Acquiring easements, Yanez said, is dictating when construction may begin.

“Some may go quickly, some may drag out,” Yanez said of easement acquisition from property owners. “There’s no way you can put a timeline on it.”

Of 68 private property owners who would be affected by the water line, Yanez said, more than half have been contacted.

Regarding how many of those property owners have made agreements with the city, Michael Kelly, the city’s attorney, declined to release a specific number.

“I’d rather not give that out because they haven’t been finalized so I don’t want to give out a number yet,” Kelly said.

The attorney did say, however, that more concrete figures should be available in about a month.

When constructed, the line would connect Tonganoxie with the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Public Utilities.

“We have to take care of those easements before we start buying the pipe,” Yanez said. “We’re rushing it as quickly as we can.”

Most of the design plans are finished, Yanez said. And, the project will be funded through a Kansas Department of Health and Environment loan.

KDHE has earmarked about $2.5 million for the project.

“They’re still flexible,” Yanez said. “If it changes a couple of $100,000, KDHE is still on board because they support the project.”

The line primarily is slated to run south of 24-40, Yanez said.