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Neosho residents urge council to pause proposed sale of water system to Missouri American Water
Summary
Two residents told the Neosho City Council they oppose selling the city's water and wastewater systems to Missouri American Water Company, citing likely rate increases and urging the city to present cost estimates for repairing the public system. The council removed the ordinance from tonight's agenda until staff can provide full information.
Two Neosho residents told the City Council on Monday they do not want the city's water and wastewater systems sold to Missouri American Water Company and asked for more public information before the council proceeds.
Denton Allard, introduced by the clerk as a lifelong Neosho resident, said the sale would shift local customers to Missouri American Water's rates and urged the council to let residents decide. "If we sell to Missouri American Water Company, everybody's rates are gonna go up immediately to match Missouri American Water's state rate," he said, and cited a published per-gallon rate of 0.0136 compared with Neosho's approximate 0.01. He also cited a sewer flat fee of $74.11 per meter per month and said citizens would prefer to "pay for cost of service" for Neosho customers rather than accept ongoing increases to fund corporate profit.
Steve Kenny, the second speaker, said he had only learned about the ordinance that day and asked for a transparent comparison showing what it would cost the city and residents to repair and maintain the system if the city retained ownership. "We would rather have some of us would rather have the chance, even if our bills do go up high, to pay for it and continue the ownership of this system," he said.
City staff and council members said they could not present the requested contract details at the meeting. A staff member told the council the item had been removed from the agenda until officials had the additional information. "The decision was made ... until we have 100% information. So full transparency, full openness can be done and that's why that was removed from the agenda," the staff member said.
Councilmembers said a press release with more details would be issued within about a week and scheduled the matter for first reading on Aug. 5 with a follow-up meeting two weeks later on Aug. 19 to allow more public input. Council also asked staff to verify the specific sewer-rate figure cited by a commenter and to prepare a summary showing current rates and the capital projects that would be needed to repair the system.
No vote was taken on the ordinance at the meeting; staff told council and the public that the item will return for formal consideration once the requested information is available.
