PRWID Reviews Subdivision

By Sun Advocate

The Price River Water Improvement District board met Tuesday and one of the main issues on the agenda involved the near final plans for the water system at the Hill subdivision southwest of Price.
“Since the last meeting, we got the engineering study from the developer’s engineer,” explained district manager Phil Palmer. “Now, we need to decide if we can send it back to them with some suggestions for changes or send it to another firm for further study.”
Palmer reported that he, several staff members and board chair Steve Denison had met with the developer, Richard Lee, that afternoon and discussed the situation.
“We reviewed the report and the engineer did a good job,” said Palmer. “But we have some question on the hydraulics, some elevation questions.”
Palmer pointed out that the staff members at PRWID felt the pump station the engineer placed 200 feet west of the main tee was too far away to maintain the pressure needed.
The water improvement district manager said the staff felt that the pump station should located only 10 to 15 feet away from the tee.
“Placing the pump there will give us the most flexibility with our system,” said Palmer.
The PRWID manager was also worried about one of the pumps that the engineer suggested be installed in the system.
“One of my other concerns is that one of the pumps that they have suggested be installed in the system is one I have never heard of,” stated Palmer. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good pump – I just never have heard of it.”
There was a discussion by the board concerning pressure and the worry of making sure the water supplied to the area would be adequate in the event a fire should occur.
“The health department has approved the project,” said Palmer. “And the fire marshal has stated in a letter that he feels the fire department can fight a fire with 500 gallons of water a minute.”
The problem of the number of hook ups that may surface in the future was also discussed. Some board members were concerned about the possibility of too many hookups for the supply.
“When the plat was designed, it was for five acre lots,” pointed out developer Richard Lee. “But once it was sold, there are only two lots with less than six acres. Some of the areas have 12 or 16 acres. The total of 26 hookups is very conservative. There will be many less than the original number. I am willing to look at whatever pumps works the best.”
PRWID legal council Nick Sampinos advised the board members to look at the current zoning and make sure the subdivision water plan meets the requirements.
The board decided to send the plan back to the developer’s engineer for “tweaking” with the PRWID staff’s suggestions. If the engineer approves the changes, the staff will poll the board to determine whether the project should be approved based on the updated design.
Addressing an unrelated business matter, the PRWID board listened to a report from Delynn Fielding on the status of the economic development areas that have been set up in the county and Wellington city.
The development areas impact the water improvement district because of services that may have to be provided when businesses move in.
Fielding also pointed out that he has been talking with businesses that are considering the Carbon County Airport as a possible location.
“One of the businesses is an industry that disassembles old planes and refurbishes them,” said Fielding.
In addition, Palmer informed the board that the district had bid and was ready to proceed with the utility relocation project in conjunction with the Utah Department of Transportation improvements on U.S. Highway 6 between Price and Wellington.
“Everything is ready, but the ducks are not in a row with UDOT,” indicated Palmer. “They have verbally told me that they have the rights of way in the area, but we have no written confirmation.”
Johansen Construction, the company that submitted the winning bid, wants to start right away and put two crews to work to complete the project.
Because of complications associated with part of the project, the company has also asked for a $5 per foot increase in payment to complete the improvements from 2000 East to near the highways east interchange.
“Problem is that he needs some assurances about getting started,” said Palmer.
Sampinos advised the board, however, that everything should be approved and signed by the state before anyone can proceed with anything or the water improvement district could get left holding the bag for non-authorized expenses.
The concern is that the state will take so long to approve the changes that the window of opportunity for construction will close because of weather changes.
The board members decided to have Sampinos work out a rewrite of the agreement with UDOT.
If the agreement gets approved by the state, the PRWID board will call a special meeting to ratify the changes and start the project.
In a second action involving Johansen Construction, the board decided to have the contractor proceed with a project for the installation of new sewer line in the Elm Street-400 East area. The bid was $65,161.67.
Lynna Topolovec, a county resident and member of the planning and zoning commission questioned the PRWID staff about where the money for this project was coming from during the session. She was concerned that the money was coming out of maintenance funds.
Jeff Richins, assistant district manager explained that the money actually comes out of impact fees that new homes and structures pay to connect to the system.
“Each new home pays $800 to us to hook up,” said Richins. “That is how we pay for these projects.”
In addition, the PRWID board approved the budgeted purchase of a new truck to replace an old vehicle with more than 180,000 miles on it.
The approved expenditure will total $30,631.16 and the truck will be delivered to the water improvement district by Young Chevrolet of Bountiful.
“This truck is being bought through the state contract,” pointed out Richins to the board.
The board also voted to surplus out the truck being replaced when PRWID gets the new vehicle into service.