City, county have concerns about sewer system at Lake Fort Scott

Discussions are underway as Bourbon County Commissioners and Fort Scott City Commissioners talk about concerns with a sewer system at Lake Fort Scott.

Both commissions agreed that a sewer system is needed at the lake, however the city commissioners had some concerns. According to Fort Scott City Manager Joe Turner, the biggest concern of his and the commissioners was the maintenance of the grinder pumps which would be used by the residents and the expenditures associated with them. The grinder pumps would be used to grind waste and pump the waste to the main sewer line.

Turner said the discussions came up that the city would maintain the grinder pumps and that the residents would reimburse the city for the cost of the maintenance, in addition to a monthly service fee. The Lake Fort Scott residents in attendance seems supportive of the idea, Turner added.

"After all the discussion, I think the Lake Fort Scott community also understood the city's concern about the possible potential cost of maintaining all of those pumps," he said.

Bourbon County Commissioner J.W. "Jingles" Endicott said an engineer will re-evaluate the application for a grant, which will be used to pay for the project, to see if the change will affect the project's eligibility; at which point there will be another meeting. The Bourbon County Commission is filling out the application as a sponsor on behalf of the Lake Fort Scott community, Endicott added.

The project came about after concern of potential pollution of the water in the lake from septic tanks leaking over time.

"I think it is very important that something like this happens." Endicott said. "In the future there is going to be more and more permanent homes out there, I think, and therefore you have more chances for pollution of the water in the lake."