City of Columbia eyes two school sites for new water tower location
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia has identified land near two public schools as its location for a new water tower.
Columbia Public Schools' Long Range Facilities Planning Committee met Wednesday afternoon and one of the items listed on the agenda included a potential partnership with the city to allow water towers on school property. Several city officials attended the meeting including Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman and City Manager De’Carlon Seewood.
The city is hoping to build the tower near John Warner Middle School or Beulah Ralph Elementary School. During its presentation to the school district, city staff said that Beaulah Ralph Elementary is the most-desirable location, and the least-expensive. Placing it at John Warner Middle School would require obtaining easements for distribution improvements, which may be time-consuming, city officials said.
A new water tower in southwest Columbia was one of several projects included in a 2018 bond issue that voters passed. When the city opted to raise water utility rates in August, Julie Ryan, of the COMO Safe Water Coalition, criticized the City Council for failing to hold public utilities accountable for making little progress on the water tower and water treatment plant upgrades that she believes should have been completed three years ago. According to Ryan, the city was supposed to have this new water tower built by 2021.
The city said in August that it narrowed down locations for the water tower, but were still working with property owners and is conducting evaluations. Columbia Board of Education member April Ferrao said the city first reached out to the district within the past couple of weeks.
“Today was new information for most of us,” Ferrao said.
The land where the water tower will be built needs to meet several requirements. Because of this, Seewood said finding the right spot has been difficult.
“Finding the right land, the right height, the right distance to our system, that's been the struggle,” Seewood said. “We've gone into some negotiations with some landowners, and it just wasn't able to kind of pull it through because either there's some issues on the property that didn't allow it, or (there was) just an owner who just was really reluctant to sell.”
The city is hoping the water tower will address complaints over water pressure in southwest Columbia.
“We have water pressure issues on the south part of town. We're also a growing community, and so there's that need. As your community grows, you've got to have the infrastructure in place and water towers are part of that infrastructure process,” Seewood said. “The need is there. And so right now, we're not at a critical point, but we could (reach one). And so this is an opportunity to be ahead of potential issues in our community.”
Mayor Barbra Buffaloe said during the meeting that residents she has interacted with are generally in support of the project. However, if the agreement is approved by the school district, the city would still reach out to nearby residents to gather feedback.
Buffaloe also added that the agreement would include engaging with students to teach them about city infrastructure and beautification projects while the water tower is being built.
Seewood said that funding for the project would come from the 2018 bond, and that construction would take roughly two years to build. The proposed tower would be 160-feet tall, with a bowl spanning 80 feet in diameter.
Ferrao said there are several factors that will determine if the two sides come to an agreement.
“We're going to be looking at: Does it fit in with the structures that we currently have? Are there going to be any safety issues related to our students? We're going to be looking at how much land they might need if we're going to, like they said, they might plat the land out, which would mean we would be selling them a piece of land. Or, are we going to simply be granting an easement where they would have access?” Ferrao said. “Of course, our attorneys will be involved in any of those discussions to evaluate things, as well."
