BELLE — Belle aldermen passed an ordinance Oct. 12 to enforce an inflow and infiltration policy that could result in monthly fees if residents don’t comply.

Ordinance 615 enforces ordinances the city already has that states dumping storm water into the sewer drains is not allowed, according to Public Works Director Tony Baretich.

Ordinance 615 enforces the “Inflow and Infiltration Remediation Program (I&I): Adding water to the city’s sanitary sewer system during wet weather events has a significant environmental impact to the community and surrounding area, and adds unnecessary strain on sewer infrastructure. 

While it is the city’s responsibility to maintain public components of the infrastructure, maintaining private components of the infrastructure are the responsibility of each private property or business owner hooked to the system. Upon adoption of the ordinance, the city of Belle shall enforce the following policies beginning Jan 1, 2022:

All properties linked to the sewer system shall be inspected by an inspector from the city of Belle. Each property owner shall grant access to their property/properties to allow authorized inspectors from the city of Belle to inspect components hooked to the sanitary sewer system. 

Upon completion of inspection, a notice of deficiencies found during that inspection shall be given to the property owner. The property owner is responsible to have the items repaired. Repairs shall be the sole responsibility of the property owner. 

Final inspection must be completed prior to Dec. 1, 2022. Failure to comply will result in a monthly user assessment fee schedule. Fees will be compounded annually as follows: 

Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2023, will be assessed a $10 monthly fee on the water and sewer bill.

Jan. 1, 2024 - Dec. 31, 2024, will be assessed $15 plus the $10 assessment from the year before for a total $25 monthly fee. 

Jan. 1, 2025 - Dec. 31, 2025, will be assessed an additional $20 plus $25 from the year before for a total of $45 assessment fee.

Jan. 1, 2026 - Dec. 31, 2026 will be assessed an additional $30 month plus the $45 from the year before for a total $75 will be assessment fee.

Fees should be used to offset the cost to the city of maintaining the sewer system. Fees will be in addition to monthly water and sewerage charges and will reflect on each monthly bill until the property owner is in compliance.”

User fees are there to encourage participation. The inspection will include looking at existing sump pumps, if sump pumps connect to sewer mains, basement troughs and floor drains.

Alderman Fred Bethmann felt the original proposed ordinance should be changed in at least one way.

“Requiring the property owner to hire someone to do the job of becoming compliant is overkill,” he said, referencing one section of the original ordinance. “I think we would need to clarify to the public that if it is done properly, it’s fine. That would be the inspector’s call.”

Baretich added that any time an inspection is done there needs to be two people present.

“We need to make this as easy as we can,” Baretich said. “If someone says they are available at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, we will make it happen. If we need to do a couple of Saturday afternoons, we can maybe schedule it.”

Alderman Ken Stanfield asked Baretich how long it would take to do every house in the city.

“We bill roughly 700 residents every month, but not all the residents on the water system are on the sewer system,” Baretich said. “So we are looking at 675 residences on the sewer system. Some will be quick and easy and they will be all good.” 

Baretich said he has completed similar work in the past.

“I have personally done this,” he said. “You can run in, do assessment, fill out paperwork and notify them what is going on in 20 minutes.”

The board passed the second reading of Ordinance 615 and approved it with a 3-0 vote. 

Baretich introduced the idea of passing an I&I enforcement ordinance in September to make previous legislation of storm water drainage in the city enforceable.

“If we do this, I would like to host three or four town hall meetings at the Belle-Bland Community Center explaining the situation,” Baretich told the board.

Baretich said he has been keeping data since 2020 to better explain the situation to citizens. Every inch of rain water equates to an extra million gallons that go through the water treatment plant pumps and has to run out through the irrigation field. Missouri averages 33 inches of rain a year. Some evaporation does happen over the summer months.

“But that massive rain we had this past weekend — from Friday morning when we pulled our numbers to Monday morning, on our lift pumps on the main lift station and mechanical screen — I should have six-tenths of an hour per day on the mechanical screen and two hours per day per pump on lift pumps. The mechanical screen ran 14 hours during that rain event and over 42 hour on lift pumps,” Baretich said. “ Our lift station is coming to its two-year-old mark.”

The lifespan of a lift pump is roughly 8,000 hours and the two main lift pumps are approaching 4,000 hours. It shortens the lifespan of the pumps.

“We can show how much extra rain we have been getting, what we should get, and why we can’t handle it,” Baretich said. “If people want to know why, we are going to have to be there to give them the information.”

Alderman Jeanette Struemph wants residents to know this project isn’t something the city is doing but is a state requirement. 

“Either we mitigate it ourselves and start the project or they will come in and hold our hands,” Baretich said. “Then it will be (costly) and not very friendly.”

Baretich said everything is taxed and maxed out when (massive rain) happens.

“When you should have six hours of run time and you have 42 hours of run time, there is a cost,” Baretich said.