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St. Joseph mayor attends meeting at White House with other mayors

Mayor Bill Falkner
Photo courtesy City of St. Joseph

St. Joseph Mayor Bill Falkner attended a meeting last week at the White House with other mayors from around the country and also discussed local sewer issues with an EPA representative.

Falkner said he was invited to the meeting which, because of the government shutdown, was cancelled, then back on the schedule for Wednesday.

“President Trump, he addressed the mayors there in the White House, and we were also able to hear from Vice President Pence. We also had a question and answer with several department heads from transportation, education and commerce there. As mayors, we all liked what everybody was saying. There is a big infrastructure package coming out that President Trump is about ready to roll out which we’re all interested in that. They were talking also about regulations and trimming back some of the regulations which we’re also happy to see that.”

Falkner said during a reception afterward, he talked with someone from the EPA about sewer issues and costs in the community.

“I made the comment that some of the mandates and requirements that they’re putting on communities, they’re forcing elected officials to raise the rates higher than what our citizens can afford, in order to do the projects that are mandated to us,” Falkner said. “I also told them that if a community is under a mandate, they shouldn’t have another mandate come on them or other large ticket items until that first mandate is paid for. These things didn’t happen overnight and they shouldn’t expect communities to pay for these overnight.”

Falkner said he also suggested expanding the time frame required for communities to fund projects from 20 to 40 years would help with paying for projects. He added that state funding is important to communities, grants would be helpful and he said he encouraged the EPA to pursue nutrient or waste trading.

“Basically, what that is, they are requiring the communities to take out the nutrients in your treatment process and communities that have the availability to take out larger amounts than what they are required to, then we can trade the excess to some of the smaller communities that can’t afford that,” Falkner said. “The program that was brought forward to the city council, once the initial project is done, then it would bring in anywhere from one to two million dollars into the sewer fund which would help offset sewer rates.”

Falkner said city staff is preparing more information to send to the EPA contact and Senator Blunt also talked with Mayor Falkner about getting more information so he can follow up on the issue with the EPA.

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