Sidney water system to undergo $11.1M in upgrades

As Sidney's population has grown in recent years – and is expected to continue climbing – residential, commercial and recreational demands for water have increased.

To ensure a steady and adequate supply of water is available for all users, the City of Sidney is undertaking a large-scale upgrade of its water system infrastructure.

In the next year, transmission lines will be laid, three booster pumps replaced and water storage capacity increased.

"We have the water we need," said Bill Taylor, the city's water department superintendent. "Now, we just have to get it to other spots. That's what this project is about – getting it to where we need it."

Initial improvements are expected to cost $7 million while two other projects – estimated to cost an additional $4.1 million – could be undertaken in the future.

An $11.1 million long-term, low-interest loan from the state had been secured to cover the total costs, though the city is not obligated to use the entirety of the funds.

Repayment of the borrowed money won't begin until the project is completed.

While city councilors are still debating how – and in what time frame – to pay back the loan, officials have said they hope to limit the impact to rate payers.

However, one likely option to help offset project costs is extending the duration water customers are charged the monthly $15 water debt assessment fee.

The fixed fee is charged to everyone who receives a combined city utility bill, not just per water meter.

If an apartment building has 24 units but only one water meter, Taylor told city councilors as an example at a meeting last summer, all 24 units are charged the fee.

According to numbers provided by the city in July, there were 3,042 water meters in the city and 3,525 residents subject to the additional fee.

The water debt assessment has been charged since 2004 to help pay for the city's last major water system upgrade – the drilling of eight wells about 18 miles northwest of the city.

That project – at the time, one of the largest ever undertaken by the city – came after a few years of drought and a decline in water levels at existing wells.

By statute, the monthly $15 fee is set to expire in 2022.

With a steady supply of water now secured, city officials are working to ensure the infrastructure is in place to get the water where it's needed – specifically in areas of town where new development is taking place.

But under current discussions, the monthly $15 fee could be renewed – in some form – for the next several decades.

Upcoming water projects

At a city council meeting last week, interim city manager – and longstanding city clerk – Geri Anthony told councilors numerous contractors had recently turned up for a pre-bid meeting for the first phase of the water system improvements.

"We took the bidders out and showed them where everything was and went through the plans and specs," she said.

Bids for the initial phase will be accepted until Oct. 1, after which, the city council will award a contract.

That project includes the replacement of three aging booster pumps and the installation of 10,800 linear feet of distribution lines along Elm Street and Fort Sidney Road.

A second project, likely to completed early next year, entails the construction of an elevated water storage tank – or water tower – at the site of the new Love's Travel Stop and additional transmission lines.

"It's going to add infrastructure to east Sidney and increase the amount of water we can provide to the eastern part of the city and also interstate area," Taylor explained.

In recent years, Sidney has grown toward both the eastern and southern boundaries of the city.

The water tower, which is a part the first phase, will ensure firefighters have an adequate amount of water pressure should a fire emergency arise in that part of town.

"That's mainly what the tank is for," Taylor said.

The proposed water tower will hold 500,000 gallons of water – allowing an adequate supply of high pressure water should it be needed.

"If the project was not constructed, at times the city's water system would not operate in accordance with good practices and recommended design standards for public water systems," a project description submitted to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality states.

Lauren Benton, an engineer working on the project, told councilors in July the proposed improvements align with recent developments in the city.

"The benefit to the city is consistency and reliable delivery of water to where future development is located," she said.

The project will address current water system deficiencies while meeting the needs of the city's existing population and future growth, the report submitted to NDEQ states.

Replacement of the current booster station near the water treatment facility is scheduled to be completed this winter, followed by the installation of high-pressure transmission piping along Link 17J and the construction of the new water tank in the spring.

"Most of the development in Sidney is to the east and south," Taylor said," and that's where our deficiencies are. Our infrastructure has to grow."

The remaining amount of the $11.1 million loan is earmarked for additional high-pressure distribution piping and a trunk main.

No timeline for those projects has been publically disclosed.

On Sept. 23, 2014, the Sidney City Council gave its approval for city staff to seek state funding for the projects.

"[The booster pump station] is the sole source of water for the high-pressure zone where you guys have a lot of development – a lot of commercial and retail," Benton said at the time. "When we look at the ability to pump water during fire-flow conditions or in future demands, that pumping is not going to be adequate."

After a presentation in July by Benton and her engineering firm, Diamondback Engineering and Surveying, councilors voted to proceed with the projects.

All of the forthcoming improvements were identified in a 20-year forward-looking water system master plan completed in 2012.

Water master plan

In 2012, the city undertook a comprehensive study of its water infrastructure. That document is being used as a roadmap for upcoming projects.

"It started in 2012," said Taylor, the water department superintendent. "The city council authorized a water study of the whole system. That's where most of this came up."

Through projections and water modeling, deficiencies were identified.

"What's driving the need of [the upgrades] is our infrastructure needs are growing, and in order to meet the demand for future growth that is coming at us, we're going to have to expand the water infrastructure," Sidney Mayor Mark Nienhueser said earlier this month. "We're putting in some long-term infrastructure."

In part because of the city's investment in the northwest well field more than a decade ago, the community "has ample water to supply both current and future water demand," the master plan states.

The challenge facing the city now is ensuring the water is transported, in adequate quantity, to areas where the community is growing.

In recent years, the city has grown at an average rate of 0.77 percent per year.

"It can be expected that as the population increases, so will the demand for water," the master plan states.

The capacity of Sidney's water system – including the wells constructed to the northwest in 2004 and the existing northeast and city wells – is 12,250 gallons per minute, or 17.6 million gallons per day.

Within six storage tanks, the city is able to hold 3.1 million gallons.

The oldest storage tank is more than a century old – a 125,000-gallon steel reservoir constructed in 1909. Another half-million gallons of water is stored in a tank constructed in 1929.

If recent population growth continues, Sidney will have 8,100 residents in 20 years – some living in newly constructed homes and apartments.

That growth is expected to coincide with new retail, office, industrial and park developments.

According to the master plan, by 2019, total water system demands will increase 25 percent. Within 20 years, that number is projected to rise by 61 percent.

At the July city council meeting when approval was granted for the improvement projects, Councilor Wendall Gaston said the city needs to be able to meet the upcoming demands on its water system.

"I think with everything coming on board, there's no way to delay," he said.

Project funding

Sidney's water system upgrades will be paid for with a loan from the Nebraska Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

Nienhueser said the money can be borrowed at a 1 to 1.5 percent interest rate, and the city will have 20 years to pay it back – with the first payment due only after construction is completed.

The loan program was authorized by the federal government two decades ago and provides money to plan, design and construct public water supply systems within the state. It is administered by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

The city has used the program before – in 2004 for construction of the new water wells, and currently, for storm water management improvements.

What affect the water system upgrades will have on rates is yet to be determined, but a consensuses among local leaders is to limit any potential increase.

"We're looking at it holistically to make the best decision," the mayor said.

Because of the duration Sidney has to pay off the loan, and the low interest, Taylor said with proper budgeting, rates may not even rise.

"If we do it right, you won't notice any increase at all," he said.

That $15 monthly water debt assessment fee, though, will likely be around a lot longer than originally expected – in some form.

At the July meeting, councilors discussed possible options for extending the fee – and whether it is even fair for current water customers to help pay the improvement costs for future customers.

"I still think we have to put a fair share on the folks doing new development," Nienhueser said at the time.

The project engineers responded that when improvements are made to the water system, it benefits all users.

A final decision is yet to be made, but one idea discussed by councilors is extending the monthly flat fee to all water customers through 2048.

Whether the fee remains $15 for another three decades or is incrementally reduced as the city's population – and customer base – grows will be decided by the city council in upcoming months.