River District utility work could start this year
As Rome city commissioners move quickly to get redevelopment of the River District underway, Water and Sewer Committee members learned Thursday that new utility lines in that area could be installed by the end of the year.
The primary hold up for the area bordered by West Third Street and North Fifth Avenue is regulatory approval from state and federal agencies.
“Right now we’re in design. That’s an in-house design so (City Engineer) Aaron Carroll is doing it,” said Water and Sewer Department Director Mike Hackett. “We’re going to lay pretty close to a mile worth of pipe along Fifth Avenue and Third Street.”
The project includes new sewer service for redevelopment in the area along with improved fire flow. For the most part, state and federal permitting simply involves getting letters of approval from various agencies, Hackett said.
“Some projects, that’s a concern, but we really don’t see this being one,” he said.
But the city is at the mercy of the regulatory agencies in terms of their response time, he said. The construction work itself should take about four months.
“We’re all sort of geared up to see what timelines are like on these River District projects,” said Commissioner Wendy Davis.
The new water and sewer lines will go underneath the sidewalks on the west side of North Fifth Avenue and south side of West Third Street. Commissioners are asking that streetscape design of the sidewalk improvements in that district go hand-inhand with the utility work.
Commissioner Jim Bojo, chairman of the Water and Sewer Committee, also asked staff to look into what might be a fair and equitable way to assist real estate developers with the cost of running water and sewer service to new residential areas.
Several developers said during a February housing summit that the high cost of water and sewer infrastructure was stifling new construction.
Hackett said he understands
that the city needs housing to grow and that city needs to grow, but he also stressed that the water and sewer system is a self-sustaining enterprise — funded by user fees.
“Trying to determine what is equitable is tough,” Hackett said.
The issue is that while the city may benefit from new developments through tax revenue, the water department won’t.
Bojo asked that Hackett and
his staff get as much information together as possible and bring it back to the committee as quickly as possible.
“Builders and developers are waiting on us right now,” Bojo said.
City Manager Sammy Rich ended the discussion by telling the committee that he has a meeting Friday with outof-town developers who are keenly interested in bringing new residential product to the Rome market.