Richmond, MO: Local News

         There has been discussion recently about the existence of private sewer lines in Richmond, some accurate and some not accurate.  This is the situation.

          There are in fact sewer lines within the City limits which do not belong to, and are not maintained by, the City.  One of these private sewer lines runs along Franklin Street east of Spartan Drive, and there is seepage onto the street which we think is from the line.  As nearly as we can tell from our records, it is not now and has never been added into the City sewer system.  It doesn’t show on our maps and we have no records to indicate we’ve ever maintained or repaired it.

          There is another private line along Tribble Street, which the City has discussed with some property owners that have experienced problems with clogs and flow.  As with the Franklin St. section, it doesn’t show on our maps and we have no record to indicate we’ve ever maintained or repaired it.

          A current City employee spent many years as a private contractor in the area before being employed by the City, and remembers being hired to install other private connection lines in town.  The number may be as high as 20, it may be as low as 12.  But there is no map which shows the locations of these private systems.  There is no set of records which indicates which properties are, or are not, connected to a private wastewater collection system before that system connects to City lines.  The records which have been maintained are simply not complete.

To make the situation even more of a problem, both of the private systems we’ve identified are too small to use the Cities’ sewer maintenance equipment, meaning we would either have to invest in more equipment or replace the entire sections.  In addition, although we know they are there, we do not know exactly which houses connect to the private lines and which connect directly to City lines. 

          The City is moving forward as quickly as possible to acquire and begin using GPS mapping technology to have accurate water and sewer maps.  This is exactly the kind of situation which such a system will help to identify.  As we move forward putting together rough area lists from collective memories, we will begin logging map coordinates and determining which specific properties are connected to the private systems.

          Without knowing exactly how many such systems there are, and without knowing exactly where they are, we cannot even guess at the cost to acquire and upgrade all of them.  And until we know what the cost will be to acquire and upgrade them all, we will continue to explore ways in which the current owners can work cooperatively to make repairs as needed.  We can’t accept one and then not accept all the others, and we’re pretty sure we don’t have the funds to repair or replace all of them.

          Anyone having information on known or suspected private sewer lines in Richmond is urged to contact City Administrator Rick Childers at 776-5304 or by email at rchilders@cityofrichmondmo.org with the information.  Your help in locating these lines, and your thoughts on how we should proceed with upgrades, will be very helpful as we move forward.