its sewage lagoon - a sum the village's 130 or so households couldn't possibly pay.
Connecting with the Holts Summit system would mean the village's sewage could be treated at the Jefferson City facility, without incurring an increased sewage fee for residents.
Likewise, Lake Mykee's access to other services such as a municipal judge and law enforcement have been limited in past years.
Speaking to the the state Senate's jobs, economic development and local governments committee in March, Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, said, "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."
Holts Summit and Lake Mykee are eight-tenths of a mile apart. Under previous legislation, that was too great a distance to allow the communities to merge.
Riddle and Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, proposed a bill allowing communities in first- and second-class counties to merge as long as they are within a mile from each other and have at least one
intergovernmental agreement related to municipal services.
"(The law was) created for when you have a smaller area like Mykee when the infrastructure is failing and repairs would bankrupt them all," Hess said.
Gov. Jay Nixon signed the bill into law June 17, allowing the two communities to vote on consolidating any time after Aug. 28.
The area in between the two towns will not be automatically annexed, Hess said.
Between now and April, when the general municipal election will occur, there are still more steps to go in the consolidation process.
"(Next) we'll start holding public hearings," Hess said.
If both Holts Summit and Lake Mykee vote to consolidate by a simple majority in April, the process will continue moving forward. If not, the consolidation will halt.
"It just goes in the trash," Alderman Jason Glenn said.
Also discussed Tuesday were an ordinance authorizing the mayor to lease or rent a building in Greenway Park to "The Soup Kitchen," which was approved, and an ordinance appointing Jay Anielak as city public defender, which was also approved.
Additionally, Hess announced just over $6,500 towards the city's $10,000 goal has been raised to purchase level 4 bulletproof vests and helmets for the city's police department.