GENTRY -- Members of the city's finance and economic development committees heard of preliminary plans for a water-tower project which would enable the city to have its own water storage capacity for the eastern portion of its water service area and also to supply water for the new Simmons Processing Plant which is currently under construction just north of the city along Arkansas Highway 59 near Y-City Road.
The city has been discussing and planning to build a water storage facility for several years. Already, in July 2014, then public works supervisor David McNair said the Benton-Washington Public Water Authority was requiring cities to have storage capacity sufficient for at least 24 hours to ensure cities have an adequate water supply during times of peak usage and that Gentry did not have that storage capacity and depends on the Two-Ton towers for its supply of water during peak usage times.
With the new Simmons plant now under construction, the timing of the project worked out for the good of the city since plans can include a tower large enough to handle the needs of the plant and the city with one tower rather than two, according to Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor. According to Johnston, the city currently uses a half million gallons of water per day. It is estimated that the Simmons plant will use more than 3 million gallons per day when it is fully operational.
Jerry Martin, an engineer with Garver engineering and design services, showed the committee a number of options to provide the needed water services, including alternatives with ground storage and elevated storage. He recommended the elevated water tank as the best option for the city because it would require only one pump station to pump the water into the tank rather than numerous pump stations and pump houses along the water lines to provide adequate water pressure and flow.
With an elevated water storage tank, both the Simmons plant and the rest of the water zone served from a Y-City water meter from the Benton-Washington Regional Public Water Authority could be supplied by gravity flow and without the need for additional pump stations, reducing the long-term costs of operating and maintaining additional pump stations in the system.
The proposed water tower would be similar to the large water tower in Siloam Springs, Martin said, with a cement base and an elevated steel tank which would hold enough water for a two- or three-day supply. According to documents supplied by Martin, the tank would hold 2.29 million gallons and would be supplied with a pump capable of pumping 3.33 million gallons per day. It would have two discharge lines, one to Simmons and the other to the Y-City Zone. He said the tanks and towers have an estimated service life of 75 to 100 years.
Included in the plans are future water needs for the city, including the Sunset Ridge subdivision and the possibility of another large subdivision in the area which would be served by the storage tower. The water tower could also help supply the existing Gentry water-storage tanks currently supplied by a second BWRPWA meter at Springtown and Roy Jech Farm Roads.
Though preliminary and not set in stone, the estimated cost for the water tower and water lines was just under $10.827 million but costs could be less, depending on how deep the tower's base would need to be to rest on bedrock. The rough estimate includes a large (30-percent) contingency amount since a precise location would need to be chosen and geotechnical services performed before a more precise cost estimate can be made.
Johnston suggested grants and a low-interest USDA financed loan as the way for the city to pay for the project, with the water system generating funds for repayment. He said financing was readily available, with the current interest rate at 3.125 percent. He said the city would be working in partnership with Simmons on the project.
Johnston asked the committees for the go-ahead to continue plans for an elevated water storage tank. He said the next steps included obtaining an engineered design for an elevated water storage facility from Garver (work already approved by the council) and seeking grant funding and financing information for future council action.
General News on 05/30/2018