With progress being made to resolve a dispute on sewer pretreatment requirements, Warrenton city officials Tuesday night agreed to temporarily extend a deadline that would have shut off water and sewer service to the Warren County Courthouse next week. Terri Thorn, the city’s director of operations/finance officer, said the board’s action was made after receiving a letter dated Oct. 2 from Sheriff Kevin Harrison who expressed concerns about “any action that might disrupt the daily operations of the jail” and could “force drastic changes” in law enforcement services to county residents. In closed session, aldermen voted 5-0 to temporarily extend the deadline after reviewing Harrison’s letter. Alderman John Clark was absent. “It is going to cause significant issues for the sheriff and the jail and there is progress being made for a resolution it appears,” Thorn told The Record. This is the latest development on the matter following a Sept. 27 joint meeting of city and county officials that failed to reach a resolution on the matter. The two entities have been in a dispute on how to prevent clothing and other items from being flushed down toilets at the Warren County Courthouse and entering the city’s sewer system. In February, city workers discovered a jail jumpsuit and other garbage that apparently had been stuffed down toilets by inmates at the county jail and blocked the city’s sewer main. In August, the city of Warrenton threatened to cut off water and sewer service to the Warren County Courthouse if the county did not make its preferred sewer pretreatment improvements by Oct. 12. The county commission had also sent a letter this week to the city requesting a 60-day extension. However, aldermen chose not to take any action on that request because the county had failed to recognize the city’s authority to impose specific sewer pretreatment requirements, according to Thorn. Thorn said the temporary extension agreed upon by aldermen Tuesday night has no specific date that the county must meet, but said that progress must continue to be made. The county commission recently submitted design plans for the first time to the city. Thorn said those plans have been reviewed by Public Works Director Guy Gevers and the city’s engineer. She added that those plans will be returned to the county commission with comments on possible alterations to the design. The county hired an engineering firm to design plans for pretreatment improvements that feature two options — a basket screen system and a grinder system. Commissioners have balked at installing a grinder system — the city’s preferred pretreatment method — because they believe a basket screen system is a cheaper and effective solution at making sure items aren’t discharged into the city’s sewer system. While the city feels it has the authority to impose specified sewer pretreatment requirements, such as the grinder, commissioners disagree. They said the city’s code book does not include any regulations requiring a grinder to be installed. Nonetheless, Thorn was hopeful a resolution could be reached soon. “Everyone involved from the city’s perspective is interested in coming to a satisfactory resolution on this,” he said. “We’re optimistic this is a step in the right direction.” At the time of Harrison’s letter, 123 inmates were housed in the jail. If the jail would be closed, Harrison said it would cost $55 per day for each inmate to be housed somewhere else temporarily. Based on the inmate count, it could cost $6,765 per day to board the inmates elsewhere, an expense that would have to be taken from the law enforcement budget and one that had not been anticipated or allocated for. The jail’s population ranges from 90 to 130 prisoners on any given day, Harrison wrote. He feared that any closure of the jail could require temporary unpaid furloughs of jail employees and cause logistical issues for transporting existing inmates and new individuals who would be arrested. In addition, if the jail was closed for an extended period of time the sheriff’s department could lose its contract for boarding federal prisoners, which amounts to approximately $640,000 in revenue for the law enforcement budget. The city is requesting the sewer pretreatment improvements since every manhole overflow must be reported as a violation to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and worries that similar incidents could cause damage to the sewer system. Under city codes, it’s unlawful for any type of garbage to be discharged into the city’s sewer system.