Next Friday, Belgrade city workers are slated to flip the switch and start pumping 500,000 gallons of water into the newly constructed water tower on the south side of town, City Manager Joe Menicucci said. On Wednesday, painters were applying the finishing touches on the 125-foot tower that should put an end to the water supply issue, Menicucci said.
When both towers are on-line, the city will have a million-gallon reserve which will easily supply the city daily consumption of more than 577,000 gallons. Belgrade has been operating on the edge of the supply limit and a new tower was needed to accommodate the mushrooming growth experienced during the past years, Menicucci said.
But the plan to pay for the roughly $1.5 million tank has been altered somewhat. Originally, Belgrade secured about $716,000 from the federal government in a 2005 appropriations bill and two developments would pick up the rest of the tab. Meadowlark Ranch subdivision contributed $300,000 but the $500,000 from Ryen Glenn Estates developers hasn’t come through yet, Menicucci said. To make up the difference, city officials will move some money around in the budget designated for different projects.
Epic Development, the company developing the 170-acre Ryen Glenn Estates subdivision northeast of the city, is currently being sued by Williams Plumbing, Heating and Utilities for nearly $1 million in infrastructure installations, according to court records. The project’s money dried up after Epic’s primary lender, ANB Financial of Bentonville, Ark., failed in May and is currently in receivership, the suit said.
Developers were slated to get final plat in May but pulled the item off the agenda at the last minute, Belgrade Planner Jason Karp said. On Monday, the Belgrade City Council voted unanimously to extend Ryen Glenn's preliminary plat for one year. The move will bide time for developers to seek a solution.
Controversy aside, the new tower is one of many water projects slated in the coming years, Menicucci said. Several mainlines around town will be replaced with larger diameter pipes and workers will continue to fix leaks in the older section of town.
From the Trail Daily Times