Arnold Wants Appraisal Value of Sewers

Arnold City Council members unanimously agreed to pay $44,000 to Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. for an appraisal of the city's sewer system.

The appraisal is needed in response to private company’s offer to purchase and manage the utility, City Administrator Matt Unrein said during the city council meeting at , 2101 Jeffco Blvd., Thursday.

“It (the appraisal) is similar to what people do when selling a house,” Unrein said. An appraisal would assure that the city received the best price for the sewer system if the city decided to sell the utility.

Missouri American Water Company sent an unsolicited inquiry to City Hall to own and operate the city’s sewer system, Unrein said earlier this year.

Arnold Mayor Ron Counts said the voters would have to approve the possible sale in a referendum. The purchaser must also agree to a rate ceiling and to protect eight sewer jobs currently held by city employees.

Arnold’s sewer system needs to be repaired or upgraded, in certain areas, to meet state and federal guidelines, Counts said in an earlier Patch article. The city hired a separate consulting group to search for broken sewer pipes that must be repaired regardless of selling the utility.