Buckner water issue passes

Voters in Buckner Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a $6 million bond issue that will build and maintain a new water treatment plant.
The special election attracted 319 people (62 percent) who voted yes and 190 (37 percent) who decided against it.
“I’m happy,” said Buckner Mayor Larry Neidel. “I had a feeling it was going to pass but I didn’t think by that much.”
The bond will not raise taxes.
The plant is estimated to cost $4.5 million. The roughly $1.5 million that’s left over will be saved and used for maintenance  costs.
Also, the money currently being spent to buy Independence water will be used to make future improvements to the treatment plan
Now, he said, Buckner will no longer have to pump water from Independence to Buckner, which has purchased the water from Independence since the early 1970s.
“We’ll have control of our own water,” Neidel said.
Having their own water will likely eliminate the occasional poor water pressure Buckner experiences.
“There were times at the end of summer when we’d have a hard time filling our water towers. We were at the end of the line.”
But a bigger advantage of having self-sufficient water is the attraction it will provide to businesses and residents, a population that has grown by 1,089 since it started buying the water.
“We have an area that’s set up to be an industrial park,” he said. “We want to invite industry here and tell them that we have our own water.”
The facility should be completed and operational within 18 to 24 months.
There’s a large aquifer located underneath of Buckner, he said. A study in 2007 showed the city had the natural resource, the aquifer, to supply “more than enough” water for residents in Buckner, Sibley and Levasy, the mayor said.
“I definitely think it will behoove us to have our own water,” said Buckner Alderman Cathy Litten. “Right now, we have just enough water coming in to support ourselves.”
Litten talked with many residents about the question that was on the ballot, some for and against it.
The majority of people, she said, were in support of the issue.
“I think they understood how important this is to Buckner.”
Some of the voters who didn’t support it, Litten said, were “not properly informed” and some may have personal issues with the city officials that prompted a no vote.