Alta staff outline 10‑year facilities and water/wastewater master plan; engineers to update 2014 model

Town staff presented Aug. 28 an initiative to produce two complementary planning documents: a facilities master plan to assess town‑owned buildings and a 10‑year capital improvement plan for culinary water and wastewater infrastructure.

Presenter Chris told commissioners the effort will inventory and evaluate the town's buildings (town office, Alpha Central, the community center and the historic Tom Moore structure), identify urgent needs, and prioritize projects for budgeting and delivery. Chris said the primary goal is "to facilitate decision making about what our most urgent needs are with our buildings" and to produce standalone facility assessments and structural recommendations where appropriate.

On water and sewer, staff described a system with roughly 2–2.5 miles of mostly PVC water pipe, a 365,000‑gallon storage tank, about 86 water connections and a simpler sewer collection system of about 2 miles of ductile iron installed in 1971 with roughly 56 connections. Chris noted localized fire‑flow shortfalls and storage limitations that justify targeted capital projects. Engineers on the project will update the 2014 water model, reassess fire flows and redundancy, and develop cost estimates the town can use in upcoming budgets.

Grants and past work: commissioners discussed earlier grants and improvements at the Bay City Tunnel pump site. Meeting participants said the town received a Bureau of Reclamation (WaterSMART) grant for work at pump and mine infrastructure; that work included new HDPE piping, improved track and lighting, and adding a third pump for redundancy. One participant noted the town planned to convert a pump‑room heating system from electric to gas but was unable to complete that conversion after unsuccessful coordination with the gas utility. Town staff also said the town owns a portable generator at the fire station that can provide emergency power to the water system.

Next steps: engineers are under contract to deliver updated models and cost estimates; staff said they hope to have updated cost estimates in time for the town's next budget cycle and listed a project completion goal of "December 31" in the meeting record (the transcript did not specify a year). The commission discussed scheduling a site visit or "walkabout" — and possibly a tunnel tour — so commissioners can see infrastructure firsthand.

The commission heard the presentation and asked staff to return with contractor kickoff materials and more granular project schedules and cost estimates.