The Storm Lake City Council heard recommendations from the Water Treatment Plant Ad Hoc Committee Monday evening.

  The committee is made up of community volunteer representatives, and has been meeting over the past four months to study Storm Lake’s water needs. Former mayor Mike Porsch, a member of the committee, presented the findings of the group – noting that the committee had considered not just the water plant, but the complete water system including wells and water tower storage moving forward.

  The ad hoc committee noted that the existing water plant dates to 1978, far beyond the typical 20-year lifespan for such a facility. Over that time period, Storm Lake’s population has steadily grown, and the demand for water has increased accordingly.

  Currently, the existing plant is running at near maximum capacity year around. It is not possible to push any additional water supply through the aging facility. Committee members agreed that a new plant is necessary, and delay would increase cost and risk eventually failure of the plant.

  A new plant could increase capacity from 5 million gallons per day to 8 million gallons.

  Porsch told the council that it is expected to take four to five years to design and construct a new water plant. “The time to start preparing is now… time is valuable,” he said.

  Before design can take place, a site for a new plant would need to be determined. The best option would be to locate a new plant as near as possible to the current plant location, as extending infrastructure and moving farther away from well fields would increase cost and complexity for the project.

  Adjacent land is currently not available, and much of the area is environmentally-sensitive lakefront or Little Storm Lake preserve land that is not suitable for a construction project. The committee suggests seeking a location to the north of the current plant site. Porsch felt land could be available in the region near the Early Elementary School. The committee suggested that an ideal timeline would see land obtained within the next six months.

  While a plant is expected to serve for 20 years, the committee felt that with a proper site, expansion could be possible to extend life of the new plant to 30-40 years.

  Cost for construction of a new water plant could reach $100 million, not including land and engineering costs, according to the committee and consulting engineers. Funding options are limited.

  Grants are not generally available for such projects in communities of Storm Lake’s size class, and if they were, would only cover a small percentage of the construction cost, the committee learned from financial consultant Piper Sandler. General Obligation (GO) bonds were investigated, but Porsch said that option would increase costs for property taxpayers in the long run, and under such funding, outside users including Lakeside, Lake Creek and Truesdale would not be contributing their share toward cost. Also, the City’s potential debt capacity would only cover a fraction of the plant’s cost, and using all of the capacity would leave the City with no options if other future needs occur during the bond repayment period.

  The committee also investigated hypothetical impact if the largest industrial user was taken out of the water use equation. While the resulting new plant could be somewhat smaller in that scenario, cost could still be in the $70 million range, not including land and engineering costs, and the loss of water revenue would result in higher utility cost to homeowners, Porsch said.

  The committee instead recommended funding the development through gradually increasing water utility costs, starting with, for example, an increase that would amount to $12 per month for the average home for the coming fiscal year.

  Such a process could begin setting aside funding before building takes place, and reduce the amount of borrowing, the committee felt. It would also spread cost fairly among all users of the Storm Lake system, Porsch said.

  “We are fortunate enough to enjoy growth over the last years, and we continue to see that growth continuing in the community, which means that investment in providing water is necessary,” Porsch concluded. “Without the investment the City will not be able to sustain the growth in the future, and we will not be able to accommodate any additional industrial development that depends on water.”

  Porsch and the council thanked the community leaders and volunteer representatives for the time and expertise they committed over recent months to study the needs and prepare recommendations. “A consistent source of quality water is among the most vital and core services that    community can offer to its residents,” Porsch said on behalf of the committee.

  The council will consider those recommendations as it moves forward with capital expense and budget planning over the next few months.