Moniteau approves $168,000 to connect new water wells to Dassa McKinney
Moniteau school board approved $168,622 Monday for the next phase of a project designed to improve drinking water capacity at Dassa McKinney Elementary School.
The funding, approved during a special board meeting Monday, July 13, will support the second phase of the district’s well design and construction project as Moniteau works to ensure the school’s water system can meet student needs.
Moniteau awarded the bid to New Castle-based Book & Proch Well Drilling last week, board president Kathy McBride said.
“The bids were opened last week, and we had a special meeting after our attorney looked over the timeline,” McBride said. “The wells at Dassa (McKinney) were no longer any good. They were not providing enough water for our students.”
Phase one — the drilling of new wells, has already been completed, McBride said.
Because the new wells are built further back from the school building than the old ones, phase two of the project encompasses building needed infrastructure to connect the wells to the building.
“The wells had to be drilled. The old wells were supplying water, just not up to what we would need. That means we need to invest in more infrastructure from the new wells to the school,” McBride said.
The district wants to complete the well project for the upcoming school year to avoid temporarily bringing in drinking water from another source.
McBride said the old wells were last fixed in 2008.
Dassa McKinney, which opened in 1968 and is located in Clay Township, has had various water-related issues in recent years. This has, at times, included moving to remote learning due to mechanical and water issues, and fixing a broken water boiler.
