Hot Springs one step closer to water tower
HOT SPRINGS – The town of Hot Springs will soon be getting a new water tower after the town council voted 3-0 to approve the funding needed for the project.
The contract agreed to by Hot Springs and the engineering firm is the next step in the process to get the new tower built. This has been an on-going project for the past three years. The numerous steps involved in the process for acquiring the funds for the project.
Hot Springs had to apply for money from several different agencies in order to have funding for the project. Each type of funding was dependent of the last, which has made the process long. The next step would move to bid the contract to perform the service. The project is estimated to cost $1.2 million and hopes to begin in the spring of 2014.
“Most people see the $1.2 million dollar price tag and think they aren’t getting a lot of bang for their buck,” said Hot Springs Mayor Randy Woods.
“We get a 200,000 gallon tank and a line extension to school which doesn’t seem like much but in the long run it keeps us ahead of the game.”
Currently, Hot Springs is not in compliance with the state’s standard for water storage capacity. Hot Springs has around 200,000 gallons of water storage servicing the area. The problem for Hot Springs is not there is not enough water to service those who currently live there, but if in the future more people move to Hot Springs, they will not have the capacity of water for those people.
“The state requires us to have 300,000 and some gallons in storage,” Woods said. “This will put us in compliance with the state.”
Servicing potential customers in Hot Springs is on the mind of Woods. He sees a potential problem if a commercial business wanted to open in Hot Springs in the near future
“If someone wanted to build an assisted living community here with say 10 residents or whatever, the state would probably not allow the project because we don’t have the water capacity,” Woods said. “So much work would go into it, engineering, a line extension, and the state would look at it and say, sorry Hot Springs you don’t have the capacity to service it.”
The new tank will be on the north side of town and allow for flow from both sides. It will also work as a line extension to the school. Currently there are no fire hydrants near the Hot Springs School. The line extension would help protect the school in case of fire. The line extension would offer city water to new residents beyond the school for potential growth in the future.
Additionally, Hot Springs would add a new control system for three wells in the city.
“The current tower was built in 1929 and remodeled in 1986 to add a roof,” Woods said. “Before that you had ducks swimming around in your drinking water.”
The Town of Hot Springs has an engineering assessment every few years to see what areas need the most attention for repairs and upgrades. The water project has been an on going plan since early in the last decade.
“The whole water system in town was redone in about 2002. We put in all new pipes and mostly all new hydrants,” Woods said. “All houses got new meters and mains all over town.”
The project is part of the town’s engineering assessment. Bidding is the next stop to make Hot Springs compliant with the State of Montana.