Delta residents question city spending

A proposal to increase water and sewer rates in Delta drew two dozen people to the town community center Tuesday night because many wondered whether the money was needed to cover the $13,000 cost of demolishing an old church.

A back wall on the building on Route N, which was a Baptist church and then a Ford and Sons Funeral Home, collapsed in late June when an air conditioner fell, Mayor Bonnie Bradshaw and alderman Dale Hobeck said. Under pressure from the adjacent homeowner, the city hired a contractor on an emergency basis who charged $13,000 to take down the rest of the structure at the southwest corner of Grace Street and Route N.

The demolition, which took place in the second week of July, was a severe hit on the town's budget of less than $100,000 a year.

Now the city is wondering whether it can recover the money spent. The ownership of the building has a twisted history, city attorney Tom Ludwig said. The building at one time was owned by Roger Moore of Delta, who had purchased it and given a promissory note to Ford and Sons, Ludwig said. When Moore fell behind on payments, he surrendered the building back to the funeral home company to avoid foreclosure, Ludwig said.

Late last year, Ford and Sons sought to give the property to Delta, but the board of aldermen never passed the ordinance necessary to accept the property, Ludwig said. That left Ford and Sons the technical owners, but Bradshaw wonders if it will be possible to recover any of the money.

"You can sue and do what you want, but how much is it going to cost the city that is almost broke?" she said.

Reached at home Tuesday evening, Ford and Sons vice president Kevin Ford declined to say much, referring questions to the Limbaugh Law Firm.

Ford did say the company was unaware at the time of the collapse that it still owned the building and would not commit to paying anything to Delta.

During the town meeting about water rates, some people tried to raise questions about the expense and whether the city would recover the money, but Bradshaw said that issue will be discussed when the board of aldermen meets in regular session next Wednesday.

The rate increase facing the 192 water and sewer customers in Delta could also be steep, perhaps as much as 40 percent, Liz Long of Strickland Engineering said. The town has been losing money on its water and sewer utilities for years, with a portion of $30,000 annual bond payments on a 1991 well coming out of town general revenue.

The town last raised water rates in 2008. Since then, Long said, the number of users has declined by five and the average residential water use has dropped by more than 700 gallons a month, to 3,375 from 4,100.

The result has been that the rate increase from 2008, which itself did not cover the costs of operation, is not bringing in the revenue needed for all the water system expenses, she said.

Water currently costs a Delta residential customer $13.37 per month plus $1.46 per 1,000 gallons. Long presented a plan that would raise the basic charge to $19.62 per month plus $2.20 to $3.13 per 1,000 gallons.

Sewer rates are currently $5.65 per month for the basic charge plus $1.20 per 1,000 gallons. Long presented a plan that would cut the basic charge to $5.27 per month but increase the usage charge to $1.77 to $2.71 per 1,000 gallons. The aldermen would determine the final charge, depending on how much money the town wants to generate for long-term maintenance, Long said.

Bradshaw said the board will likely choose the low end of the usage charge in order to keep the increase as small as possible.

"There is no way we could do the high end," she said. "We are trying to keep our heads above water."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Delta, Mo.