The Eudora City Commission has made its first investment in the construction of a new water treatment plant with the purchase of property on which it intends to build the facility.

At their May 10 meeting, commissioners approved purchase of about 12 acres at 2216 N. 1420 Road owned by a Goodger family trust for $300,000. There is currently a house on the property with the rest of the land primarily used for farming, City Manager Barack Matite informed commissioners in a memo.

Matite states the property on the city’s northeast side was identified in a 2019 study by consulting engineers as an ideal place for the plant. Matite wrote in his memo that that the city would issue debt for the property purchase. The 2019 study also recommended a new water treatment plant be completed to replace the current plant built in the 1950s and improved in the 1970s and 1990s..

The property purchase is the first step in the construction of the new facility, and the City Commission has not yet approved the plant’s design or financing.

Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said Sunday one of the reasons engineers rated the purchased site so highly was that it reduced the amount of pipe that would need to be installed from the new plant to connect with city’s current water distribution system.

There is enough property to build a new public works facility on the purchased site, Reazin said. However, he noted that when the new plant is finished, the city will decommission its current water plant. The plant’s retirement would also provide more room to expand public works facilities at their current location near the current water plant, he said.

With the purchase, the City Commission faces the tasks of approving a plant design with capacity to meet anticipated future needs at a cost the city can afford, Reazin said. He did not say when those discussions would start, but said he favored completing the Nottingham redevelopment project before starting those discussions.

In other business, the City Commission tweaked its zoning regulations for swimming pools and outbuildings.

The new zoning regulations reduce the required property line setbacks for swimming pools from 10 to 5 feet. The revision also gives private pool owners the option of installing a powered pool cover to protect against accidental drowning as well as the existing option of installing a 4- to 6-foot surrounding fence. The amended outbuildng regulations establish setbacks of 5 feet from a lot’s rear property line rather than the former 14-foot setback from the center line of a rear alley. The amended regulations also establish a range of allowable outbuilding sizes that are tied to lot sizes.