By RANDY HALL, Ketchum mayor
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As Ketchum moves forward with its Downtown Master Plan, residents will vote Tuesday, Feb. 7, on a most critical item: an up-to-date water system.
The water mains in the downtown area have long outlived their expected life span. Installed by a private company that previously owned the water system, the steel pipes were expected to last 25 to 30 years. All of them today are 40 to 50 years old, and a few are even 80 years old.
Today they are fragile, prone to leaks that waste drinking water and require frequent repairs to keep the system going. Sun Valley Utilities Department Manger Steven A. Hansen calls the situation "a disaster waiting to happen."
Furthermore, the pipes are too close to sewer lines to meet current state health regulations, buried in trenches that are too shallow for adequate protection in freezing temperatures, and located in alleyways, where congestion makes it difficult to reach them for repairs.
The proposed $2.8 million bond issue will allow the city to remedy all these problems, replacing the water mains with pipes made of PVC and ductile iron that are expected to last 75 to 100 years. The project also calls for extending service lines from the new mains to all downtown property, meaning that it will rarely be necessary to dig up streets to install new water connections.
Not only is the work long overdue, it also is an important component of the master plan, which calls for electric, telephone and water lines to be placed underground over the next four years.
The city plans a major street resurfacing after all underground work is completed. The next step will be new sidewalks and streetscape improvements.
Ketchum has good reason to be proud of its water service and its commitment to water conservation. Ketchum was the first city in the Wood River Valley to institute metered water rates—rather than a flat fee based on the size of the connection, and meter rates are a proven method of encouraging conservation. Ketchum also was one of the first cities in the state to impose higher charges per gallon on large water users.
The department is fiscally sound. In financing the new mains, it already can draw on $500,000 in reserves, paid for by system development charges on water bills, operating surpluses and new connection fees paid by developers. The city also will explore the availability of federal and state grants, such as a 1984 grant used to upgrade portions of downtown water lines for fire safety.
Water rates can be expected to go up an average of 8 percent with the new bond issue. Even with that increase, Ketchum still will have one of the lowest water rates in the state.
The rest of the city has long benefited from the installation of modern water mains. The downtown area is at risk for major breakages, and residents across the city are paying disproportionately high costs for maintaining the aging system.
I urge Ketchum voters to vote Tuesday, Feb. 7, on this bond issue request to improve and maintain city infrastructure. The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall.
