|
|
|
Sewage problems are forcing the Macks Creek Senior Center to move. The building is unfit for use, according to the Camden County Health Department.
The Macks Creek Board of Aldermen released the senior center from its city-hall lease earlier last week after receiving the news from the Camden County Health Department. The health department says the building is unfit for occupancy.
“We do not want to move,” Central Missouri Area Agency on Aging representative Penni Weiss told the Board of Aldermen.
Health department inspectors found that a sewage tank under the floor of Macks Creek City Hall was leeching untreated material into nearby Macks Creek. The problem was significant enough that the building was declared to be in violation of health codes. Since the discovery in May, the sewage in the tank has been pumped out and hauled away by truck, but the pumping and hauling makes the building unsuitable as a public gathering place and dining hall.
The Macks Creek Senior Center leases space in City Hall to operate a kitchen, from which persons over the age of 60 may have a buffet-style lunch five days a week.
Macks Creek City Engineer Matt Marschke, on retainer from Midwest Engineering, explained that the city has no option but to fix the sewage problem. If the problem goes untouched, City Hall water will be shut off.
“It’s got to be fixed immediately for these bathrooms to be open,” Marschke said.
The engineer suggested the installation of a septic tank behind the City Hall building. The tank would have an effluent pump that would send waste down a pipeline to a an off-site lateral field on another piece of property. Marschke’s rough estimate puts the cost of the project between $10,000 and $15,000.
“With the flood plain being so wide here at the creek, we’ll have to go quite a bit of distance to get that lateral field,” Marschke said.
The Board of Aldermen accepted the lease dissolution and immediately moved toward fixing the City Hall sewage issue. Its first step will be to find a location suitable for sewage to be pumped into the ground.
“Once we find some places we think are good, that are cheap, that we can get to, we’re going to have to test the soil to see if it’s worthy. Each time we do that test, it’s $275,” Marschke said. “We need to identify some possible sites, we need to have them tested, so we can come back here in a month and make a decision.”
The Macks Creek Senior Center will temporarily move to the community room at the Southwest Fire Protection District. The aldermen voted to allow the senior center operators to continue storing some equipment in a city hall storage room, though none of the kitchen equipment will be powered on or hooked to water lines.
“We do want to thank you. (City Hall) was a good place to have the seniors,” Weiss said.
Three months from now, the temporary agreement with the Southwest Fire Protection District will expire, which will leave the senior center in search of a more permanent location.
Sewage problems are forcing the Macks Creek Senior Center to move. The building is unfit for use, according to the Camden County Health Department.
The Macks Creek Board of Aldermen released the senior center from its city-hall lease earlier last week after receiving the news from the Camden County Health Department. The health department says the building is unfit for occupancy.
“We do not want to move,” Central Missouri Area Agency on Aging representative Penni Weiss told the Board of Aldermen.
Health department inspectors found that a sewage tank under the floor of Macks Creek City Hall was leeching untreated material into nearby Macks Creek. The problem was significant enough that the building was declared to be in violation of health codes. Since the discovery in May, the sewage in the tank has been pumped out and hauled away by truck, but the pumping and hauling makes the building unsuitable as a public gathering place and dining hall.
The Macks Creek Senior Center leases space in City Hall to operate a kitchen, from which persons over the age of 60 may have a buffet-style lunch five days a week.
Macks Creek City Engineer Matt Marschke, on retainer from Midwest Engineering, explained that the city has no option but to fix the sewage problem. If the problem goes untouched, City Hall water will be shut off.
“It’s got to be fixed immediately for these bathrooms to be open,” Marschke said.
The engineer suggested the installation of a septic tank behind the City Hall building. The tank would have an effluent pump that would send waste down a pipeline to a an off-site lateral field on another piece of property. Marschke’s rough estimate puts the cost of the project between $10,000 and $15,000.
“With the flood plain being so wide here at the creek, we’ll have to go quite a bit of distance to get that lateral field,” Marschke said.
The Board of Aldermen accepted the lease dissolution and immediately moved toward fixing the City Hall sewage issue. Its first step will be to find a location suitable for sewage to be pumped into the ground.
“Once we find some places we think are good, that are cheap, that we can get to, we’re going to have to test the soil to see if it’s worthy. Each time we do that test, it’s $275,” Marschke said. “We need to identify some possible sites, we need to have them tested, so we can come back here in a month and make a decision.”
The Macks Creek Senior Center will temporarily move to the community room at the Southwest Fire Protection District. The aldermen voted to allow the senior center operators to continue storing some equipment in a city hall storage room, though none of the kitchen equipment will be powered on or hooked to water lines.
“We do want to thank you. (City Hall) was a good place to have the seniors,” Weiss said.
Three months from now, the temporary agreement with the Southwest Fire Protection District will expire, which will leave the senior center in search of a more permanent location.
