As one of the fastest growing counties in Missouri, Lincoln County has at times seemed to be racing to keep up in terms of infrastructure and resources.

Whether it’s a new school opening every other year, major highway and road construction projects, or housing developments, Lincoln County is showing signs of that growth beyond a swelling population figure.

At the same time, Lincoln County officials are trying to keep up with the demand for arguably the most precious of resources: Water.

And while the city of Troy is trying to at least limit the number of customers they are selling water to, a county-wide project is poised to fill in that gap while reaching other portions of the county currently underserved. Water expansion

The ongoing work to expand water coverage in the county has been in the works for five years according to Julie Rodgers, Lincoln County Economic Development executive director.

She says she has worked with the county and providers to create an actionable plan to supply “quality safe drinking water for those who need it in the areas that are either unserved or underserved for current needs and for future development.”

The water would come from wells drilled and completed in an alluvial aquifer from the Mississippi River bottoms.

It would then be treated and eventually distribution lines would allow it to running from one end of the county to the other.

The goal according to Rodgers, is to have water pumping in two to three years and the county’s role would be as the wholesaler.

As an alternative to drilling wells, Rodgers says instead cities or water districts could purchase water knowing “they’re getting good quality wa- ter because when you get water from the Alluvial aquifers and treated, which is the water basically from the river, you don’t have a lot of those contamination issues.”

The price tag of the project is $40 million to get started which covers the wells, treatment plant in W infield, a nd s ome o f t he piping. Most of the project ($30 million) would be funded by the state while the county would provide the remaining $10 million from remaining ARPA funds.

Rodgers says this water project “gives us a lot of water capacity for many years” and “the ability to process a lot of water.”

Beyond the tentative two year goal of pumping water and putting the infrastructure in place, there is not a firm timeline. Right now, the project is in design and land acquisition phases.

“This was the best plan for us,” Rodgers said. “We’re experiencing a lot of growth. We had to look at a really big solution. Not a quick, easy fix.”

Silex Situation

Over a year ago, the city in north Lincoln County proclaimed a state of emergency to help deal with the radionuclides in the city’s ground water source. Still using bottled water only, the situation is improving and Mayor Lynne Luckett hopes to have the water issue completely resolved by mid-2025 but it’s not definitive.

When all is done, there will be a pipe that runs down Highway 61 from Eolia to Auburn junction then down Highway E, connecting to the city’s system to provide clean drinking water.

“We have done the bid opening for the water tower and we have advertised for construction on the pipeline even though we are about 25% away from having all of them. We will open bids for that process on Nov. 13,” Luckett says.

With this investment to tie-in to the Pike County water line, Luckett is not certain whether they will ever take advantage of the new county’s project, noting it’s “a possibility” if it would be economically beneficial.

Water Treatment Plant

Worries of smell, safety, and noise from some Winfield residents and homeowners regarding a water treatment plant within city limits has sparked controversy. The plant is part of the county’s water project located on Kitson Road with the ground just west. At a recent planning and zoning meeting, several residents had numerous questions and expressed concerns.

“We can all agree that the county definitely needs a water treatment plant,” said Winfield Alderman Board President Nicole Hanson. “Aldermen (Sandy) Reiss and myself had a meeting with some of these residents last week and were able to answer and relieve some of their concerns. This sit down amongst residents really helped a lot and got mostly everyone on the same page. It’s deemed safe and has very strict regulations. The smell is minimal if any and the noise will only come of generators whenever they are tested or the power is out.”

The biggest issue according to Hanson has been concerns of the plant location and how it would negatively impact property values. She says the city spoke to multiple realtors and assessors and they had no concerns of decreasing property values.

But after those conversations, Hanson said the county has “agreed” to try and move the plant location further north and further away from residences.

Future of water in Troy

Developments in the county- wide water services are coming at an ideal time as Troy has been discussing reducing their role in this expanding market.

At the Oct. 21 Troy Board of Alderman meeting, Ward 1 Alderman Gary Liefert, at the urging of Mayor Ron Sconce, agreed to sponsor an ordinance prohibiting the sale of water to anyone outside of the city limits. In response, there was some resistance and reservation from other board members.

According to Sconce, the ordinance will be likely be discussed at the November meeting but he is not certain when a decision will be made.

The mayor told the Lincoln County Journal the city needs to invest in order to continue to provide

continued from page 1

water for residents. He says while the city is not in any water crisis, he wants to take steps to “avoid being in a compromised situation in the future.”

“My feeling is that it’s best to conserve our water system for the people that live in town,” he said. “There is going to be more and more people requesting connection. This is just good stewardship of a resource that the city owns.”

In the meantime, a dispute between Sconce, the city of Troy and Public Water Supply District No. 2 has intensified recently, with Sconce airing a list of grievances at the Oct. 21 meeting.

However, that dispute isn’t over water as it deals with another important piece of strained infrastructure: sewer services (see related story).