Mt. Pleasant looks to the future
By Rhett Wilkinson
Staff writer
2-3-2021
MT. PLEASANT—The Mt. Pleasant City Council has approved a bond for up to $4.22 million for culinary water improvements, including a new well, water treatment plant and PVC piping.
The bond will be issued by Cache Valley Bank at 1.15 percent and will serve as a “bridge loan” while the improvements are under construction, according to Dave Oxman, Mt. Pleasant City treasurer.
Once work is completed, USDA Rural Development will repay the bond, and the city will begin making payments directly to USDA. Besides the $4.22-million loan, the federal agency has committed to $908,000 in grant money, for a total commitment of $5.2 million.
The city has been working on the project for three years, Councilman Kevin Stallings said at a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 26.
“With approving the funding tonight, the wheels are in motion,” Councilman Rondy Black said. “That’s exciting.”
At a public hearing Tuesday, Jan. 26, Devan Shields, project manager for Sunrise Engineering, said he would put out a request-for-proposal to contractors for bids on the work. One contractor will be needed for the treatment plant and a separate one for the well.
Shields said that to make sure the components needed to operate the treatment plant fit in the building that ultimately houses them, he is putting the equipment out to bid first and then designing a plant around the equipment.
Shields described the treatment plant as a “microfiltration plant.” Microfiltration uses a fine filter or membrane to trap solids and bacteria while the rest of the water flows through the membrane.
Regarding the well, Shields said he has identified a couple of potential sites. He said he would select a site and drill a test well first.
“If it turns out well or meets your requirement, then you go ahead and build the culinary well,” he said. “If it doesn’t meet your minimum requirements, then you re-evaluate.”
All plans have to be reviewed by USDA, Shields noted,
Between the microfiltration plant, which will treat spring water currently supplying the Mt. Pleasant culinary system, and the new well with a target of 500 gallons per minute, “we’ll be able to increase the storage capacity for additional population and also have room to accommodate growth,” Shields said.
It is hard to predict how much good water will be produced as a result of the culinary water system improvements, Shields said.
“We’re excited for the project and for the city’s water sources to (be) a little more reliable,” he said.
“There’s water out there; we just got to find out what is the best water for your money,” Stallings said.
