Bressette not happy about paying to move water line

By Staff
Mitch Freeman Madison County Record
Madison Water and Wastewater workers will have to relocate a water line because of a Huntsville road project and the water board is not happy about having to pay for it.
Whitey Bressette, water and wastewater board general manager, said that a 2,200-foot water line on Slaughter Road, near Ferrel Drive, is going to have to be moved to accommodate a Slaughter Road widening project.
He said the labor and materials involved would cost around $50,000. The work is expected to take 10-15 days.
Bressette said the question of who will have to pay for moving the water line has not been answered and that the issue is being researched.
"We weren't given enough time to plan and budget," Bressette said.
"We wouldn't have incurred these costs if they weren't widening the road," board member Larry Helms said.
Board member Larry Vannoy said that the city of Madison had to pay to move gas lines when County Line Road was widened. He said that he didn't understand the difference and that Huntsville should pay for moving the water line.
Bressette said that the old cast iron pipe could not be left under the widened road. He said if there were ever a problem with the water line, the city would be responsible for digging through the road and repairing it.
In other business, a project that includes moving the water line that runs along the southern end of County Line Road was approved. According to Bressette, this project has been planned and budgeted for sometime and is being done in conjunction with converting the two-lane portion of the County Line Road to four lanes.
Some 930 feet of 12-inch water line will replace existing pipe from the railroad tracks that pass under the road to Madison Blvd., where new water line will be installed, running east along Madison Blvd. to Putman Industrial Park. The project is about to get underway and is expected to cost $166,300, according to Bressette.
Construction of a new water treatment plant can now move forward as a result of approval of agreement details with the city of Madison. The plant will be built at Rock Quarry, east of Intergraph.
According to Bressette, the Quarry Water Treatment Plant will have the ability to process up to 8,000,000 gallons of water per minute. Water will come from nearby wells and flow into a raw water tank, which is also part of the project.
Bressette said the new plant will eliminate the Drake plant near Lady Ann Lake, off of Zierdt Road. Along with the Quarry plant, the Keene Water Treatment Plant on Gillespie Road will supply Madison's water needs for the next 10 years, Bressette said. The Keene plant can process up to 6,000,000 gallons of water minute.
Bressette reported to the board that the Madison Growth Commission continues to ask for water and sewage lines in the Burgreen Road area, running north to Highway 72. Bressette said they would have to wrap the lines around a large low-lying area behind the Limestone Flea Market and that it is cost prohibitive to do so.
"Nothing has changed," Bressette said. "We are fully committed to existing plans and budget until 2008."
Vannoy got a positive answer for a request he brought to the board from volunteers who are building a second concession stand at Palmer Park A sewage line will be extended to support the new concession stand next spring, according to board field staff.