Tallassee residents should see a lot of work going on in the city in the next year.
The city has many projects in various phases, some of which have been in planning and design for a few years.
“This year is looking to be a very busy time for projects,” Three Notch Engineering’s Jeff Harrison said. “There has been a lot of work going on to get these projects ready.”
Work should soon start in the city’s water filter treatment center at the Fitzpatrick Bridge.
“It is the life blood of the city,” Harrison said. “It provides water to the city and wholesale customers.”
For the last two years, engineers have been prepping design work to repair the piping gallery in the facility. Earlier this year bids for the project were opened and accepted at $557,000. The project was funded through ARPA monies. Being under budget allows some of the savings to be pushed to another project in the water filter treatment plant. Along with monies from a utility bond issue, $185,360 is being spent to repair emergency filter No. 5.
“It started having problems and was shut down,” Harrison said.
The filter is needed at times for summer demand. The contractor is currently on site and work will be completed before peak water demand.
Another water project is just getting started in the design phase. For years city utilities have been battling leaks of a large water main in a roadway near E.B. Payne Sr. Drive. The line runs from downtown to Southside Middle School and supplies water to the city’s industrial park on Highway 229.
Harrison said the line is similar to PVC pipe and was installed in gravel under the roadway.
“They are constantly repairing and patching it,” Harrison said.
The council approved coming up with designs for a project to move the line to other utility corridors primarily used by Alabama Power.
“It would get it out of the road,” Harrison said. “The route would be in areas of far less traffic. We are working with the power company on permitting.”
Harrison estimates the project to cost about $2.5 million. The funding will come primarily from the bond issue the council authorized for utilities. Four years ago it was thought most of the funding would be used to replace some of the city’s cast-iron gas lines. Thanks to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) grants, those funds can now be used on other utility issues.
The more than $15 million in PHMSA grant funding is the highest in the history of the City of Tallassee. It will replace almost all of the cast-iron gas lines in two phases.
The 2022 PHMSA grant in the amount of $9,700,000 was awarded to replace lines in the Elmore County portion of Tallassee.
“That project is nearly out of the design phase,” Harrison said. “We are hoping to have contracts for work by July.”
Another $5,469,300 PHMSA grant was given to Tallassee in 2023. It will replace cast-iron gas lines in East Tallassee in Tallapoosa County. About 30% of the design for the project is complete. Harrison said engineers are working through PHMSA to make sure all criteria are met before finishing the design and letting it for bid. He said work could start as early as this fall to next year.
Harrison said a paving project will start soon after school is finished for the summer. Thanks to a grant through Rebuild Alabama, portions of South Ann, Comer and Cliff streets will be resurfaced. The streets are used by parents as they take children to Southside Middle School as well as residents in the area.
The city was awarded a $350,000 grant with a 10% match required from local funds. The bid for the project came in at $182,000 and the city will still be required to provide the 10% match.
“This is under budget and will cost the city less,” Harrison said. “The contractor understands the timing with school. They are waiting until school is out and the project will likely only take one to two weeks.”