By Ben Rodgers
Editor
HOBART – Next month the village of Hobart will start construction on a water tower that has been discussed for more than a decade.
The 160-foot tall, 500,000-gallon tower was first discussed back in 2006.
“The village at that time did an evaluation and study and learned that even prior to the development on the north end, there was need for additional water,” said Allyn Dannhoff, director of neighborhood services. “As we embarked on this growth and development on the north end we kept that in mind. Then (with) the inline booster station we did in 2011 or 2012, we knew was a short-term solution to meet immediate needs at that given point in time. Then approximately two years ago we started planning for this.”
At the Tuesday, June 5, village board meeting the board agreed to the sale of $2,175,000 of bonds to finance the product. The cost will be paid through TID No. 1 and will not impact the water utility or utility users.
Caldwell Tanks, out of Louisville, Kentucky, will complete the project by next summer.
Dannhoff said the tower will be a composite style with a concrete base and a metal tank on top.
He said the style was chosen for price.
The tower will be located on Centerline Drive and will be visible to drivers on Wisconsin Highway 29. The life of the tower is expected to be 120 to 150 years.
Hobart will still use the Green Bay Water Utility, but this tower will help keep faucets running year-round.
“What this is all about is about improving reliability and resiliency and avoid periods where we are short on water,” Dannhoff said. “You’ll read occasionally about communities that have water restriction days as far as sprinkling lawns. As we continue to grow, when you have more users simutoualey using the water, your pressures can start to drop. We need to maintain pressure as well as the ability to maintain the capacity to meet the peak demands during the day.”
Once the tower is completed, a project next year will make alterations to the existing inline booster station to increase flow and pressure capabilities to fill the tower.
Dannhoff said that will cost approximately $400,000, which the village has already bonded for.
That station, near the north end of the golf course, will have pumps replaced with larger pumps and a new backup generator installed to meet the needs of the larger pumps.
“The average individual doesn’t understand what it takes to wake up in the morning, get your glass of water, flush your toilet and take a shower,” Dannhoff said.
All of this is the first phase of a two-phase project, with the second phase, a 1-million-gallon reservoir, planned for completion around 2024.
“The village is a business just like anything else,” Dannhoff said. “There’s long-term and ongoing planning that goes on with this type of infrastructure.”
He said the final result will increase firefighting capacity as well as provide adequate water for a growing portion of the village, with necessary redundancies built in.
“It will position us for continued growth,” Dannhoff said.