Dateline: September 6, 2007

New water system work gets started 

Work is scheduled to begin this week on a $300,000 water system upgrade that will install new lines and a new pressure system on the west side of Clarendon.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts expected a contractor to begin boring under city streets Wednesday but did not know when the project will be completed.

“It will be a lengthy project,” Roberts said.

A grant is paying for the materials, engineering, and boring on the job. The city will provide the labor to install the system, which is aimed at correcting pressure problems in that part of the city.

Roberts said the job includes connections to 172 meters and 17 bores under the streets. A new booster pump station with two pumps will be installed at the west water tower to maintain the pressure on the system. The grant calls for 12,250 feet of six-inch pipe.

According to the grant application, the project will benefit 224 people, of which 136 are in households with low to moderate income.

Water lines will be installed on McLean and on Collinson from Eighth to the alley at Third; on Johns, Leroy, and Cottage from Eighth to Fifth; in the alley near Third between Collinson and McLean; on Fifth from Collinson to Cottage; and on Eight from McLean to Cottage.

The grant contract expires July 6, 2008.