Roger Kelso
Columbus City Utilities is preparing to celebrate the start of an approximately $14 million project.
The department will have a groundbreaking ceremony for its new water tank at 9 a.m. on June 7 at the former Walesboro airport, said CCU Executive Director Roger Kelso.
“We are just terribly excited to get this project started,” he said. “Elevated storage is something that we need to accommodate the growth in the city.”
The utility is leasing one acre at Walesboro for the tank. Utility Service Board attorney Stan Gamso has described the land as right behind Bartholomew County REMC and near South County Road 175W.
The Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners and the Utility Service Board voted at their May meetings to approve modifications to the lease. Officials from both departments indicated that the utility board wanted to amend the lease to ensure an unconditional initial term of at least 20 years, and the aviation board wanted to format the lease to follow Federal Aviation Administration regulations, so these were included in the changes.
Airport Director Brian Payne said the updated lease also includes a more defined timeline for a potential sale of the property to the utility, with this occurring no earlier than September of 2024.
Kelso said in a previous interview that the Walesboro tank will likely serve the southern half of the city. The project is expected to cost just over $14 million and will be funded through State Revolving Fund bonds.
Construction will take about 18 months depending on the weather, he said.
According to CCU engineer Ashley Getz, the steel tank will sit on top of a hollow concrete pedestal with a booster station inside. The finished product will be 172 feet tall, and the tank will be able to hold 2 million gallons of water.
