Park Hills has a planning estimate, not a construction budget: city officials are weighing $86.8 million in water and wastewater improvements over the next decade. The estimate allocates $58.6 million to wastewater work and $28.2 million to the water system. Leaders reviewed the figures during a work session Wednesday and said the scope and financing still need to be determined.
No Final Price Tag Yet, Officials Caution
The $86.8 million estimate covers work over the next decade and is not a final project budget, according to the Park Hills Daily Journal. Wednesday's work session did not establish a financing plan or rate changes. Officials still need to define the work and set a financing target before a bond election could proceed, the newspaper reported. An April 2027 bond election was discussed, but that timeline is not final.
The numbers have shifted substantially since a February 2024 preliminary engineering report pegged total needs at $102.7 million, including more than $60 million for water improvements and $42.5 million for wastewater work, the Daily Journal reported. Representatives from Benton Engineering, the city's engineering firm, said the revised plan focuses on critical needs rather than replacing every component at once, per the same report. Additional findings, including storage tank inspection reports that arrived shortly before the work session, could still affect the cost estimates going forward.
Lead Service Lines Still a Question Mark
Park Hills has an estimated 1,300 lead service lines citywide, though that count may change once physical inspections are complete, and the replacement cost remains uncertain along with the final line count, per the Daily Journal's account of the presentation. A rough estimate using an assumed $12,000 per line would put replacement costs at approximately $15.6 million, though that figure is not a firm projection.
City officials plan to seek bids for inventory work, complete the investigation, prepare a state replacement plan and begin replacements, according to the report. Funding identified in the presentation includes $800,000 for service-line inventory and investigation, $50,000 for a replacement plan and $5 million through Missouri Department of Natural Resources funding for initial replacements. Missouri Department of Natural Resources guidance lists inventories, replacement plans and replacement projects as eligible for lead-service-line funding, and gives priority to applications that include inventory work; the guidance does not guarantee funding for Park Hills. Separate state guidance also describes financial assistance programs for lead service-line inventories and replacements.
Wastewater Plant Faces Phosphorus Deadline, Aging Gear
Park Hills' wastewater system, which serves Park Hills, Leadington and Desloge, includes 14 lift stations, more than 110 miles of sewer mains and approximately 2,650 manholes, according to the presentation details reported by the Daily Journal. About 61 miles of those sewer mains are older clay pipe. The treatment plant faces aging equipment and structural concerns, including clarifier component problems, deteriorated ultraviolet-system steel supports, and equipment and controls beyond their useful life, the newspaper reported.
Rainwater entering the collection system increases flows reaching the treatment plant, and flow monitors recorded increases during rainfall at four locations, per the same account. The plant has a design flow of 2.05 million gallons per day and a maximum flow of 4.77 million gallons per day, but plant flows exceeded 7 million gallons per day for several days during monitoring this spring, according to the presentation. The facility has approximately 9 million gallons of excess-flow storage. The city has already conducted camera inspections, smoke testing and pipe cleaning, and a separate $100,000 engineering study, supported by an 80%-20% state grant arrangement, will identify sources of inflow and infiltration and prioritize repairs.
Looming over the wastewater work is a 2033 phosphorus-limit compliance deadline. The Park Hills wastewater plant currently discharges approximately 2.83 milligrams per liter of phosphorus, well above state guidance calling for discharge below 1 milligram per liter for facilities in the 1 million- to 15 million-gallon-per-day range, subject to exceptions, according to the presentation. Chemical phosphorus removal could cost $200,000 to $400,000 annually in chemicals alone at current loading and could produce additional sludge requiring handling and disposal, per the same presentation. Biological nutrient removal, by contrast, was estimated to cost $10,000 to $50,000 or could potentially avoid chemical polishing costs altogether depending on performance. City officials have not yet selected a wastewater treatment alternative between the two approaches.
What the Rules Clarify—and Leave Open
The federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements generally requires water systems to replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement service lines under their control within 10 years, with limited circumstances allowing more time, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That requirement does not establish Park Hills' final count of about 1,300 lines or their replacement cost. Missouri Department of Natural Resources material on proposed total-phosphorus amendments identifies domestic point sources with a design flow of at least 1 million gallons per day as covered by proposed nutrient-reduction requirements; that statewide context does not set Park Hills' specific permit limit or compliance schedule. State nutrient-optimization guidance says results depend on factors including operator engagement, management support, equipment and in-plant testing. The cited guidance does not establish how either treatment option would perform at Park Hills or identify which approach comparable facilities have used.
The wastewater improvement schedule calls for submitting a facility plan around January, applying for funding in March 2028, obtaining a construction permit in May 2029, advertising for bids in August 2029, and targeting completion in December 2032, according to the Daily Journal's report on the presentation.
Water Mains Keep Breaking as Pipes Age
On the drinking water side, Park Hills' system includes more than 74 miles of water mains, about 1,360 valves, roughly 420 fire hydrants and roughly 3,800 service connections. About 39 miles of those water mains are cast-iron pipe, much of it more than 50 years old, the newspaper reported.
That aging cast-iron network has shown its strain: the water system experienced 36 water main breaks from August 2024 through August 2026, and 81% of those breaks occurred in cast-iron mains, according to the presentation. A water main break in August illustrated the risk firsthand, when several valves failed to close and crews had to search for a functioning valve farther away to stop the flow, per the Daily Journal's account. Some hydrants citywide include leaking or nonoperating units, and some valves may no longer be functioning properly.
The city's water treatment plant has a rated capacity of 2.4 million gallons per day against current demand of 1 million to 1.5 million gallons per day, but that effective capacity drops to approximately 860,000 gallons per day when its largest unit is out of service, according to the presentation. Proposed water plant work includes evaluating a bypass for the sedimentation basin and improving high-service pumping to maintain service when a pump is unavailable. Other proposed water improvements include treatment plant repairs, valve and hydrant replacements, and water storage tank rehabilitation, with proposed main replacements prioritized by likelihood of failure and potential consequences.
A Decade-Long, Phased Approach
The proposed water schedule places critical work in the first three years, followed by replacements and rehabilitation in years three through five and additional work in years five through 10, according to the newspaper's report. Officials said projects generally would be phased according to need, with further inspections and investigations expected to refine priorities and costs.
The next decisions include refining project scopes, pursuing grants and evaluating financing options. Park Hills plans to assess how potential financing would affect utility rates, but officials have not approved or specified a rate increase. Grants could help cover individual projects as investigations, treatment decisions and financing discussions continue. Officials may return for another work session after further review, the Daily Journal reported.
Separately, Missouri Revised Statutes Section 67.319 addresses water service lines and repair programs for municipalities and certain districts, including provisions for fees, ballot language and administration, according to the Missouri Revisor of Statutes. How, or whether, that statute factors into Park Hills' eventual financing approach has not been addressed in city officials' public discussions so far.
