HUMBOLDT In Samuel Coleridges The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is the lament: Water, water, everywhere, and all the board did shrink; water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink.
Humboldt, situated on the east bank of the Neosho River, isnt at a loss for water, but drinking it could be more expensive at some point.
Brian Foster, an engineer with BG Consultants, Manhattan, told council members Monday night an extensive survey of the citys water system purification, distribution and storage showed the need for a multitude of upgrades, to the point that if all were performed the cost would be about $13 million.
The distribution system, covering about 135,000 linear feet is most needy, at $9 million, and thats after a 2009 project replaced 49,000 feet of old galvanized lines with plastic-based pipes. The remaining lines needing attention course throughout the town for more than 86,000 feet, as well as some outside city limits.
The second most begging attention is the water purification plant, at $2.8 million. As for storage, Humboldt has three water towers, holding 75,000, 200,000 and 300,000 gallons. Paint inside and out, including the lead-based paint on the 300,000-gallon tank erected downtown in 1955, should be sand-blasted and redone, Foster said. Cost for that is an estimated $1 million.
Always the realist, Foster recommended council members look at a $2.8 million project to deal with about half of the readily apparent problems at the water plant and bring the storage tanks up to snuff.
Foster said the smaller water tower erected in 1905 (for $3,600) could be eliminated. From an engineering standpoint it isnt needed, he said, but allowed from a historic standpoint it could be desirable and could be kept in place for a reasonable sum.
City Administrator Cole Herder said he was not eager to enter into another major utility project, with a $4.25 million sewer system improvement just started. We also need to give the public time to digest what we heard tonight, he said.
The survey that led to Fosters revelations cost $30,000, paid through a grant, and taking it further, to determine more specifically how to improve the distribution system might cost another $50,000, he said.
Herder and council members have no stomach for that at the moment. But, he allowed having the information Foster laid out gives us a better understanding of where we are.
HAD THE water problems not been forthcoming, another utility issue extending water, gas and sewer service to an industrial tract east of town would have captivated council members attention.
Herder announced the U.S. Economic Development Administration denied Humboldt a grant to pay half the cost of the project, estimated by engineers at $672,500. Allen County commissioners agreed earlier to match the grant by half, up to $335,000.
Herder said missing out on the grant did not necessarily doom the project.
Herder said he and Jeremy Bulk, Humboldt building inspector, think they can find a way to extend the utilities at half the cost of the estimate, mainly because federal hoops and hurdles would have fallen by the wayside. The key is convincing commissioners which he intended to tackle this morning to stay aboard with the $335,000.
Monarch Cement Company wants to develop the tract, which is now at 31 acres after Monarch recently purchased an additional six acres.
