Beacon moves towards agreement with Mahaska Rural Water

Beacon City Hall

Beacon, Iowa – The Beacon city Council held an hour long question-and-answer session Tuesday night in regards to a possible future agreement with Mahaska Rural Water.

Randy Pleima with Mahaska rural water was on hand to field questions, not only from council members but also from Beacons citizens. Questions ranged from how billing would be handled to hooking up homes to the sanitary sewer system.

Randy Pleima said, “It’s just a growing trend that the small communities cannot survive on their own,” and is to utilize the services of utilities like Mahaska Rural Water. Things like keeping up with the Department of Natural Resources mandates and rules can be daunting for smaller communities.

The water to Beacon would still be served by the Oskaloosa Water Department and purchased by Mahaska Rural Water. No changes to water delivery are seen in the near future, with the exception of how the water is metered. Oskaloosa and Mahaska Rural Water measure water usage differently in terms of what equals a unit.

Currently, Mahaska Rural Water services many of the small towns in the County such as Rose Hill and Fremont, as well as a few of the towns just outside of Mahaska County such as Bussey, Tracy and Hamilton.

Currently, Beacon utilizes the services of other water department certified operators. Beacon also has $350,000 in outstanding debt for its current sewage lagoons. That debt would be taken on by Mahaska Rural Water if the franchise agreement is signed.

Council members held a vote agreeing to the franchise agreement. Council members agreed to forgo the second reading of the ordinance and the third reading will take place at the next regularly scheduled meeting in June. If the franchise agreement passes the city Council it will then be taken to a vote by city residents for them to decide if this is something they want.