The City of Mendenhall recently discovered another wrinkle in their plans to connect the water tank located on Highway 43 to the city’s main water system.
Mayor Todd Booth explained that earlier engineer studies done by sky view via satellite suggested that the city could tie the tank in using the Entergy power company’s easement along Highway 43 crossing over Highway 13, and proceeding through a clearing.
Booth said that when the he and the engineer walked the route that the lines would follow, they discovered that the Entergy power lines turned at the start of the clearing. The clearing viewed from the satellite is private property owned by a citizen. Booth explained that the property owner would not allow the city to cross the property to connect with the main system. The inability to cross the clearing will force the city to use an additional 600 feet of pipe over the original plans, which will increase the budget needed to complete the project.
Through further studies, engineers have provided the city two viable options to connect the water tank. Booth said the first and most expensive option would be to run the pipes from the tank along Dump Road and connect to the main system at South Main Street.
The second option is to connect the pipes to South Main Street via a route that crosses 16th Section land that is controlled by the Simpson County School District. Booth said the representatives of the school district said this is something that could happen, but the city would be responsible for a yearly fee, which would fall back on the citizens of Mendenhall.
Booth questioned the amount of the fee and if it could be waived.
He said, “My deal is this, this is taxpayer property. We all pay school taxes, county taxes, and city taxes, all of the citizens of Mendenhall pay these taxes. I don’t get the concept of further taxing the citizens of Mendenhall. It doesn’t make sense when it’s your taxpayers using this property and using the water.”
According to Booth, being able to cross sixteenth section land would save the city approximately $50,000 in cost on the project.
The water tank is fully operational after the installation of a new water pump. The tank runs three days a week for approximately 15 minutes until it is able to be connected to the main system.
The water pump was approved last November and took approximately 10 weeks to be installed. The pump was installed by Griner Drilling Services. Griner Drilling Service met all bid specifications and bid a price of $65,915.00 to install the new water pump. This price also included a one year warranty.
Booth said, “We are so excited about this new tank. It’s going to put us in such good shape with our water system, and basically double our capacity for everything. We’re going to get this tank tied in, it’s just a delay.”
Booth said the city hopes to have the tank connected to the main system by the summer.
The water tank has been a much anticipated asset of the City of Mendenhall since taking possession of it from the Simpson County Economic Development District. The property that the water tank rests on was purchased by the Simpson County Economic Development District nearly 15 years ago to develop into an industrial park that never materialized.
The District received a grant to extend water and sewer access to the property, which was viewed by a number of potential developers at one time, but ultimately nothing ever came of it, possibly because of its ingress and egress points to the proposed park, which is not located near a four lane highway.
The property was viewed by developers for some time. Booth and city officials successfully continued their effort to take possession of the water tank, which they estimated would impact nearly one- third of the residents of Mendenhall.
Once connected customers on South Main Street and neighboring areas would benefit from increased water pressure and that the additional tank would also improve the sewer system. The tower will assist approximately 250 customers in Mendenhall with water pressure and also give the city an additional well. The increased water source provided by the tank will assist the Mendenhall Fire Department in maintaining the current fire rating and enhance the city’s possibility for growth.
