Mokane is pursuing funding to perform extensive repairs on the city's water and sewer system, described as the worst in the 30-county Department on Natural Resources region.
A Friday morning meeting in the small town brought together representatives from the local government, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, various contractors and community members.
"We're doing this right," Mokane Mayor Pro-Tem Chad Booher said. "We don't want it to be a burden on the community."
According to DNR Regional Director Irene Crawford, Mokane's water system was installed in the 1960s and has barely been maintained - much less updated. During a June 2018 meeting with Mokane aldermen and Callaway County Commissioners, she described it as the worst in her region.
In 2018, the city was relying on a chlorinator on loan from the DNR to keep the city's water drinkable. Aldermen took turns driving past sewage pumps to make sure they hadn't sprung leaks. Crawford said the DNR has been trying to enforce water regulations in Mokane for the past 15 years. Prior to 2018, a cooperative ran Mokane's water system.
"The Haynes Equipment Company has been completely transparent explaining their work every step of the way, even coming to our monthly city council meetings to answer questions and in some cases bringing the equipment they're replacing to give us a hands-on look," Booher wrote in a Facebook post. "We also have a representative at each job to provide oversight and they are training him to take care of minor issues which will eliminate the need for most service calls from the company."
The city plans to work with the company in making extensive repairs to both systems, though Haynes Equipment employee Zak Herst said the scope of the work hasn't yet been set out in a contract.
Booher said the city's water system would need to be entirely replaced and water-meters added. Repairs and improvements are needed at the city's sewer lagoons and several frequently-flooded lift stations.
He said the total bill for all needed work is tentatively estimated at $2.5 million.
But for those repairs to be possible, the city needs funding. City officials are pursuing a number of potential grants and federal low-interest loans.
"Failure to get this funding could possibly result in the City of Mokane being dissolved and a private corporation buying the water and sewer system and doing all the upgrades," Booher said. "This has happened to other towns in similar situations as us. We have been told water and sewer rates could realistically skyrocket if this happens."
Crawford threatened similar consequences in 2018, warning the city could be put into receivership.
During Friday's meeting, city officials met with representatives from a number or organizations that may be able to help: the USDA, DNR, Midwest Assistance Program and Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Center.
Booher said between USDA's low-interest loans, several grants, FEMA aid following this year's flooding (which can be used to increase the height of the levees around the sewer lagoons) and a sewer grant from MAP, the city should be able to make the needed repairs without huge rate increases. Another DNR grant the city is pursuing will allow it to clean out a creek that frequently floods pump stations.
To receive those loans and grants, city officials must prove they're putting in a good-faith effort to improve Mokane's infrastructure. Booher said they're actively working on that.
"As we repair problems with residential water hookups, we're placing meter wells, which will eventually house those water meters," he said. "We're being proactive there."
The city also recently purchased its own chlorinator and built a brand-new pumphouse with help from community volunteers and partial funding from the Mokane Lions Club.
Booher said there's one last big thing the city must do to be considered eligible for many grants.
"We will have to have a bond issue," he said. "Some of the grants require it."