On June 1, another article espoused the need for action, claiming "There is no investment the city could make that would prove more profitable than to go into debt to the extent of a quarter of a million to be expended in putting it in first class sanitary condition." The fear of disease arising from the standing ponds in the gutters and the amount of wastewater absorbed by the land, causing worry of becoming a "second New Orleans," raised the level of the demand to that of urgency, it claimed.

The council held a special session to discuss the sewer question on June 10, 1887. Two civil and sanitary engineers, Rosewater and Christie from Omaha, Nebraska, discussed the general issue of sewerage, the cost and techniques, and the special needs in Wichita. They proposed to develop a complete sewer design for Wichita by making all necessary surveys for the preparation of a topographical contour map of the city and complete profile of all the streets, alleys, and rivers. It would also include detailed plans of all lateral and main locations of a complete system with full, minute specifications. The engineers agreed to complete the plans, with detailed cost estimates of the system before year's end for $2,000, paid upon completion of the job. The Sewer Committee took up the proposal.

Over the next two weeks, letters to the editor and more editorials appeared, urging quiet but systematic action. The council moved to purchase junctions for each street connecting with the Topeka Avenue sewers, allowing the private installation of drain pipes and accepted two more proposals for the city sewer. On June 20, the proposition of Rosewater and Christie was accepted with the Sewer Committee authorized to draw up a contract, which was signed the following night.

While the plans for the system were being drawn up, work continued on the Topeka Avenue sewer. The council authorized the city treasurer on July 26, 1887, to pay Wichita Construction and Supply Company 80% of the contract price, $2,934, for each 2000 feet completed. The remaining 20% would be paid at the completion of the project. The same day Ordinance 451 was passed issuing $22,500 in improvement bonds for the Topeka sewer. Additional bonds were raised on August 15, through Ordinance 467 for additional costs amending the earlier ordinance. Various private sewers were approved during this period as well.

Rosewater and Christie submitted their plans, consisting of maps, diagrams, plans, and specifications, to the City Council on September 30. They reviewed the report, accepting it on October 10, and passing Ordinance 475 to pay the firm for service rendered. The plans of Rosewater and Christie incorporated what was called the separate system of sewerage, a relatively new concept in the United States which had been developed a half century earlier in England. It required a fall of one foot in a hundred, relying on gravity to drain the system. Automatic tanks were proposed at the end of each lock, filling and discharging automatically, to flush the laterals. Storm water was not allowed to enter the mains, but was carried away by surface drainage, thus avoiding the problem of gas and odors escaping from the sewer, and surface water clogging the pipes.

The plans covered an area from Harry Street on the south, north to Carey Street, and from the Arkansas River on the west to Hydraulic Avenue on the east, besides considerable territory in west Wichita. Although the plans called for some 80 miles of pipe, the engineers reported that 25 miles would be sufficient for a number of years. Installation cost was estimated at $400,000.

By early November the Topeka Avenue sewer was finished. The Sewer Committee reported on October 24 that the contractor, Colonel Hartzel, would have the sewer completed within ten days. Work also continued on the complete sewerage plans, spurred on by Mayor Allen. In a statement read to the council on the 24th, the mayor urged action to be taken on installing at least part of the sewerage plan for reasons of health and the growing needs of Wichita. Allen noted that the death rate of the city was very low, but added, "Yet with continuing growth of the city a greater death rate would naturally be expected. It, therefore, becomes our duty to adopt such measures as in our judgment will reduce the mortality of our city to its lowest possible minimum." The growth of Wichita would continue, requiring better service, he pointed out. "Another consideration is the immense blocks of buildings ranging from three to six stories high which have been built, and are now in the course of construction, saying nothing about still greater ones which will be built in the near future. All demand and must have sewer connections, not only for conveniences, but it is also necessary from a sanitary point of view." (City Council Minutes).

Although Allen called for the entire sewerage system of Rosewater and Christie to be incorporated eventually, a portion of the sewer could be completed immediately. In response to his plea, the council passed a motion to secure all rights-of-way for the sewer from the south end of the city limits to the Arkansas River. Final payment for the Topeka Avenue sewer was authorized on November 22. Immediately, extensions were ordered from its terminus north of Douglas Avenue to First Street and west to the alley between Main and Market streets, which were completed by the middle of December. Additional private connections continued to be allowed, slowly increasing the size and reach of the sanitary system in Wichita.

At the November 28, 1887, meeting, the Sewerage Committee favored the plan of Rosewater and Christie and the city attorney was ordered to draw up an ordinance authorizing its implementation. Completion was estimated at two years. Even then the missing of deadlines was not unusual. By December 12, the ordinance was prepared, and was referred to the Sewerage Committee on the 28th. The committee reported on January 23 about a new roadblock. Representing the committee, Healy reported that it was possible to sewer the city for about half the amount of the adopted plans. The Rosewater and Christie proposal once more became a plan which yet might be ruled impractical. The change, of course, generated another editorial in the Beacon on February 1, 1888. The article pointed out the difficulty of raising bonds for paying for a project such as the sewer, "In the language of one of the aldermen, there is 4,000 miles of red tape to be unrolled before a beginning can be made." The paper informed the citizens that the Rosewater and Christie plans had not been adopted by the council, but only received and filed, and, "It would seem, after the remarks of Mr. Healy, that these plans will never be adopted." Other interesting complications were noted. In the meeting on the 23rd, a committee was appointed to ascertain the cost of obtaining water from the millhouse to flush the sewer, at a much lower cost. Yet at the same time, the city attorney was instructed to prosecute a suit in district court to remove the dam furnishing the water to the millhouse. These two actions appeared somewhat contradictory. The editorial concluded, "And in this somewhat ambiguous shape the matter rests."