Residents of Mooar/Powdertown agreed to work with Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) several years ago.
RUSS helps rural communities in ten southeast Iowa counties secure state and/or federal funding for sanitary sewer systems.
The sewer project was put on hold, last year, during the engineering phase because of personnel and funding issues with RUSS.
The Lee County Board of Supervisors wanted to see if residents of Mooar/Powdertown were still interested in working with RUSS, so it held a public meeting Tuesday night.
The board joined several representatives of RUSS in answering questions from about 30 residents for more than two hours at the Jackson Township Fire Station.
Most of the questions focused on the potential monthly costs, the footprint of the proposed system, and the type of possible systems.
RUSS Executive Director Bruce Hudson says he would not have those types of answers until the engineering work is completed.
Valerie Franklin, who owns a house in Mooar/Powdertown, said she wanted the project to proceed because grant money could be available to help pay for the work, which could cut the cost for everyone involved.
She said if the state or federal government required a new system, there may not be any grant money available.
At the end of the night, the residents of Mooar/Powdertown told the board to enter into an agreement with RUSS to resume the engineering work. Once completed, the community would then vote on whether to proceed with the construction of a new sanitary sewer system.
Hudson says the next step is to get the agreement signed and to get the engineering firm scheduled to start working.
A similar meeting will be held Thursday, April 5 in Croton. That community also agreed to work with RUSS several years ago.
