Water project moves ahead

The effort to improve Concordia's water distribution system continues to move forward, with the board of aldermen taking action Monday to give the go-ahead to the next phase in a project to construct a new booster station.

City Administrator Dale Klussman said there had been a slight delay with the shipping of new pumps that will be installed as part of the project, but it would not effect the overall timeline.

Even with the delay, he said, the pumps will arrive before they are needed and will be stored at the water treatment plant.

The next phase in the project will be to construct a building to house the pumps. Kluss-man said the facility would be located in the west part of town near the existing standpipe.

Although the project is expected to only take about 60 days to complete, it would be wise to leave some room for unforeseen problems.

Klussman told the board that if the project were let for bids now, it would be reasonable to expect the building to be finished by early November.

Waiting could put the finish date into December, which could provide possible complications due to winter weather.

"We feel it's pretty important to get moving on this," he said.

Klussman said the pump house has been redesigned to have capacity for future growth. In addition, he said, the building will provide garage space for the jetter truck the city will be receiving this summer. The truck, which is used to clear blockages in underground lines, has hundreds of feet of hose that can freeze in winter temperatures.

"We don't want to be spending time thawing out lines," Klussman said.

The building will also have space to relocate the city's wastewater testing lab. The lab is currently in space the city has rented for about three years. The city's lease is year to year, but was created with an understanding the city would be in the space for about five years.

Klussman said one advantage of moving the labs to the pump house is that someone will be in the building every day to monitor the pumps. The pumps represent a $100,000 investment, and it is important they stay in good working order, he said.

Mayor Don Holtcamp noted that as part of the redesign, the building will have a taller ceiling than before. This will create much needed storage space, he said.

"We're killing about four birds with one stone," Holtcamp said.

The total project cost, including the pumps and related plumbing is estimated at $238,000, but Klussman said he believes the final cost will be less than that.

Following the discussion, the board voted unanimously to seek bids for the construction of the pump house.