Wright City received a grant that will pay for a water study to help determine where improvements should be made to the city’s infrastructure.

The study will cost $14,900 but almost all of that expense will be covered by a $13,410 grant that became available through federal stimulus funds. The grant will be administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. 

The city will have to pay for the remaining 10 percent of the study, or $1,490.

At last Thursday’s board of aldermen meeting, the board voted 4-0 to approve a resolution authorizing a three-way contract between the city, Cochran Engineering and DNR.

Cochran was selected as the engineer at the time the city applied for the grant.

The study will cover both the city’s infrastructure and finance operations, according to Karen Girondo, the city’s economic development director/treasurer.

“It’s a comprehensive study of the whole system,” she said. “Items that are identified, as needed, we go after them. It gives us a snapshot of where we are and where we need to be.”

The results from the study won’t be released for some time. Cochran has a year to complete the project, Girondo said. She added that she is eager to see how the city fares compared to when a similar study was performed in 2001. 

 That study was completed prior to the city’s housing boom where the city’s population doubled.

“It looks over our whole water system,” Girondo said. “It tells us where we need to be, where we need to improve, not only for the physical plant but the finances.”

The 2001 study noted that the city needed to increase its water capacity and improve water lines in troubled areas. Since then, a water tower was built and completed in 2006 and two phases of a water line replacement project have been finished in the Kerland Subdivision.

A third phase of the water line replacement is scheduled to begin this week. That project, which will require a fourth phase, consists of laying new water lines, installing new taps to homes and fire hydrants.

Girondo expects the report to identify areas that need improvements.

“We got some areas where pipe goes from 4 to 6 to 8 inches and back down,” she said. “We know those will be highlighted. We know we have pressure problems in some areas.”

Girondo said the city must make a “good faith effort” to follow the recommendations from the project engineers.