Monday, August 8th, 2016
Water tower online sooner than expected
By William Kincaid
CELINA - Landmark Structures of Texas has completed work on the city's multimillion-dollar water tower in the Grand Lake Industrial Park two months earlier than expected.
Mayor Jeff Hazel this morning confirmed the 1 million-gallon water tower is online and running. The expected completion date had been in October, but Hazel said the project had fallen into place very well.
"I do think weather had a lot to do with it," he said
The new tower will replace the aging 250,000-gallon Grand Lake Road tower, which serves all of Celina's industrial and retail areas near Havemann Road as well as homes and other properties near state Route 703 to the Wright State University-Lake Campus in Jefferson Township.
That tower was drained and sealed off last Friday, Hazel said.
Iseler Demolition Inc. of Michigan likely will come in within the next two weeks to raze the old tower. The company was awarded a $15,760 contract for the work.
Hazel said it will take Isler a day to tear down the tower and remove a substantial amount of the debris. Grand Lake Road will be closed for an entire day.
When coupled with the 1.5-million gallon water tower on Summit Street, built for $1.8 million in 2005, the new tower will greatly enhance water volume and pressure, according to Hazel.
He said the city has a storage capacity of 2.5 million gallons of water, enough to cover more than two days' worth of use.
It also will be able to handle any future large water users.
"The new tank also will ... provide adequate water for fire protection and periods of service interruption and provide capacity to meet future increases in water demand," an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency press release states.
OEPA offered $50 million in zero-interest loans to drinking water plants for upgrades and back-up water sources to combat the effects of harmful algal blooms. Preference was given to systems in the Lake Erie watershed and those that had experienced harmful algal blooms, thus qualifying Celina for the financing, according to OEPA.
The city is financing the $2.27 million project with a $1 million zero-interest OEPA loan, which will be paid back over 20 years. All other funds, including repayment of the loan, will come from the water account and the Staeger Road Tax Increment Financing District, which has a balance of about $1 million, according to Hazel.
TIF revenue comes from taxes on any increase in land or building values in each district after establishment of the TIF, an economic development mechanism available to local governments. TIF districts allow for real estate taxes on new development to be diverted into separate accounts to be used for public infrastructure projects within the district. TIFs can run for 25 years.
Also, by using the loan, the city will maintain a reserve in the TIF in case streets must be improved within the district, which includes Walmart and Menards, according to Hazel. City debt from the Johnson Avenue, Grand Lake Road and Buckeye Street projects is also being paid back from Staeger Road TIF funds.
