VIENNA — The city of Vienna is monitoring its drinking water after it recently tested positive for a group of synthetic compounds, on which the federal government implemented regulations last year.

Utilities Superintendent Shon Westart shared the update with city officials during the April 7 city meeting. The city posted a public notice with additional information to its Facebook page last week. The same notice appears later in this edition.

The compounds found in city drinking water were per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” PFAS appears in everyday items such as carpets, cosmetic products, feminine hygiene products, food packaging, phone screens, shampoos and many more. They are found in blood tests of people and animals throughout the world, and exposures often occur via food and household products though drinking water is also a possibility.

In April 2024, the EPA published findings that included legally enforceable mandatory limits on six PFAS found in public drinking water. Beginning in April 2029, public drinking water systems that exceed the PFAS limit must provide solutions to limit exposure.

According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) mapping, Vienna and Belle have both tested positive for PFAS above the EPA’s health advisory level. Across neighboring counties, Bourbon has also tested above health advisory levels.

Westart said monitoring requirements for PFAS levels do not start until 2027, so the city was ahead on testing for the compounds. He wanted to address the findings with city officials so they were aware of further testing that would happen through the EPA. He hoped grants would be available through DNR to help cover the tests, which cost about $1,000 each. If further testing found that the city’s water treatment plant was the cause of the issue, he was optimistic that significant funding would be available to pay for an overhaul. The city worked with the EPA to clean up the Vienna Wells superfund site, a project that ended in 2023.

Federal regulation on PFAS has developed over the last few years, so more information is becoming available often. Westart said he first took a PFAS sample in October 2024, and at the time, he was unfamiliar with the procedures. He recently learned that because PFAS are used in so many everyday products, samples are easy to contaminate, so the original samples may have been misleading. The EPA recently took new samples to verify the findings. Testing for the compound is so new that DNR contracts out-of-state labs to examine samples.

Suggestions made by DNR to limit exposure to PFAS include installing home or countertop water treatment devices. More information about the compounds and potential health risks that they pose are available online at epa.gov/pfas.

During the meeting, Westart also shared an update on city streets following heavy rains on April 4. The damage to Parkway temporarily closed the road. A 23-foot section washed out, and about 10 feet went off the edge of the road. It reopened on April 7.

The city utilities department was waiting on the cost of a replacement culvert on west First Street.

Westart said the biggest issue after the rain was flooding in the city lagoons. He was unable to determine the extent of the damage at the time of the meeting because draining the lagoons with only one pipe takes time.

Alderman Rita Juergens asked if the EPA would have concerns about the lagoons overflowing.

Westart said he had notified the DNR about the issue but there was nothing more the city could do.

Over the last few months, the city’s transition to GWorks software for utility billing has caused issues and resulted in the suspension of late fees so customers could adjust to the changes. At the beginning of April, the city announced it would reimplement late fees and disconnections for accounts behind on payments.

City officials and employees remained dissatisfied with the new software. During the meeting, City Clerk Tracy Shiver said she had been in contact with the Missouri Rural Water Association about its Small Utility Billing Software (SUBS) available to municipalities with 1,000 or fewer accounts. She said she liked the idea of using SUBS for utility billing because the association is relatively local and quick to respond to questions.

The aldermen voted to change utility billing to SUBS beginning with April bills. The most noticeable difference to customers will be the lack of an autopay option because SUBS does not offer autopay. Utility customers will have the option to receive emailed bills at no additional cost or postcard billing for a small fee.

Clerk Shiver suggested increasing the 53-cent fee for postcard billing because the fee did not cover the cost of postage. The aldermen agreed to raise the cost to 65 cents to ensure the city was not losing money by giving customers the option for physical bills.

City utility customers will receive a letter about upcoming changes to billing and their options for receiving billing information each month.

Clerk Shiver mentioned a recurring issue when people stop by City Hall to set up utility accounts. Sometimes there will be an active account at the new person’s address because the city did not receive notification that a tenant had moved out of an apartment.

Westart suggested that the aldermen consider a policy that would require utility accounts to go in a landlord’s name to counteract the high turnover in utility accounts.

Mayor Tim Schell said he did not like the idea of a landlord being stuck with a high water bill after a tenant got mad and intentionally let the water run.

After much discussion, the aldermen eventually agreed that utility customers should pay a new deposit every time they switch addresses so the city can better track who lives where.

The aldermen also approved a switch from QuickBooks payroll software to Tesseon. The new software costs $7 per employee per month more than QuickBooks, but it streamlines payroll processing for the handful of city employees.

Another financial item the city officials discussed was an increase in employee insurance rates. The rates increased by about 9 percent, which is a total monthly increase of $281.40 for the city.

Schell asked if the employees were getting better coverage or if it was the same.

Police Chief Shannon Thompson said the coverage had gotten worse because of the recent expiration of the contract between Anthem and MU Health Care, which left some of the area hospitals outside Anthem’s network.

Schell suggested shopping for a new insurance provider.

David Honse and Rich Howard with the Vienna Lions Club came to the meeting to let city officials know that their organization is interested in assisting with the reconstruction of the lower diamond restrooms after a November 2024 fire resulted in a total loss. The insurance claim on the structure will not cover the full replacement cost.

Vienna Lions Club has a truck pull scheduled for June 14 at Vienna City Park. Honse said the organization had discussed donating a portion of the proceeds from the event to rebuild the restrooms. His request was for the city to keep the club informed as it worked on the replacement.

City officials thanked Honse and Howard for coming to the meeting and offering Vienna Lions Club’s help to improve the city park.

Schell asked how far along the city was in the restroom reconstruction.

Westart said he hoped to get plumbing and concrete work completed by the end of the week.

City officials discussed another possible park project after Clerk Shiver read a letter from Beth Wulff, who could not attend the meeting because she was watching the Vienna Eagles baseball game at the time. Her letter requested permission for the community to lead a dugout replacement project because the city was unable to fund it at this time. The renovations would make the dugouts larger while maintaining visibility. No specifications were available because the community group first wanted permission from the city government.

Schell said he would have no problem with the idea. Alderman Freddie Shiver said he would like to see a more detailed plan before giving full approval.

Resident Lucy Branson came to the meeting with her granddaughter to request repairs to the sidewalk in front of the post office after she had fallen last month.

Schell said the city did not own the property, so there was nothing the city could do about fixing the sidewalk except to contact the owner of the building. He offered to do that along with encouraging Branson to have the postal workers contact the building’s owner.