| A map representing the course of the new pipe that will be laid in the city of East Carbon. cutline |
During East Carbon’s regularly scheduled council meeting on March 13, local officials discussed two projects that will positively affect the citizens of the city.
According to Mayor Orlando LaFontaine, East Carbon has been placed on the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board’s funding list for a $766,000 grant that will complete the renewal of the city’s infrastructure..
The water quality board recently agreed to restructure the city’s bonds for the initial phase of the overhaul which cost the city $8.8 million.
“This will complete the city’s infrastructure, this will make us current,” said the East Carbon mayor.
According to LaFontaine, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and Darrin Robinson assisted the city in proposing the project to the CIB.
The project will replace a section of water line that was originally missed during the city’s 1995 revamping.
The line will run from the riding club property in Whitmore Canyon to the East Carbon City water storage tank.
“This is one of the infrastructures most important lines,” reported LaFontaine. “Anything that gets into the existing broken lines will funnel directly into our drinking water. This is really a very serious public safety issue.”
Councilmember Terry Harrison reported that the line will be made of a polyurethane commonly called drisco pipe that can be frozen and heated without incurring structural damage.
The pipe is sealed by a heating and uniform welding process.
The is important because the city received upgrade money from the CIB to pressurize the line.
“East Carbon City’s 60-year old water transmission pipeline needs to be replaced. The city has had two major leaks in the line since they were at the January CIB meeting. After analyzing the water transmission system, it was determined that three additional pressure sustaining stations will be necessary to maintain pressure below the treatment plant,” pointed out a letter from Jones and Demille Engineering presented to the state agency.
The cost for the pressurization upgrade boosted the grant requested by East Carbon from a $700,000 starting point to the $766,000 amount that was presented to the community impact board.
“By keeping that line pressurized, we assure that nothing can get into our culinary water supply,” stated LaFontaine.
The municipality has also received a $120,000 grant from the CIB to perform upgrade and maintenance to East Carbon City Hall.
“We are going to start with safety and energy efficiency and then we are going to work on beautifying the building,” continued LaFontaine.
The East Carbon mayor reported that the CIB stipulated that emergency exit doors were the first priority the city needed to address with the grant.
Following the exit doors, East Carbon plans to replace all windows in the structure in order to make the city’s building more energy efficient.
East Carbon officials also plan to convert a storage space located in the rear of the facility into a conference room for local government meetings.
To conclude the city hall renovation project, East Carbon will paint the outside structure.
“The CIB has really done a lot to help our city,” commented LaFontaine. “They see that we are working to pay our bond obligations and grow. We have a beautiful city and they have to help us take care of it.”
To cover the costs of future improvement endeavors in the city, East Carbon has approached the United States Department of Agriculture for grant money to aid in purchasing maintenance equipment.
The municipality will find out whether East Carbon will receive the federal grant revenues later in the summer.
Last year, East Carbon City received a USDA community facility grant under the economic impact initiative. This program set up by President Bush directs funds at communities that show great need.
East Carbon used last year’s federal grant to purchase two new police vehicles, a public safety all-terrain vehicle, a traffic control monitor and weapons.
The equipment has been used to assist the local police department in patrolling what is reported as a 400 square mile area in Carbon and Emery counties.
According to USDA state director John Cox, rural development programs usually receive anywhere from $80 million to $100 million annually.
If funded in 2007, East Carbon officials plan to devote the monies primarily to the city maintenance department.
“We need some equipment, plain and simple,” said Councilmember David Maggio. “If we don’t receive the funding we will have to pursue other avenues because these guys cannot continue to use the current equipment. And the safety of our employees must come first.”