Moroni seeks to bond for ’emergency’ $200K water line replacement project

By Suzanne Dean

03-07-2019

MORONI—The Moroni City Council will hold a public hearing March 21 on a proposal to issue up to $200,000 in bonds to replace some of the pipes in the culinary water system.
“We all think this is an emergency, Mayor Paul Bailey said at the last city council meeting on Feb. 21. “We need to do it.”
According to the “Notice of Public Hearing” approved by the city council, the bonds would be paid off from customer water payments. No increase in property taxes or water rates is anticipated.
Moroni’s main water well is located southwest of the city. Water from the well is pumped through an 8-inch pipe uphill to two water tanks located north of the city at about 100 West.
Water from the tanks flows into 10-inch and 12-inch pipes, which run downhill about 800 feet to where the culinary water distribution system begins.
About six weeks ago, one of the pipes between water tank and 400 North broke, flooding two houses. And it’s not the first time there has been a break in the 800-foot stretch, Carol Haskins, city recorder, said.
When workers fixed the break, they found the pipes were resting on rock rather than sand bedding. Breaks in the pipes could have been caused partly by pipes rubbing against rocks, Haskins said.
Sunrise Engineering gave the city an estimate of $110,000 to replace the pipes, including designing the project and directing the bid opening.
The city asked the Utah Drinking Water Board for a loan; and after discussion, the board approved a loan of up to $200,000, which would cover the engineer’s estimate plus any unexpected costs.
However, the city council agreed its goal was to stick to the $110,000 figure. “If we go over $110,000, then we’ve got to go back in front of the board. It’s not an approval process, but just to let them know why the city has run over,” Bailey told the city council.
The mayor noted the 8-inch line between the well and water tanks seemed to be holding up well. “If we’re lucky with that 8-inch line, we may be okay” and won’t have to replace it, he said.
The city will use the loan money for repairs. Then it will issue a bond to pay the state back, and will pay the bond off at 2.34 percent interest. The anticipated term of the bond is 22 years. If the city borrows $110,000, as anticipated, and continues bond payments over the full 22 years, it will pay about $28,000 in interest.
No one is sure how long the 8-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch pipes have been in place, but it’s been at least 20 years, Haskins said. The life expectancy of the pipes is supposed to be 20 years. The city is proposing to replace them with pipes designed to last 50 years.