Water Main Project Moves Forward with COVID Funds

Water Main Project Moves Forward with COVID Funds

The City is building a plan to increase the reliability of the water service at the eastern edge of the city. At tonight's meeting, the City Commission approved an engineering agreement to build a loop in the water main that serves that area of town.

According to City Utilities Director Brad Palmer, while most of the city's water main can be back fed, that's not the case with the line that serves the state Women's Prison, National Guard Armory, and other customers.

"It's a dead-end line," said Palmer. "So, if we need to do repair work, we have to take the prison and armory out of service until the work is complete. With a loop in place, it will help us keep those services operational during repair work."

To achieve this, the City will install a pipe under Highway 34 and the RCPE railroad tracks to connect water mains that already exist on both the north and south side of the highway.

"This project has been on our list for a while," said Palmer. "With the federal infrastructure dollars made available through COVID funding, we can hopefully move this project onto our list of completed projects."

The $60,000 engineering agreement is for project design. Design work is expected to be complete early this spring. Pending contractor availability, project construction will begin this summer and be completed before winter. Total project cost will be dependent on construction bids.

The City received a $2.4 million allotment from the American Rescue Plan Act. About $500,000 has already been used to repair a large storm sewer under River Road. The City is considering other large underground utility repairs for the remainder of its federal COVID allotment.