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Coon Rapids is planning to replace one of its oldest water towers with a new one at a different location.
The Coon Rapids City Council Sept. 6 approved a letter of engagement with consultant SEH in the amount of $219,800 to provide engineering, design and construction services for a new 1-million-gallon water tower at the intersection of Coon Rapids and Foley boulevards.
The contract also includes final design plans to remove the existing water tower on Foley Boulevard, just south of Northdale Boulevard, as well as construction of a monopole at that site for cellular users.
SEH submitted the lowest price of the three proposals from engineering firms that comprise the city’s consulting pool. Funding is included in the 2022 water utility fund budget.
The city’s 2014 comprehensive water system plan identified the need for another water tower in the south part of the city to provide additional storage to meet peak demand and population growth plus as adequate fire flow capacity, Public Works Director Tim Himmer said.
Locating a new tower in southern Coon Rapids will increase system reliability and address demand and pressure needs of the industrial users in that area, including Evergreen Business Park, Himmer told the council.
The 500,000-galllon Foley tower was not built high enough, meaning it can only be filled to 50% capacity, he said.
“If it was fully filled the other two water towers would overflow,” Himmer explained.
One of the other towers is located at Crooked Lake Boulevard and the railroad tracks, while the other is on Hanson Boulevard at 131st Avenue.
There are also other structural deficiencies and maintenance issues at the Foley tower. A 2020 study estimated it would cost $1 million to make necessary repairs.
Construction of the new tower is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2023 and continue into the fall of 2024.
Estimated cost is $4.5 million, of which $3.15 million, or 70 percent, is included in the 2023 water system budget with the balance to be part of the 2024 budget, Himmer said.
City Manager Matt Stemwedel said the cost of the new tower won’t come from the city tax levy, but from selling water revenue bonds which will be paid off from quarterly utility payments by property owners. But the city also plans to use some of its federal America Rescue Plan Act dollars to minimize the debt.
The new tower will be located on one of two parcels of city-owned property at the southeast corner of the intersection of Coon Rapids and Foley boulevards.
The vacant land was acquired by a city a few years ago when discussions were taking place to construct a full-access interchange at Coon Rapids Boulevard and TH610, but that proposed project has now shifted to the East River Road and TH610 interchange, Himmer said. The second parcel will be sold by the city for development.
The council vote to move forward with the project passed 6-1 with Council Member Brad Greskowiak opposed.
“I am proponent of water infrastructure improvements, but in this case we have bit off more than we can chew,” Greskowiak said.
The city is currently building a new fire station and has been making water main improvements as part of annual street reconstruction projects, he said.
He did not believe the city had a current water capacity issue because people are using less water, so it would be better to renovate the existing tower.
In addition, removing the existing tower and constructing the monopole would be an extra cost, Greskowiak said.
That work is scheduled to take place in 2024, Himmer said.
According to Council Member Jennifer Geisler, the fact that the Foley tower can only be filled halfway is an issue and it would be beneficial to the city to have a tower that can to meet capacity needs, especially fire flow in the event of a large fire.
Council Member Kari Rehrauer supported the project because it was planning for the future.
A new water tower has been a topic of conversation in the eight years Council Member Brad Johnson has been on the council and he said it has been kicked down the road until now.
Like public safety, a critical priority of the city is a reliable water system, especially when water system failures have occurred in other cities, Johnson said.
“I support the project,” he said. “We will be looking at an even bigger cost down the road if we put it off.”
SOURCE: Hometown Source
