Mindful of state pressure and their past promises, Eudora City Commissioners indicated Monday they wanted to start moving forward in January on two major city water projects.

The two projects at issue are the proposed installation of a 12-inch waterline from the water tower in Paschal Fish Park to Winchester Road for an estimated $348,000 and the development of a water well donated to the city, which could cost $250,000.

City staff would like additional time to explore Community Development Block Grant funding opportunities to help with the two projects, City Manager Barack Matite said. Grants could alleviate some of the need to raise water rates to pay for the two projects, but to get a grant the city would have to demonstrate the projects benefited low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.

Matite and Leslie Herring, assistant to the city manager, explained the deadline to apply for the 2017 CDBG program was Sept. 30, but there was usually unawarded money available for later applications.

Should grants be unavailable, the city would explore KDHE low-interest loans to finance the projects, Matite said. He asked the commissioners allow the grant and loan explorations to continue before considering the two projects again in January, when the city would know its water fund year-end balance and have a clearer picture of where the fund stood.

There is some pressure from the state to move forward.

Lois Hamilton donated the water well northwest of the city to Eudora in 2010. In May 2015, the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources authorized assigning the well’s water rights to Eudora should the city make it operational by the end of 2015. The city subsequently received a one-year extension to make those improvements.

Eudora Public Works Director Mike Hutto said a 2-year-old estimate placed the cost of upgrading the well for use at $150,000. Another $100,000 could be needed if the KDHE determines the well’s existing casing was unsuitable for use, which would require a new well be drilled near the existing one, he said.

Last month, the city received a letter from the Division of Water Resources reminding the city that it needed to apply for another extension by the end of the year if it hadn’t completed the work needed to divert water from the well. Hutto said he anticipated the second extension would be approved, but cautioned there probably wouldn’t be a third extension.

With this year’s CDBG grant deadline passed, the city probably wouldn’t have grant funding in hand for the well improvements until 2018, Hutto said. By that time, the water rights could be lost, he warned.

City commissioners were just as anxious to make progress on the Winchester waterline because of promises made to the neighborhood. A September water hydrant flush and flow test in the area caused some residents to lose water pressure, which led a resident to contact the KDHE. Subsequent tests showed water in the area was safe, but the incident added to city pressure to make the waterline upgrades.

Low water pressure also causes concern about fire suppression, but the city was protected with its mutual aid agreements with surrounding fire departments, Mayor Tim Reazin said.

Still, commissioner signaled interest in moving ahead with the projects. Commissioner Ruth Hughs said she understood the desire to spare residents water-rate increases needed to pay for improvements, but said the city had to start making progress on the projects.

“It makes me nervous,” she said. “We might lose the well, and maybe something could happen out at Winchester.”

It was agreed commissioners would take up the projects again during their second meeting of January 2017. In the meantime, staff would explore grants further and develop better cost estimates.

Matite also shared with commissioners the performance of the 0.75-cent parks and recreation sales tax voters approved in April 2015. The city started collecting the tax on Oct. 1, 2015.

Matite said the city collected $24,091 in the last three months of 2015, and it has collected $206,518 from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 of this year. It was projected the city would collect $257,625 from the tax in 2017. Although it appeared to be under performing for the year, it was too early to predict if the tax would not realize its goal for the year, Matite said.