At the hearings, the board came down hard on Wichita. All permits to discharge sewage into the river were revoked, effective after twelve months. The city was ordered to proceed with plans for a secondary treatment facility while the conditional permit for the submain to serve west Wichita was officially revoked. Most importantly, Wichita was ordered to immediately halt all sewer extensions in the city, including mains, submains, and laterals. With this order, virtually all new development would come to a stop.

Over the next several months, the issue continually faced the commission as the board, the newspapers, and Howse called for action. Madden and Stevens wanted a new plan, other than that proposed by Black and Veatch, and a smaller plant, but the state objected. Finally, on June 4, 1957, a proposal by Madden and Stevens was presented and approved by the commission, 4 to 1, with Howse dissenting. The proposal called for construction of new facilities to take place in two phases with the first voted on in September to cost $4,815,000.

It would meet the existing needs and allow for Submain Five by building two groups of four trickling filters as part of the secondary treatment. The second phase, costing $2,170,000 and to be voted on November 4, 1958, would provide for future needs by building additional primary treatment facilities at the secondary plant site for $1,138,000, and four more trickling filters for $1,032,000. The financing which was a major bone of contention, was not mentioned, but the total cost would be the same as the original proposal, $6,985,000.

Although the city had acted, it was not enough. On June 7, the Board of Health rejected the plan. It opposed breaking the issue into two phases with two separate votes. The fear was that the first would be initiated, but that the second phase would either not pass or not be implemented. It also objected to the lack of public education provided in the plan. The April 19 decision which required the city to proceed with its secondary treatment plant and put a halt to all sewer extensions in the city was reaffirmed.

On June 11, when the commission received the decision cast by the State Board of Health, it requested a hearing with the board in Wichita to discuss the problem. However, three days later, the request was rejected. Dr. Hood made the announcement, claiming that the board members felt the city had had time to be heard and should delay no longer.

The pressure by the board, which Howse had been accused of initiating, finally got results. On June 18, 1957, the City Commission, after hearing of the board's denial, unanimously passed a long-range sewer program calling for a vote to be held on September 10 to issue $6,660,000 in general obligation bonds to pay for a secondary treatment plant. The unanimity resulted from a compromise evident in a 12-point sewage plan outlined in a motion by Howse. Both factions in the commission had to give ground.

The 12-point motion included: 1) the city admit the need for secondary sewage treatment for pollution abatement; 2) Black and Veatch be authorized to complete plans and specifications for the entire project by November 1, 1957; 3) the city call a special election by September 10 for bond issue of $6,600,000; 4) the city take a public position favoring the project as submitted; 5) the city place the entire project under contract in not more than two phases, the first phase to cost $4,490,000 and be contracted by December 1, 1957, and the second phase to be under contract for $2,120,000 by January 1, 1959; 6) the city finance the project by general obligation bonds, which was a controversial decision since the city's advisory finance committee said revenue bonds were the only way to protect Wichita's bond rating; 7) the city develop a plan for industrial pollution abatement and submit it to the State Board of Health by September 1, 1957, with it to be placed in effect and implemented in phases, if it, was approved, by January 1, 1958; 8) the city contract out Submain Five by October 1, 1957; 9) the city contract out the southwest main sewer by January 1, 1959, at the same time as the second phase, originally opposed by Madden and Stevens as unnecessary but accepted anyway; 10) the city appropriate $10,000 for public information supporting the bond issue in the election campaign; 11) the city accept an alternate site for the plant, located one and a half miles north of the first proposed site, pushed by Madden and Stevens because of the money it would save in a shorter pipeline, while others argued that with city expansion the original location would be much better; and, finally, 12) the city request the State Board of Health to withdraw its order prohibiting sewer extensions by September 15, 1957.

Passage of the plan was not without serious discussion. The motion followed City Attorney Fred Aley's opinion that it would be very difficult for the city to win an appeal against the state in court. Both Madden and Stevens objected to various points, but finally agreed, allowing it to pass unanimously. On June 25, the commission passed the official resolution calling for a special election on the $6,600,000 in bonds for the sewage treatment facility.

While the State Board of Health had not officially met, the city was informed by a letter dated July 1, 1957, that the 12-point program of the city was satisfactory and that if the bonds were passed, new sewer construction would be allowed several months earlier than originally outlined in the policy, requiring the awarding of a contract before the ban would be lifted. The board met on September 6 and officially made that decision, ruling the ban would be lifted if the bond issue was approved.

The city came out strongly in favor of the issue, along with numerous civic groups and leaders. The papers continued to prominently display editorials espousing the need for the plant and the dire consequences of its failure. This time the bond issue passed on September 10, 1957, by a vote of 23,182 to 3,056, an overwhelming landslide.

After the election, the board refused to immediately lift the ban on extensions, instead, insisting that the city comply with the 12-point agreement. Dr. Hood congratulated Wichita on its bond passage and told Backstrom that the board had authorized the removal of the restrictions on sewer permits as soon as the city complied with the state orders. Hood addressed actions to be followed by the city "in the interest of hastening the time when permits can be issued." These suggestions included: completing the southwest main sewer design; adopting ordinances to control sewage discharges; taking steps to abandon the industrial sewer, which was becoming unnecessary because of actions by the companies, and meeting with the board and the county to discuss the problem of pollution occurring outside the city limits. Hood stated that, "Assuming these suggestions are put into effect as planned, the ban on sewer extensions will be lifted October 1." (Water Department Files).

The first commission meeting following the election was held on September 17. Despite objections by Stevens and Madden, the commission voted to proceed with plans for construction of the secondary sewage treatment plant, calling for the award of construction contracts as soon as possible. Stevens and Madden both felt a federal grant should be pursued instead, but the majority disagreed because of the delay involved. No other real action was taken by the city on the matter until it met with the board.

The meeting between city, county, and state officials took place on September 26. The same basic provisions listed in Hood's original letter were again emphasized as steps Wichita needed to follow for the sewer ban to be lifted. The main focus of the discussion was on the pollution occurring outside the city limits, especially in the north end industrial area located north of 21st Street between Broadway and Hydraulic Avenue. Two alternatives were presented: either the county could adopt sanitary control standards for the area, or Wichita could re-annex it to allow city statutes to apply. Although no other decisions were made, each party knew that some action had to be taken.

Knowing that action was needed did not necessarily mean it would be taken. At the October 1 City Commission meeting the issues were again addressed. The requirements of the Board of Health were presented to the commission and by a 3 to 2 vote, with Madden and Stevens again in opposition, Backstrom was authorized to negotiate an engineering contract with Black and Veatch to prepare plans for the southwest main sewer. However, more problems erupted as Stevens read a prepared statement on the pollution issue.

In his statement, he blamed Howse for the state restrictions on Wichita, saying, "These conditions have since become a requisite of the State Board of Health, and in my opinion, only because of the interference and recommendation of Commissioner Howse." He went on to accuse Howse of making telephone calls to Dwight Metzler, director of the board's sanitary division, about the city's sanitary problems. Stevens even went so far as to specify the times of the calls, with the first to have occurred "about 9 a.m. on April 18," and two more taking place on June 5, each lasting "about twenty minutes." In spite of Stevens efforts to make Howse publicly disclose the nature of the calls, Howse could not be goaded, as he said, "Mr. Stevens, I'll not assist you or even engage in your fishing expedition." (Eagle, 10/2/57).

Harry Corbin noted in his dissertation that Stevens's information came as a result of the director of the Wichita Crime Commission tapping Howse's home and business phones, ample proof of the tremendous conflicts and distrust between the commissioners. The fact that Stevens would go so far as to reveal that he had the information in a public meeting also revealed the depth of his anger toward Howse.