City board approves water tank contract

The Hot Springs Board of Directors awarded a $4,647,000 contract Tuesday night for the construction of a 3 million-gallon composite elevated water tank, moving the city closer to increasing the regional water system’s usable storage by almost 50 percent.

Chicago Bridge & Iron LLC of Alpharetta, Ga., was awarded the project, outbidding Landmark Structures of Fort Worth, Texas, $4,890,000, and Caldwell Tanks Inc. of Louisville, Ky., $4,892,000. Crist Engineers, the city’s water system consultant, recommended CB&I’s bid. The company submitted alternate bids for a 2.5 million-gallon tank, $4,141,00, and one for

2 million gallons, $3,723,300. According to bid information, the

$2,134,000 for a 3 million-gallon steel tank is the costliest project component, followed by $730,000 for a concrete support pedestal.

The uncommitted balance, or about

$3,694,000, of the proceeds from a 2015 debt issue will go toward the project. Proceeds from the $20,352,459 bond issue the board

approved last month will pay the remaining cost. The city’s financial adviser said last month that the city can begin drawing on those funds today.

Todd Piller, project manager for the city’s engineering department, said the 190-foot-tall tank will take 18 months to construct and be the city’s first composite tank.

It will connect to a large-diameter transmission line serving the south and west ends of a sprawling distribution system comprising almost 900 miles of lines. The city purchased a

1-acre site for the tank at 154 Cornerstone Lane from Garrett Enterprises Inc. in January for

$125,000.

The site behind Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse was selected for its elevation and proximity to the transmission line, a location the city has said will improve system hydraulics. It was chosen after residents behind Cornerstone Market Place prevailed in their appeal last summer of the conditional-use permit the planning commission granted the city for 103 Marquette Place, where the city originally wanted to locate the tank.

City directors supported the appeal by a 4-3 margin.

Piller told the board last week inlet and outlet lines are not included in the project and will be contracted separately. The city said last year that locating the tank behind Lowe’s, or south of the Marquette Place site, will require a 4,000-foot large diameter line to connect the tank to the transmission line. It estimated almost $800,000 in installation and right of way acquisition costs.

When it comes online, the tank will give the city almost 10 million gallons of usable storage it can tap in the event of a service interruption. The system’s 11 active tanks provide 6.8 million gallons. Most are at ground level and below elevated parts of the service area, making their bottom halves unavailable for distribution.

The new tank will join the Hollywood Avenue and Industrial Park tanks as the only ones with 100-percent usable storage. The Arkansas Department of Health’s 2016 sanitary survey of the water system said current usable storage can provide 11 hours of service based on the 15.12 million-gallons of water the city’s two treatment plants produced on an average day in 2016.

The new tank will give the city 9.8 million gallons of usable storage, exceeding the 7.8 million gallons the city’s rate consultant said was average day demand in 2016.

The planning commission unanimously approved a conditional-use permit in October to locate the tank behind Lowe’s. The area carries the general business district zoning designation. Water storage tanks are permitted for conditional use in those zones, even though the city’s table of permitted and conditional uses does not include a water tower listing.

The city has said water towers fall under the water treatment plant listing, which are permitted for conditional use in a general business district.