Water rates to increase 2 percent

The Leavenworth Water Department is purchasing 32.2 acres of land in Lansing.

The department is purchasing the land located at 779 N. Highway 5 for $265,000. The purchase was approved Tuesday night by the Leavenworth City Commission.

Even though the property is being bought by the Water Department, state law requires that the land be held in the city's name, according to Water Department General Manager John Kaufman.

He said the closing of the deal likely will occur later this month or early November.

Kaufman said the land is located near one of the department's plants. He said the department plans to use the property, in part, as a repository for lime residual from a treatment process to soften water.

Kaufman said the lime residual currently is placed in ponds. But the substance has to be excavated every year and hauled away. It ultimately ends up being used on agricultural land.

He said there's a cost associated with the excavation and hauling of the substance. The new land can used for permanent disposal of the substance, which will be placed in trenches and covered with top soil.

Kaufman said the Water Department still will have to go through a state permit process in order use the land for this purpose. He said there's already been preliminary discussion with the state.

“We just have to do the engineering at this point,” he said.

Kaufman said the property can be used for this purpose for many years, and it should save the Water Department money.

“It all helps cut our operating cost,” he said.

He said the department also will be able to utilize a storage facility on the property. This will save the department from having to build a storage unit for equipment.

There's also a house on the property. Kaufman said Water Department officials have not yet determined what they will do with this structure.

The Water Department announced Wednesday there will be a 2 percent increase in water rates next year, but Kaufman said this is not the result of the land purchase.

He said money already had been set aside for the purchase. And officials are expecting the land acquisition to save the department money in the future.