The price of water will increase for Fayette customers in the coming months. The Howard County Regional Water Commission is preparing to build a second clear well, as mandated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, at a cost of around $1.15 million. 

If the lone clear well were to fail, water customers would be on a boil order for at least two weeks while the well is brought back online. 

The council voted to approve the engineering report and the issuance of revenue bonds to pay for the project during its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 12.

The annual debt service to cover those bonds will be around $87,000.

Fayette is the largest customer in the water district and is required to cover 55% of that debt service, which totals more than $48,000. The cost passed on to customers would be around 52 cents per 1,000 gallons of water used. This would mean a monthly increase of at least $1.56 for each of the city’s water customers.

Joe McLiney, of McLiney and Company, the company that handles revenue bonds for cities including Fayette, along with the water commission, presented the figures to the Board of Aldermen. He said bonds will be issued after the City of New Franklin and the water district approve the report and the issuance next month.

“You need to directly pass through the cost,” McLiney told the council.

The City of Fayette is one of three members of the water commission and will vote in favor of the new project.

The city council meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in City Hall. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance, and the public is invited.