The City of Dearborn and Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) have come to an agreement for a sewer line connection to service the Dollar General store currently under construction and three residences west of downtown currently on septic systems.
After a series of recent negotiations, the parties established a usage fee for MoDOT to have access to Dearborn’s sewer lagoon. The Dearborn Board of Aldermen approved the agreement at the Monday, Dec. 11 meeting.
Currently, the city collects a monthly fee of $3,500 from MoDOT, allowing the organization to utilize the lagoon.
However, Dearborn properties cannot tie into the MoDOT sewer line that runs from the Interstate 29 rest area just south of town.
The final agreement includes a usage fee of $9.43 per 1,000 gallons of usage based on recent totals. There will also be a percentage added each year to account for inflation, and the parties will be able to renegotiate after a period of five years.
The agreement helps to cut costs for the city, and MoDOT also made one big concession.
The upcoming replacement of the Highway Z bridge — the oldest bridge the state still maintains — could cause an issue for the sewer line. The six-to-eight month process to demolish and reconstruct a new, wider bridge over Bee Creek could force movement of the line.
According to the contract, “MoDOT would agree to any repair or relocation work caused by the MoDOT bridge replacement project at Bee Creek planned in 2019.”
Originally, work on the bridge was expected in 2018 but appears to be pushed back.
Construction of the Dollar General started this fall west of Highway Z, just before the curve leading to the Bee Creek bridge. The project, confirmed in August of this year, brings a potentially important economic boost for Dearborn with the TrexMart the only other major retail area operating in city limits.
Dollar General bills itself as “America’s neighborhood general store,” dedicated to making shopping easy and affordable. The company runs more than 12,500 locations in 43 states name-brand products that include food, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, family apparel, housewares and seasonal items.
Currently, Dollar General operates locations in Weston, Platte City and Trimble as well as many in the Kansas City metro area.