Tecumseh-Shawnee water agreement subject of Monday meeting

Tecumseh Utility Authority members will meet Monday to discuss a proposed contract revision between the cities of Shawnee and Tecumseh regarding distribution of water from Wes Watkins Reservoir.
Officials may have reached common ground on the 18-year-old contract, which details the reservoir’s water distribution between the neighboring communities and the Pottawatomie County Development Authority. The first-draft revision, which was agreed upon late last month, will be reviewed at the authority’s July meeting. The meeting will be held immediately following the Tecumseh City Council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at Tecumseh City Hall.
Disputes over the water contract’s contents have been going on since its conception, and negotiations for a solution began last year. In the contract, Shawnee is entitled to 85 percent of the reservoir’s water, while Tecumseh is entitled to the remaining 15 percent. That 15 percent is to be treated by Shawnee before being delivered to Tecumseh.
Tecumseh officials, however, have persisted with their desire to draw raw water from the reservoir for the purpose of treating it themselves.
Shawnee City Commission member Linda Peterson said officials from both cities have been working toward making that possible for Tecumseh. The revision to the contract focuses on providing a method for Tecumseh to retrieve the raw water and, if approved, the water line will be jointly owned by the cities.
Officials said Tecumseh will have the right to attach a line to the raw water line for the purpose of direct access, and the cities together would own the line leading up to Tecumseh’s point of access.
Tecumseh Utility Authority members will sit before the authority meeting as the Tecumseh City Council, and in that meeting will hear a presentation from members of the Tecumseh Gun Club. In June, Tecumseh Mayor John Collier made an emergency decision to close the gun range on the south side of Tecumseh Lake based on a discrepancy found in a city code.
Council members were made aware last month that because the range is in city limits, those using the range are in violation of Resolution 628. The resolution reads, “Every person who wilfully discharges any pistol, rifle, shotgun, airgun or other weapon within the city limits is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
The only exception to the resolution is for law enforcement officials. No exception is included for the gun range. Collier has said gun club members plan to address the council to make an appeal for such an exception to be added to the resolution.
“I don’t know what the council will do,” Collier said in a recent interview with the News-Star.

Jason Smith may be reached at 214-3932 or william.j.smith@news-star.com.