Germantown water tower moves to design phase
A potential and controversial elevated water tower in Germantown is one step closer to becoming a reality after the city’s board of mayor and aldermen approved a design contract for the tower. However, the water tower would still have to go through subsequent approvals before it can be constructed.
The board approved the $233,800 contract with Lakeland engineering and architectural firm A2H, Inc. in a 4-1 vote during a virtual meeting Monday night. Only Aldermen Dean Massey vote no.
The contract will be paid for from the city’s utility fund.
Public works director Bo Mills said Monday the city’s water master plan has long called for a second tower in the east to supply “the resiliency and redundancy our system desperately needs.”
Despite the public works department’s best efforts, the proposed tower has been on the city’s back burner since the 1970’s, and previous pushes to have it built have been scuttled due to residents’ concerns about aesthetics and the potential impact on property values. More recently, Germantown residents expressed concerns that a proposed location for the tower was too close to Forest Hill Elementary School.
The city attempted to address concerns about the tower’s location by modifying an also controversial land swap between the city and the Germantown Municipal School District, creating a three-party, four-parcel exchange between the city, the school district and a developer.
Under that agreement, which was approved by the board of mayor and aldermen and the school board, developer John Duke, who plans to build a singlefamily-home subdivision north of Forest Hill Elementary, would give 6.5 acres of land to the city. It would be used for the water tower and park space, placing the tower along Old Poplar Pike, east of Forest Hill Irene Road and further away from the school. Duke would receive 3 acres of land to the east of Forest Hill Elementary from the school district for his subdivision.
The city will get 12 acres of land from the district, which is intended to be kept as a nature preserve and could be transferred back to the district in the future if the elementary school needed to expand. The school district will receive the bulk of Houston Levee Park behind Houston High School from the city, with the city retaining a few acres to ensure public access to walking and biking trails.
Massey said it was possible the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic could stall or completely kill a single-family home subdivision planned for the area around the proposed tower. He added that the nearby Forest Hill Heights smart growth area might develop more slowly than anticipated as well.
“This water tower may in fact turn out to be unnecessary,” he said. “I think there are alternatives to this water tower.”
Water tower requirements
Mills previously said the city is overly-reliant on the larger of the two existing water towers along Southern Avenue, leaving the city’s water system vulnerable should there be a catastrophic event. Constructed in 1970, the larger tank can hold about half a million gallons of water while the smaller tower, built in 1956, can hold about 75,000 gallons and does not meet modern seismic standards.
The smaller tower is in service only when the larger tower has to undergo routine maintenance. Mills has said any future water tower site needs to meet three criteria: it has to be close to a 24inch water main, which will connect the tower to the rest of the system; it has to be close to the ridgeline, the highest point in the city; and it has to be close to the existing Johnson Road water treatment facility.
Alderman Forrest Owens said Monday he thought it was important not to delay the project.
“I’m anxious to see this project move forward,” Owens said. “I do believe firmly that this is a public safety issue for our residents.”
Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at Corinne.kennedy@commercialappeal.com.