Public meeting Wednesday for Olpe $2.6 million water project
By Brandy Nance
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
OLPE — The City of Olpe will hold a public information meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the American Legion in Olpe to inform the public about a major water project that will replace the water tower and a lot of water lines.
Joyce Wilson, Olpe city clerk, said this morning that the project will cost $2.6 million and will start when funding is obtained. Wilson said the town mainly has two- and four-inch water lines.
“They don’t have the capacity for fire protection,” she said. “We only have a very small section of town that has anything bigger than four-inch lines.”
A newer addition in Olpe, Country Lane Estates has six-inch lines but the water has to run uphill, meaning water pressure can be low, Wilson said.
Another 48 houses will be added to Olpe from the Eagle Ridge Estates addition north of Santa Fe Street.
“We’re going to have to provide water for them,” Wilson said.
The water tower will be replaced and relocated to a higher point in town on property the city already owns.
Wilson said the city is trying to get grants to pay for the project such as a Community Development Block Grant and one from USDA Rural Development.
When the funding is obtained, the project will get underway.
“We don’t expect to get funded this year,” she said. “We’re going to submit it and get it started and we just want the public to know what it is we’re doing and why.”