Pilot Knoll plan confronts failing water and septic systems; city weighing $3.6 million utility replacement and cabin revenue scenarios

City Parks staff presented a multi-year update July 21 on Pilot Knoll Park that moved the project from feasibility into design, and flagged failing potable-water and septic infrastructure that staff and Public Works say will require significant replacement before other site upgrades proceed.

The problem: Staff said portions of Pilot Knoll's potable water and RV-septic systems date to original plans from 1966 and septic installations from the 1970s, and that recent inspections and frequent repairs show the systems are undersized and failing. Phil (Parks staff) and Heather (Parks staff) told the board they discovered an older set of tanks and an aerobic leach field in an environmentally sensitive area that had not been documented in available plans, and that engineers recommend replacing the RV dump station, the exposed sewer line along the lakeshore and the multiple aging potable-water pipe classes serving the RV area.

How much it would cost: Public Works provided an opinion of probable cost for a full replacement and consolidation into a system managed by Public Works: roughly $1.1 million for a complete new water main; about $2.1 million for sanitary sewer improvements; and about $348,000 for engineering, for a total midpoint of about $3.5 million to $3.6 million (staff used a 5% inflation adjustment in the presentation). Phil said that the new estimate is significantly higher than earlier…