HomeMy Public PortalAboutR1678 R E S O L U T I O N NO. 1678
WHEREAS, at a special election on February 9, 1954, the
voters of St. Louis and St. Louis County by a substantial margin
approved the creation of an unprecedented District to build,
operate and maintain a unified system of sewers and treatment
facilities, that District to be known as The Metropolitan St.
Louis Sewer District (MSD); and
WHEREAS, this 1954 election created a governmental
agency chartered by the State of Missouri encompassing all of the
City of St. Louis and about one-third of St. Louis County
generally lying between the St. Louis City limits and Lindbergh
Boulevard with a population totaling more than 1.25 million; and
WHEREAS, at the time of the creation of MSD there had
never been an integrated or coordinated sewer system to serve the
metropolitan St. Louis area nor a system of sewage treatment to
control raw sewage being dumped untreated into our rivers and
streams; and
WHEREAS, over 95 percent of the sewage from our homes,
commercial establishments and industry was being dumped raw into
our waterways; and
WHEREAS, the District was given the responsibility for
all wastewater and drainage facilities and treatment processes
within its area including construction of needed sewers and
treatment systems, as well as the operation, repair and
maintenance of all such facilities; and
WHEREAS, the plan approved by the voters established a
six-member Board of Trustees as the governing body and final
authority on all MSD matters with three members representing the
City of St. Louis appointed by the Mayor and three members
representing the County appointed by the County Supervisor (now
County Executive); and
WHEREAS, the first priority was to remove sanitary
sewage from thousands of yards of homes with failing septic tanks
and to remove untreated wastes which were being discharged into
creeks and tributaries such as River des Peres, Maline Creek,
Gravois Creek, Coldwater Creek, Wellston Branch of River des
Peres, Watkins Creek and many others; and
WHEREAS, today July 13, 1983, this District is
conducting the 1000th meeting of its governing body--the Board of
Trustees, it seems appropriate to review why the District was
created, what has been accomplished and what is planned for the
future of the District; and
WHEREAS, the solution was to collect this raw sewage in
pipes, watershed by watershed. This was done by the formation of
over 300 special benefit subdistricts to provide sewer service to
over 34,000 homes with an investment of more than $20 million.
Bond issues were held to build 60 miles of major trunk sewers in
the following watersheds: Maline Creek, Vinita Park area, North
Affton, Creve Coeur-Frontenac area, Gravois Creek, Coldwater
Creek, Wellston Branch of River des Peres, Watkins Creek and
several small subwatersheds. The construction of an interceptor
sewer along the Mississippi River followed, collecting the sewage
from these 70 outlets and providing treatment for millions of
3
gallons of raw sewage. This was authorized by overwhelming votes
of the people at two separate elections: in 1960 the people of the
Coldwater Creek watershed authorized the sale of $11 million in
bonds to build the Coldwater Creek Interceptor and a 25 million
gallon a day treatment plant; and in 1962 the voters in the
Mississippi watershed authorized the issuance of $95 million in
bonds to build the Mississippi River Interceptor and two huge
treatment plants. At the time of that election, it was the
largest clean water bond issue ever passed in the United States;
and
WHEREAS, both of these projects were completed by 1970,
all with the purpose of cleaning up the pollution discharged from
the District to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and their
tributaries; and
WHEREAS, primarily all the stench has been removed from
the River des Peres channel, the foul water tubes below the
channel are in need of renovation and plans are being prepared for
this undertaking; and
WHEREAS, recent sewer collapses have created renewed
efforts to find ways to predict problems with the ever-aging sewer
system consisting of over 7,000 miles of sewers, some well over
100-years-old with wooden bottoms, stone sides and brick arch
ceilings; and
WHEREAS, the Distract is committed to finding better
ways to predict problems in the old sewers and rehabilitate them;
and
4
WHEREAS, with the formation of several special taxing
subdistricts to match federal, state and local funds by the end of
this year we will have let 360 contracts for stormwater and flood
control projects costing $50 million with plans being prepared for
this program's continuation; and
WHEREAS, by the late 1970's the District was faced with
the biggest challenge since its 1954 creation with the annexation
of that part of St. Louis County remaining outside MSD's
jurisdiction through a special election in 1977 which passed with
an impressive 84.9 percent approval of voters; and
WHEREAS, this election added 279 square miles to the
original 230 square-mile area under MSD's jurisdiction with over
60 different treatment facilities and sewer systems, most
privately owned and not meeting State and Federal water quality
standards; and
WHEREAS, MSD has completed area-wide 201 studies for
this area which includes the Meramec and Missouri River
watersheds; and
WHEREAS, the Distract has begun a huge construction
program in both watersheds to integrate the sanitary sewer system
on a watershed basis and provide modern treatment facilities to
protect the public health and comply with federal and state
regulations; and
WHEREAS, the Distract is now conducting a stormwater
study in the area annexed in 1977 to determine the needs and,
hopefully, ways to finance the solutions;
5
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT:
That we hereby commend the following list of extremely
dedicated members of previous Boards of Trustees who gave so much
of their time, energy and talents in the interest of better public
health by providing adequate sewer facilities for the entire area: William Becker (1954-1957) deceased Joseph Doran (1954-1960) deceased George C. Wilson (1954-1956) deceased Chairman (1954-1955) John M. Bogdanor (1954-1956) Vice-Chairman (1954-1955) Chairman (1955-1956) William W. Martin (1954-1962) deceased Vice-Chairman (1955-1956) Chairman (1956-1957) J. E. Williams, Jr. (1954-1958) deceased Vice-Chairman (1956-1957) Chairman (1957-1958) Harry C. Brockhoff (1956-1958) deceased Vice-Chairman (1957-1958) Edward J. Gragg (1956-1961) deceased Chairman (1958-1959) Frank Ramacciotti (1957-1969) deceased Vice-Chairman (1958-1959) (1961-1964) (1966-1967) Chairman (1959-1960) (1967-1968) Lewis J. Stiers (1958-1966) Vice-Chairman (1959-1960) Chairman (1960-1965) John F. Hallett (1958-1962) Joseph T. Sheehan (1960-1964) deceased
6
Ernest W. Dohack (1962-1965) deceased Lewis H. Antoine, Sr. (1962-1965) deceased Vice-Chairman (1964-1965) Chairman (1965-1965) Richard A. Meyer (1962-1966 & 1974-1978) Vice-Chairman (1965-1966) Chairman (1974-1975) A. Ray Parker (1964-1974) Vice-Chairman (1965-1965) (1971-1972) Chairman (1965-1967) (1972-1973) Frank J. Lane, Jr. (1965-1973) Vice-Chairman (1967-1968) Chairman (1968-1969) Milton Kinsey (1966-1972) deceased Vice-Chairman (1968-1969) (1972-1972) Chairman (1969-1970) F. Wendell Huntington (1966-1974) Vice-Chairman (1969-1970) (1973-1974) Chairman (1970-1971) Emmett Concannon (1967-1977) Vice-Chairman (1974-1975) Chairman (1975-1976) Phelim O'Toole (1969-1977) deceased Vice-Chairman (1970-1971 & 1972-1973) Chairman (1971-1972 & 1973-1974) Lawrence Bannes (1973-1977) Vice-Chairman (1975-1976) Chairman (1976-1977) Marvin O. Young (1974-1980) Vice-Chairman (1977-1978) Chairman (1978-1979) Frederick H. Rodefeld (1977-1979) deceased Vice-Chairman (1978-1979) S. Joseph Cento (1977-1982) Vice-Chairman (1979-1980) Chairman (1980-1981)
7
Gerard J. Schmidt (1980-1982)
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the present Board of
Trustees pledges itself to continue this fine tradition of
dedication by rehabilitating and improving the present sewer
system, pump stations and treatment works and to build new
facilities to clean up the Mississippi, Meramec and Missouri
Rivers used for water supply, industrial uses and recreation by
all of our citizens and we pledge with the help of our Stormwater
Action Committee to continue making improvements in flood and
erosion control.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution
be given to each of the previous Board members or to the family of
each deceased member. ______________________________ Milton J. Bischof, Jr. Chairman, FY 1982-83 ______________________________ Henry W. Lee, Jr. Chairman, FY 83-84 ______________________________ Frank C. Borghi ______________________________ Robert E. Jones ______________________________
8
Michael F. Shanahan ______________________________ Francis R. Slay The foregoing resolution was adopted July 13, 1983.