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Southern Columbia trustees make water system repairs their top facilities priority, direct staff to seek grants
Summary
At a facilities meeting, board members designated high-school booster pumps and associated water-tank work as the district's base project and directed staff to pursue grant funding, seeking both rehabilitation and full-replacement cost estimates before final approval. The item will be placed on the Sept. 15 agenda for formal action.
Southern Columbia Area SD — The facilities committee agreed to prioritize repairs to the high-school water system after hearing a SiteLogic evaluation that recommended design and bid packages for both a restoration path and a full replacement alternate.
"The structural integrity of the tank, does not appear to be compromised," SiteLogic's representative said, but he warned that internal scaling, sedimentation and corroded drain valves present unknowns and recommended an alternate bid for replacement to produce contractor pricing. Committee members asked for two clear price paths: a restoration/rehabilitation that would extend the tanks' useful life about 20 years and a full replacement that requires excavation and higher cost.
Board members said the booster pumps and water-tank work are the most consequential infrastructure need and directed staff to list that work as the "base project" to pursue regardless of grant outcomes. One member explained the reasoning: restoring pumps and securing reliable water pressure is a precondition for safe school operation and therefore a top priority for capital planning.
Cost estimates presented during the meeting ranged from about $913,000 (rehab/pumps scenario) to approximately $1.3 million for more comprehensive approaches; engineers also modeled an alternate, larger-scale electrical/generator package that could run into multi‑million-dollar territory depending on size and scope. The consultants recommended also pricing a filtration option to address high iron and the potential for reduced equipment wear.
On funding, the board was briefed on two main grant vehicles: the Local Share Account (LSA), which can fund up to $1 million with no local match, and a public-school facilities infrastructure grant that can support up to $5 million but requires a 25 percent local match. The committee agreed to include the booster-pump/tank base project on the Sept. 15 board agenda and to submit grant applications that preserve flexibility (presenters recommended packaging eligible projects for a single facility so awards can be applied without program conflicts).
Next steps: staff will secure detailed bid-ready designs and alternate prices for restoration and replacement, refine filtration options, and include the base-project language on the Sept. 15 agenda for formal action. The committee emphasized that no single large-dollar contract will be approved without a subsequent board vote and that grant awards will govern final scope and timing.
