Leeburg council approves water tank painting

LEESBURG — The city’s multiple water improvement projects again took center stage at the Leesburg City Council’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday as the council approved multiple change orders that will help bring two of those projects close to completion.

One of the city’s more high-profile projects has been the raising of a 500,000-gallon water tank on Georgia Highway 32 next to Lee County High School to work in conjunction with a 200,000-gallon tank the city constructed at its Public Works facility. With the raising of the tank completed by Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors on Jan. 19, the only remaining item related to that tank is completing a new paint job, which the city recently added to the project.

Project Engineer Chad Griffin, of Still Waters Engineering, which is overseeing the water improvement project, approached the council with good news concerning the paint job Tuesday night, saying he had received a new quote for the work that is going to save the city $20,000.

“We are a substantial amount under (budget) on our elevated tank (project),” said Griffin. “Because of that, at the last council meeting we talked about taking the exterior of your tank and completely painting that. We got a price from Phoenix Fabricators to do that. That price was around $80,000.

“That included pressure washing that tank and it also included all the exterior painting. Since that time we’ve revisited that quote with them, started looking at it and asked them to revisit that quote.”

That revised quote, Griffin said, is approximately $60,000, and in response to concerns voiced by council member Bobby Wilson about reduced quality, he said the new paint job will be “exactly the same.”

“The longevity (is the same), and the time frame that that paint system will last (estimated at 7-10 years),” said Griffin. “I’ve even had an independent person look at the specifications, and they’re telling us that it will last just as long as what was originally given. It won’t be any cheap material. (It is) still the same paint company, still the same mill thickness that’s on the outside of the tank, still the same longevity — just $20,000 less.

“Even by adding the $60,000 on to the tank, we’re still under budget there and that wasn’t in the original scope. So we’re doing tremendous right now budgetwise.

In addition to the paint price change, Griffin also asked the council to approve two other change orders, one to cover the replacement of a gate valve that had to be installed when the tank was raised and another to fund improvements to two of the city’s wells.

“Y’all had a 12-inch gate valve that was at the base of that tank that would not close,” said Griffin. “And because it could not close, we could not stop water from going in that tank. We were trying to take that tank offline so we could raise it. So I had to get a crew to do a favor for us and basically come in and actually put a 12-inch gate valve in in a matter of a very quick time frame so we could get that tank completely isolated and empty.”

Griffin said the other change order was connected to the refurbishing of the city’s wells, which work in conjunction with the two water tanks. Griffin explained that the components inside the Highway 32 well had to be replaced because they were failing, and that the city’s well on Starksville Road also needed some repairs and a change to its volt service.

“Once we got into the wells, we found there was a couple of things that were failing,” said Griffin. “You had pump control valves that were failing. There were check valves within that 32 well that were failing. We had to replace the check valve, and we had to replace the air relief valve.”

With the components replaced in the Highway 32 well, Griffin said that well is completely upgraded and thus the city was able to fill both tanks. However, until upgrades are done to the Starksville well, it cannot be put back online.

“We want to make sure that well is online and we have a backup system,” he said. “So it’s very crucial. That well at Starksville is extremely old. All the components that are in that well are about 40 years old.”

Griffin said the biggest issue is the fact that the well was built with a volt service that didn’t match up with today’s standards for powering the motor that’s in the well, meaning any future repairs would be very difficult and potentially costly.

“When that well was put in, the voltage that was put to that well was a 230-volt service,” Griffin explained. “That well is over a 50-horsepower motor. Normally, if you go over 40 horsepower, you’re going to have a 460-volt service. To get parts for that Starksville well is extremely difficult right now. The well driller has recommended this; Russ (Ferguson, the city’s water and wastewater superintendent) and I have looked at it. Our thought is we want to change that well from a 230-volt service to a 460-volt service so if anything needs to be done in the future, it can be easily taken care of.

“The crucial piece is us getting that Starksville well back up and running.”

Griffin said that cost for upgrading the electrical system is roughly $6,000 and that even with that work added, the well improvement project would still be $22,000 under budget.

In unanimously approving those change orders, the council also gave permission to the Lee County School Board to paint the system’s “rocking Lee” logo on the side of the Highway 32 tank that faces the high school’s football field.

“The school board has requested that they’d like to see this logo on the 32 tank out there at the high school facing the football field,” said City Manager Bob Alexander. “You’ll still have Leesburg facing the road. Since this is the city of Leesburg’s property, I want to make sure that you all were in favor of allowing the board of education to put the rocking Lee on our tank.

“It would, I think, be a real boost when they’re playing these football games out there to have that rocking Lee facing the football field.”

Alexander said even though the county got a quote from Phoenix to do the work, it would be up to the school board to handle the project.

“We got a price for, I think it was, $6,200 that Phoenix would do this for, but since this is for the school board, it’s really more appropriate for them to pay for that,” he said.

In addition to the approvals pertaining to the water tank and wells, the council also approved a $26,393.69 change order request from Charlie Tucker of Carter & Sloope Inc. for final payment to HTS Construction for the installation of new water pipes and mains along Walnut Street and in other areas of the city.

The increased amount, which was added to the city’s GEFA (Georgia Environmental Finance Authority) loan that funded that project, was approved last summer when work crews uncovered old piping that was a different diameter than what was anticipated.

After considerable discussion, and some disagreement, council members voted 3-2 to approve an ordinance preventing the practice of using a “jake brake” within city limits. Under the new ordinance, signs will be placed, with Georgia Department of Transportation approval, along major thoroughfares in Leesburg advising drivers that the ordinance will be enforced.

According to Alexander and City Attorney Bert Gregory, the practice of using a “jake brake” consists of downshifting a transmission to come to a stop rather than using a vehicle’s brakes. The practice, which is said to make a loud noise, is employed by operators of semis in order to prevent wear on the truck’s braking system, officials said.

The council also unanimously approved a request from Ferguson to enter into a contract with Erth Products LLC to dispose of the city’s biosolids at the rate of $47 per ton. This is the same contract the city’s former water and wastewater contractor Ch2MHill had with Erth Products in prior years.