WEST BOUNTIFUL’S water lines along several streets are the most important repair on the list for now. Some pipes in the city are at least 60 years old.
The bonds, which the city had been looking to issue since balancing out its budget, will be used to fix some major pipelines along the city’s streets, as well as other projects they’d mentioned were important to the city.
“With all the projects we have planned, we’re currently looking at roughly $4.9 million worth of fixes,” said Craig Howe, the city’s Assistant Administrator who overlooks finances. “So I believe we may not even use the entire bondage money for water projects.”
Howe also mentioned that the bond market is fairly attractive at the moment as far as interest rates are concerned, so the timing of receiving the bond is nearly perfect.
City council went into discussion about which projects, once they receive the bond, will be considered the most important and which can be held off for future plans. Even though Howe stated that the city should be well under the $5.5 million allotted, they want to remain “realistic in case something comes up.”
For now, the top priority for the city is to make a water line along Porter Lane for the seven amended homes that became part of West Bountiful a few months ago. Other projects include the 500 South pipelines, the 400 North connection from 500 to 1100 West, as well a good stretch of road on 800 West. Council members had been told that many of those lines are 60 years old or more, and that the typical lifespan of their current water lines is 50 years.
Other items they’d mentioned for repair projects are the water meters in certain areas. Some council members have driven around the city and found that several of the meters are broken, leading to misreads and changes in some residents’ utility bills.
“The meters are aging with the water pipes,” said Howe. “Which leads to a worse reading of a resident’s water usage.
“We should look into possibly replacing some of those as well, but they’re not as important as the other projects previously mentioned.”
“We are trying to manage our water system the best way we can,” said West Bountiful Mayor James Behunin. “We believe that we need to take the most prudent approach in providing water to our citizens at the lowest possible cost to them.”
sgillet@davisclipper.com
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