Monthly city sewer service fee increases starting April 1 were given final approval Monday night by the Board of Aldermen.
The basic monthly connection fee will increase from $15.83 to $17.53. Monthly user fees will increase from $3.10 per 1,000 gallons of water used each month to $3.41 a month.
The basic monthly connection fee also will increase each year on April 1 through 2013 when the fee hits $20.91 a month. The monthly user fee also goes up each year through 2014 to a total of $4.53 per 1,000 gallons of water used per month.
The increases are designed to meet current needs of sewer service and the money raised will not be used to pay off the planned sewer bond issue.
On April 5, Holts Summit voters will go to the polls to vote on a $7 million sewer bond issue.
City Administrator Brian Crane said the sewer bond proposal is critical to development of Holts Summit and it is designed to replace aging equipment that no longer meets state specifications.
Crane said the $7 million revenue bond issue will be paid off with future increases in sewer rates. But Crane said those increases won't be necessary for several years because if the bond issue is approved it will take at least three years to complete the project.
In other action, the board shifted its liability insurance coverage to the Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association. The group specializes in insuring small cities for liability coverage. Crane said over a period of years the city will have better coverage and will save about $10,000.
For the Holts Summit Street Department, the board approved a proposal to spend $3,500 to buy a used larger truck to replace a smaller old truck that Crane said would cost more to fix than it was worth.
The board also agreed to buy a new commercial lawn mower from Popp's Lawn & Garden for $6,400 for use by the City Parks Department.
The board agreed to hear a presentation from Ameren Missouri on a legislative proposal that would allow the utility to charge customers about $2 a year in order to pay for an early site permit for a second nuclear reactor at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.
The board also:
•Approved an ordinance allowing the Holts Summit Optimist Club to use Greenway Park ballfields for the 2011 season at no charge.
•Approved an ordinance authorizing the placement of a lien on property located at 122 Northstar Drive.
•Approved an ordinance authorizing the release of a lien on property located at 492 Karen Drive.
•Discussed a report that some but not all homeowners in the Hunters Creek Subdivision were interested in being annexed by the city of Holts Summit.