My opinion on the state of the water lines in Fort Scott … we are paying dearly for them and yet we have no plan in place to replace them. Maybe we can fix that?

The 2018 Fort Scott Comprehensive Plan explicitly highlighted the severe vulnerabilities of the city’s aging infrastructure, specifically referencing the 100+ year old water lines that were causing extensive water loss and constant line breaks.

The Recommendations

The plan recommended that the City of Fort Scott move away from “reactive” emergency repairs and instead become proactive by establishing a formalized, long-term Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

It urged the city to utilize its engineering and public works directors to map out a comprehensive plan specifically for water, sewer, and street infrastructure improvements.

It emphasized structured, phased line replacements rather than simply patching leaks after they happened.

The Cost of the Report

The comprehensive plan was compiled and introduced internally by the Fort Scott Planning Commission Board and city staff rather than being outsourced entirely to an expensive outside consulting firm. Consequently, no extra tax dollars were spent on a private consultant contract for the 2018 report itself.

(Note: This is frequently contrasted by local residents and officials with the county’s subsequent efforts, such as Bourbon County recently budgeting $116,500 for a private consultant to draft their own separate comprehensive plan.)

Efforts and Results Since 2018

For years following its presentation on March 20, 2018, the plan largely sat on a shelf. Local leaders and citizens noted that it was never fully adopted or systematically implemented into daily city operations right away.

However, escalating infrastructure crises eventually forced the city to act on the principles laid out in that plan:

Implementation of Infrastructure Fees (2023-2024): To fund the massive costs of water line overhauls, Fort Scott began passing aggressive utility ordinances. The city established an automatic 3% annual water rate hike and tacked a flat $10.00 monthly “infrastructure fee” onto every citizen’s utility bill specifically to fund water and sewer capital projects.

Phased Utility Overhauls (2024-Present): The city finally transitioned to the phased approach recommended in 2018. For instance, massive multi-phase neighborhood projects (such as the recent collaborative project with contractors like Heck & Wicker) have broken ground. The first phases explicitly mandate tearing up streets to install completely new water lines and sanitary sewer lines before applying fresh mill and asphalt overlays.

While the 2018 plan was initially ignored, the reality of failing pipes has forced the city to execute exactly what it suggested — though citizens are now directly footing the bill via automated infrastructure fees to catch up on decades of deferred maintenance.

— Pete Allen