Carl Junction OKs revised sewer service contract with Village of Airport Drive

The Carl Junction Board of Aldermen on July 1 approved a revised sewer service contract with the Village of Airport Drive that requires the village to begin effluent testing, reflects a small increase in permitted flows and alters dispute-resolution procedures.

The change won final passage after aldermen moved the ordinance through first and second readings. The ordinance passed on final vote with seven in favor and one absent; the clerk recorded the ordinance as No. 2518.

Staff said the updated contract was drafted over several months with the city and the village's engineers and counsel. “It is mandatory that they do testing on their effluent also,” a city staff member identified in the meeting as Steve said during discussion, describing the most significant change as bringing the village’s wastewater monitoring up to current city standards. The staff member said the contract also corrects sewer rates and includes a small flow increase; he said both daily and peak flows rose by “probably less than 10%.”

Aldermen and other speakers asked about chemical discharges from a nearby car wash; the staff member replied that required testing should detect problem discharges and that he had confirmed the car wash vendor was not using phosphorus-containing soaps.

The updated contract replaces a 1989 agreement and changes the dispute-resolution process. Where the older contract mandated arbitration, the new agreement makes mediation the first option and allows for litigation if mediation and arbitration do not resolve the dispute. “Mandatory arbitration was hanging over the head [before],” the staff member said, and the change removes that automatic requirement.

Council members clarified that the contract is effectively open-ended while rates are reviewed annually. The staff member said the contract remains in place year to year, and that the city reviews rates annually and can reopen rate terms as needed when the council considers rate adjustments.

The ordinance was moved through readings by Roger Spencer and Walter Hayes and approved on final passage by a roll-call style hand vote recorded as seven in favor and one absent.

The council did not discuss any specific enforcement timetable for the new testing requirements beyond the contract language, nor did the staff provide a document-by-document redline at the meeting. The contract had been negotiated with input from the city engineer and legal counsel, the staff member said.

City officials said they hope the new testing will better detect problematic discharges and bring Airport Drive’s system to current treatment and billing standards.