Water Department unveils plans for 2010
By Peg Kenyon / Editor / pkenyon@jacksonvillepatriot.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 4:27 PM CST
The Jacksonville Water Department is moving ahead with plans to consolidate its operations under one roof.
Water Department director Mike Simpson told the City Council at its Jan. 21 meeting that the department was planning to finalize the purchase of the former Sutherland’s Home Improvement Store, along with six acres of property on Jan. 29 at a cost of $875,000.
Simpson said the move would give the department nearly double the amount of room it has currently at its Marshall Road location. The Sutherland’s building is 24,000 square feet.
“Being close to City Hall will make it more convenient for our rate payers, builders and engineers,” he added.
JWU’s ultimate goal is to relocate in an updated facility by 2012. Water officials also plan on planting trees and shrubbery for esthetic purposes.
“We’re all about working with the city to have a nice facility and landscape,” Simpson said.
Simpson also updated the council on its construction projects. He said the department has been approved for at least $25 million in loans from either the Environmental Protection Agency or the state’s revolving loan fund.
The funds will go to four projects the department is working on including construction of a $9.96 million water tank, known as the West Area tank project; an $8.3 million water main and meter station known as the South Source Water Main project; a $2.6 million water line to connect Central Arkansas Water to the city of Jacksonville and a $682,000 upgrade to the city’s radio control system for its pumps, water tanks and chemical feeds.
The water tank will replace a 65-year-old underground tank that provides water to the Little Rock Air Force Base. Simpson said the tank hasn’t failed, but that the average life of a tank is about 75 years. “It would be a wiser choice to build another one,” he said.
The new tank will be an above-ground tank that will utilize gravity to distribute water. That is expected to reduce pumping costs by $60,000 a year, according to Jim Peacock, chairman of the Jacksonville Water Commission.
The new water main will be a 24-inch line in the Brushy Island area. “It will bring an additional six-million-gallon capacity per day into the city from Central Arkansas Water,” Simpson explained. “All of this (the four projects) is in preparation of declining water levels in our aquifer.”
Simpson said the system’s bad debt for 2009 totaled $30,559, up 38 percent from the $22,128 in 2008. “I think the best thing I can say about that is it’s due to the economy. People are paying later than ever before and our disconnect cycles are even up some,” Simpson said.
He said the utility had 9,670 customers in 2009, 36 full-time employees, and an average daily demand for water of 3,615,258 gallons.
In the 2009 the utility laid 12,309 linear feet of pipe, installed 18 fire hydrants and 45 valves, conducted 62 water service upgrades and experienced 71 new water services.
