HUMBOLDT — A request to purchase waste water to prepare Humboldt Speedway for weekly races turned into a drought relief measure at Monday night’s council meeting.
City Administrator Larry Tucker proposed selling “gray” water — that used to back-flow filters at the water plant and then discharged to the Neosho River — to the speedway to wet its track before races. Water for the track normally is drawn from a nearby creek, which is drying up.
The proposal drew a suggestion from Larry Hoepker, an east-of-town farmer, that if the water were available, why not let farmers purchase it to water livestock. Stockwater ponds also are drying up and if the drought continues, farmers are going to have to find secondary sources of water, he said.
With little discussion council members unanimously embraced Hoepker’s comment and agreed to sell water for “drought relief.”
About 60,000 gallons a week are used for back-flow, said John Hodgden, plant supervisor.
The speedway uses about 75,000 gallons a week, meaning if it were to purchase the waste water it would also have to have another source.
A provision of sale, at $3 per 1,000 gallons, will be that buyers will have to provide a pump to fill trucks.
Sale of the water has been cleared with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, which oversees water drawn from the Neosho.
THE COUNCIL agreed, again on a split vote of 5-3, to apply to the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation for a grant/loan to build middle income housing.
The application will be for 10 new houses to be built and sold over the next five years.
If money comes Humboldt’s way, the program will be administered by a body subsidiary to the city, such as the Humboldt Housing Authority or the Housing Action Team.
The initial request will be for about $230,000 at 2 percent interest to provide for construction financing and assistance in keeping housing affordable, said Bill Caton, who developed the town’s senior housing project and came to the meeting as an information resource person. The request will be for a line of credit, with all but $10,000 repaid when houses are sold. The $10,000 may be forgiven over a five-year period as an incentive for purchase by middle-income families.
The modular houses will be 1,500 square feet, with three bedrooms and two baths.
Chris Bauer of Humboldt’s Housing Action Team said affordable housing had been an ongoing concern in Humboldt and surveys of local industries showed as many 50 employees might move to Humboldt if housing were available.
