Marthasville aldermen unanimously approved asking the city’s residents to approve an additional sales tax on any marijuana products sold in the city.

The measure was approved during the Jan. 17 board of aldermen meeting.

Residents will be asked the following question on the April 2 ballot: “Shall the City of Marthasville, Missouri, impose a sales tax of three percent on all retail sales of adult use marijuana sold in the City of Marthasville, Missouri.”

The referendum will need a majority of votes to be approved. Warren County residents must be registered to vote no later than March 6 to be eligible to vote in the April election.

Also during the Jan. 17 meeting, Marthasville Mayor David Lange announced the city had submitted its grant application for money from the State Revolving Fund Program for loans under the Missouri Clean Water Law.

If approved, the grant would help the city pay for an inventory or any lead water pipes in the city.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring utilities in both Missouri and Kansas to remove more than 200,000 lead water pipes still in service and replace them with copper pipes.

The EPA banned lead pipes in 1986 but never required utilities to move them. The EPA estimates that Missouri has more than 200,000 lead service lines, and utility companies don’t know where all those pipes are located.

The grant that Marthasville applied for would help pay for the inventory to determine if there are any lead pipes remaining in the city.

Money for the grant was made available by the bipartisan infrastructure law.

About the author: Jason Koch is the editor of The Warren County Record, and covers local news and government for the newspaper. He has won multiple awards from both the Indiana and Illinois APME and from the Illinois Press Association. He can be reached at 636-456-6397 or at jason@warrencountyrecord.com