Holts Summit breaks ground on sewer project

<p>Olivia Garrett/For the News Tribune</p><p>Holts Summit city officials gathered at the wastewater treatment plant Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, to celebrate the start of a massive sewer project.</p>

Olivia Garrett/For the News Tribune

Holts Summit city officials gathered at the wastewater treatment plant Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, to celebrate the start of a massive sewer project.

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. - After 14 years of preparation, construction on Holts Summit's massive sewer project has finally begun.

City officials and others involved with the project traveled down a dirt road Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony for a new pump station. Golden shovels in hand, they gathered beside the current wastewater treatment plant.

"This is a great day," Holts Summit Mayor Landon Oxley said.

This year, momentum on the years-old project began picking up more speed as the city secured a $7 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Additionally, the city has received a $500,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The city will pitch in the remaining $725,960.

In addition to constructing a new pump station, Holts Summit is laying miles of pressured sewer line and connecting houses to the system.

Currently, some of the city's sewage flows to Jefferson City, with the rest ending up in the Holts Summit Wastewater Treatment Plant. The new pump station and sewer lines will allow the city to send all of its wastewater to Jefferson City in the future.

"We're going to build an infrastructure that's going to last for a long time for the citizens of Holts Summit," Oxley said.

This is necessary because while the old plant ages, the city is growing fast.

"Keeping up with demand, it's a costly ordeal," Oxley said. "Fourteen years ago, they saw there was a need."

The aging Holts Summit Wastewater Treatment Plant just couldn't keep up.

The new system will not only keep up with current needs, it will also help with future growth.

"We thought about the future, too," Oxley said. "It's a plus to bring in new subdivisions and businesses."

If all goes according to plan, work on the project will finish by January 2022.