Beacon Looks To Water and Sewage Franchise With Mahaska Rural Water

Beacon City Hall

Beacon, Iowa – Small towns are searching for ways to help navigate their way through continued increases in regulation, and Beacon is no different.

On Tuesday evening starting at 6 pm in the Beacon City Hall, residents will have an open floor to listen and ask questions about the possible future of how those services are delivered to the community. City Council members, the Mayor, as well as a representative from Mahaska Rural Water will be on hand for the discussion.

Beacon Mayor Shawn Maxwell said discussions started when regulations mandated from the Iowa DNR became a factor. Beacon contracts out the certified operator for their sewage lagoon, “and the city started to realize that it’s really not something we want to be involved in because we don’t have that expertise. We’re contracting that out, so utilize other resources like Mahaska Rural Water.”

If the franchise agreement is eventually put on the ballot and the residents of the community approve the agreement, then Mahaska Rural Water would be responsible for the fresh water supply of Beacon, as well as keeping the sewage lagoon up to code. “It’s just a matter of a small city trying to find a way to provide a service to the city,” Maxwell said.

“Osky’s done a really good job with the water service, providing us everything we need. It’s the sewer. How do we handle the lagoons, DNR regulations. It’s not really something the council wanted to take on themselves, so it’s always been contracted out to someone else.”

This is nothing new for Mahaska Rural Water, who was recently asked by the voters in Fremont, by a large percentage, to be their water provider.