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Walker looking at costly water system upgrades
Nevada Daily Mail
An engineer from Bartlett and West spoke to the Walker Board of Aldermen about improving the water system in the city of Walker.
Michael Logston, of Bartlett and West, an engineering and technology solutions company, went over the most recent draft of his document, "Engineering report of Water System Improvement."
Logston told the board that the water distribution system in Walker could be better.
"As you know, the new facility [Walker] has recently been completed, the new clear water [project with the Department of Natural Resources] will have installed a new control system, so the treatment of the water system is really good right now," he said. "The only remaining concern is the distribution system."
Logston told the board about his hydraulic analysis of the Walker water system completed with computer software that looks to see how the system functions under high stress.
"We found out, as a rule, the fire hydrants you have are not capable of providing the minimum for fire protection which is 250 gallons per minute over the course of two hour duration. Now that calculation of your elevated tower does have adequate storage for the system, but it cannot provide adequate pressure."
Walker mayor, Phil Martin was quick to speak to the media, "We have plenty of water to put out a house fire. This is regulation to the government." Logston confirmed what Martin had said. Martin said nothing about the water's pressure.
Logston continued and showing the board a map his team had drawn over Walker with new hydrants and pipes creating a circular-grid pattern throughout the town.
"Currently, the only section of the system that has a six-inch pipe is from the water plant to Marvin Avenue. The rest of the pipe is four-inches or two-inches, and two inches is not very big. The current water system runs to the east end of town [along the sewer and phone lines]."
Logston said there could be some difficulties replacing the line because the DNR requires a separation of 10 feet between water and sewer lines. Some additional expenses would come when the water lines had to be encased as it moved past manhole structures.
"What we're proposing is to put a new pipeline down the side of Marvin Avenue, and all of these meter connections would need to [be relocated,]" Logston said.
Because William Jeffery, a city employee, has been working on fixing some of the broken meters and fixtures, Logston said not all the meters marked in the current draft of the engineering report need to be replaced.
The plan's proposal, Logston said, is to place a six-inch pipe along Marvin Street, and a four-inch pipe from Barrett across Marvin toward the school. Along Second Street, fire hydrants would be placed so there would be "good" coverage.
"The Department of Natural Resources requires a minimum for fire hydrants," Logston said. "That's why we have proposed a basic skeleton -- if you will -- of a six-inch water main and enhanced it with four-inch lines for just additional capacity."
Another pipeline proposal Logston presented to the board was a six-inch water main from the water plant heading north under the railroad to Walker Avenue and Eighth Street connecting to Barrett and ties into a four-inch line that loops back under the railroad over toward the south end of the town.
"Basically, we would have a complete loop of the town, another loop here that would provide fire protection and replace a lot of old water mains that are deteriorating."
The total cost of the proposed project is $1,035,000. Logston said he prefers to project high costs for his projects.
"What I like to do, particularly at this stage, when it's still a planning stage, is to estimate high on the cost. If the city decides to move ahead with this project and apply for funding through various funding agencies, then the dollar amount we propose becomes the dollar amount we work with."
The projected cost includes fire hydrants, piping and labor costs. After the meeting, Martin said the money to pay for the project would have to come from government loans and bond proposals.
"This is only a plan. It gives us something to work from, Martin said. "Just a plan. Before you start you need a plan.
"The water system was designed and implemented four decades ago"
Towards the end of the presentation, seemingly towards media, Martin said, "Why is this necessary? Well it's not necessary but in the future it will be. Just like before, we didn't have a water system. It wasn't necessary, but it sure is nice. The same thing with our clear water, we had people objecting to that but it is necessary. That project took 20 years to fruition... but it is necessary." Alderman Mike Newman agreed.
"The thing is, we've got to upgrade the water system, Newman said. "You've got to keep up with the times; it's getting old."
Alderman Traci Longstreth joined Newman, "If we don't, it's going to fall apart."
Martin told the board they would have to schedule public hearings to tell the public of the plan before they moved forward with the project.
In other business Jeffery told the board the city had received a payment of $7,392.30 to cover most of the cost of repairing the damage to the sewage elevator that was struck by lightning last month.