SPLOST wish list emerging
Rome’s water and sewer director talks about projects he’d like to see funded through the 1-cent tax.
Better fire protection for Bekaert and Rosemont Park, a sewer fix in Armuchee and whatever the levee system around South Rome may need are among the improvements that could be funded through an extension of the 1-cent special purpose, local option sales tax.
Rome Water and Sewer Director Mike Hackett briefed a city committee Thursday on the projects he expects to propose to the SPLOST Citizens Advisory Committee. The group in charge of vetting projects for a November vote is planning to hold its first meeting next week.
“We want to go to the committee with a pretty robust package of projects that are important to us,” Public Services Manager Kirk Milam said. “We can do them by fees or rate increases, but we like SPLOST.”
Hackett said he would finalize the project scopes and cost-estimates before the committee puts out a call for submissions. However, he wanted to gauge support from the Water and Sewer Committee’s three city commissioners — Sue Lee, Sundai Stevenson and Craig McDaniel — which he got.
“Our water and sewer systems allow us to talk to industries about what we can offer here,” Lee said.
“Without them, you don’t get a chance,” City Manager Sammy Rich added.
Hackett has eight projects on his list, which he may propose separately or in combinations.
Rosemont Park water system: Small-diameter, galvanized mains serving the area would be replaced to provide better fire-flow and address rusty water complaints. A 20-inch main on Maple Street also would be extended about 2,000 feet to the pump station.
Hackett said the improvements also could provide some relief to systems serving the Saddle Mountain/Darlington Drive area and Old Lindale Road, as a side benefit.
Bruce Hamler Water Treatment The 75-yearold concrete basins where silt and sediment are removed from the river water have been degraded by cleaning. Adding a protective lining would likely cost $300,000 to $500,000.
Wastewater treatment plant: New roofs are needed for the Black’s Bluff Road digesters — vats where bacteria break down the waste so the liquid can be siphoned off. A small one replaced two years ago cost about $800,000; larger ones may be $1 million to $2 million.
Hackett said the roofs
“are more like boats.” They have to float up and down as the liquid level changes, so the methane gas doesn’t build up enough to explode.
Armuchee sewer improvements: Rain seeps in and floods the old clay sewer mains serving both sides of Martha Berry Highway in the areas of Old Summerville and Old Dalton roads. Hackett wants to replace them, along with the Green Acres lift station, which is housed deep underground and accessed via a 24-inch pipe.
“It can be very unsafe, and hot, when you go down to work on the pumps,” he said. “And when it starts leaking and filling up, it’s kind of eerie.”
West Rome sewer improvements: Hackett wants to line and seal two old sewer mains that get inundated by water when levels rise in the Oostanaula River and Little Dry Creek. As part of the project, he’d replace the Horseleg Creek lift station, which is also an old-style underground installation.
South Rome flood system improvements: A levee protects the area around Myrtle Hill Cemetery that’s nestled in a loop of the Coosa River.
“We want to see what we can do about capacity; improve the pump and make it more reliable,” Hackett said.
Upgrade SCADA system: With its “brain” housed at the filter plant and an antenna on Mount Alto, the SCADA system provides real-time status on the lift stations and allows operators to control all the pumps and tanks. Hackett said it’s becoming obsolete.
“I’m working on an estimate, but you should know it’s coming and we have to have it,” he told the commissioners.
Hackett also said he’s “giving some thought to” the twin needs of a larger customer service office and a new site for the operations center where crews are based and equipment is stored. He may propose a facility to house both functions in a centralized location.