The proposed improvement of the highway necessitates the relocation of utilities along the current corridor to make way for the new roadway.
“The existing water line would need relocating, and if we proceed with our plan, we would have to abandon a new water line when they began construction. It is to everyone’s advantage if they pay for us to relocate the line now,” said Oakley.
Oakley’s plan calls for a new 16-inch waterline to be installed along the roadway. He said that the state would be willing to pay for 10,000 feet of the pipeline. “At $100 per foot in a 10,000 foot water line, we are looking at a $1 million grant. That may be worth waiting for,” he said.
The highway department’s current plans have been prepared using metric units of measurement, while the district records plans in English units. Oakley said that conversions between the two systems continued and would be available in late summer or fall to present the district with right-of-way plans. He said that Rural Development grants and loans would require tank and plant designs in the summer, but the road funding might come in the fall.
Commissioners agreed to work with the highway department to obtain the funding towards a mutual goal of upgrading and relocating the pipeline.
In other action, the commission voted unanimously to extend service along 660 feet of Donna Street in Roaring Springs at the developer’s expense. The road provides frontage for as many as 16 lots, though Developer Bill Kernan said he considered constructing 12 houses.
District Superintendent Terry Goins estimated Kernan’s cost for materials and labor to reach $1,990.84. Goins said that the district expected for-profit entities such as developers to pay to include water service in new neighborhoods, while lone individuals requesting service could expect the district to pay for the connection as long as the terms of the district’s governing tariff were satisfied.
Kernan said that he was “definitely up for” the commission’s plan.
Full coverage of the water commission can be found in your Cadiz Record.
