Burlington Junction ponders water options

In the News

The Burlington Junction City Council will face a big decision at its next meeting on June 19 when the five-member governing board will be asked to determine whether to outsource water plant, wastewater treatment and other municipal services to an outside vendor.

For years, according to Mayor Justin Plymell, the small northwest Nodaway County community has handled such chores in house.

But a shrinking tax base, heightened environmental regulations and limited resources available for the hiring of additional staff could mean that the time has come to make a change.

“What it comes down to is the return on your investment,” said Plymell, who added that going with an outside vendor could raise the level of service for citizens while keeping costs at about the current level.

For decades, Plymell said, water and wastewater treatment in Burlington Junction, as well as street maintenance, has been accomplished by locally hired technicians who maintain facilities and infrastructure using local resources and funding.

But the mayor thinks that may no longer be the best approach. Clean water regulations have grown increasingly complex, he said, while small-town capabilities have diminished. As a consequence, Plymell said, Burlington Junction’s municipal maintenance operation is feeling the pinch.

The two maintenance workers currently on the city payroll are trained and certified, he said. But what if someone gets sick? What if one or both are out of town or on vacation? As things stand now, there’s no backup for a water treatment system that has to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Also, the city’s maintenance operation essentially supervises itself. So if problems or improprieties crop up there is little oversight other than the City Council itself.

Plymell said he has no reason to suspect any kind of abuse or malfeasance. However, he thinks some additional accountability might not be a bad idea.

“One of the drawbacks is that there is no oversight,” he said. “Essentially people manage themselves, and you don’t have a lot of built-in redundancies. When someone is sick or on leave, there’s no group of qualified people to backfill.”

Hiring an outside vendor to take responsibility for the water plant, lagoon-based sewage treatment operation and other municipal maintenance operations, such as mowing and street repair, could solve those problems, Plymell believes.

He added that, once upon a time, Burlington Junction had the trucks and other heavy equipment needed to maintain its streets and infrastructure, but that those days are gone.

So at its next meeting the council will be asked to considering offering a contract to a municipal services company that would then operate the water plant and oversee the lagoon system, along with providing other municipal services, for a set fee.

Two companies have expressed interest: Omaha-based PeopleService and Alliance Water Resources out of Columbia.

Plymell said he expects the cost of hiring an outside vendor to total around $100,000 a year, or about what the city currently pays to provide water and maintenance services on its own.

In addition to water and wastewater treatment, whichever company is hired would also handle basic street repairs and mowing, he said.

While switching to vendor-provided services would eliminate the two existing municipal positions, Plymell said both affected workers would be given the opportunity to apply for jobs with whichever company is awarded the contract.