By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho City Council this week decided to put a proposed $8.5 million sewer-debt issue on the August ballot.

Voter approval would allow the city to pursue a program offered by the state’s revolving-loan fund to spare Neosho from higher interest rates, said City Manager Jan Blase. The City Council had tentatively approved the ordinance at its May 6 meeting.

Proposed construction plans would:

Replace aging infrastructure.

Increase the size of collection pipes that flow through downtown.

Pinpoint areas where groundwater is infiltrating the sewer system.

Build a peak-flow basin for holding storm water and sewage during heavy rain.

City officials said the current sewer infrastructure is old, and has not been upgraded in past years to keep pace with the city’s growth and the volume of sewage now generated. Another problem is groundwater seeping into sewer mains during rains, enlarging the total volume of water beyond what the system can handle.

“It’s got to be done to be responsible to the environment,” Blase said of the work.

He touted the August ballot measure as a way both the city and its residents could save money.

He said that if the city does not use the state’s low-interest loan program, it would have to use financing from the private sector. The former option can provide interest rates of about 2 percent, while the latter would have rates of more than 5 percent, he said.

“That adds up to a lot of extra money on people’s bills because of the interest,” he said of private-sector financing.

If the proposal is authorized by voters, an increase in monthly sewer rates would be required to pay off the loan. City officials are debating whether low-volume users should bear a greater share of the cost increases than large-volume users. Blase said the city would decide on a rate structure and have that information available to voters before the August election.