Historical artifacts have their place, but antiquated city of Ketchum water lines are definitely not among them.
We strongly recommend Ketchum voters go to the polls on Tuesday, Feb. 7, and approve the modest $2.8 million bond issue to replace pipelines serving 300 customers in the general downtown area.
This is utterly necessary. Some of these pipes are 80 years old—fragile, leaky and surely not the reliable conduits for drinking water a growing city demands.
And although the new lines would be installed gradually over four years in a limited area of the city, not replacing them would mean increased maintenance costs for all water subscribers in the city as the old lines continue to deteriorate.
The average water bill would increase 8 percent to retire the bonds. Old, decaying lines might well add far more costs to average bills if the lines aren't replaced. Not to mention the inconvenience and disruption continued repairs would create.
Downtown Ketchum is the focus of intense City Hall attention these days, as the new administration of Mayor Randy Hall works with a consultant on rejuvenating the retail area with projects to attract foot traffic for businesses.
New bank branches are opening on Main Street. A new varied housing development on the Simplot property facing the U.S. Post Office includes a large new Center for the Arts.
If Ketchum's surface area is taking on a bright new look, residents can't afford to continue patching and enduring ancient water lines that have uncertain life left in them, not to mention uncertain health effects.
