Ruthton council opts to rehab water tower and buy 50,000-gallon-per-day Lincoln Pipestone capacity

Ruthton’s City Council voted unanimously April 6 to rehabilitate the city’s existing water tower and to buy 50,000 gallons-per-day of capacity from Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water to secure anticipated Rural Development funding. Brian Bollig of Bollig Engineering advised the council that Rural Development is interested in funding the project but would prefer the city rehab the current tower rather than build a new one.

Bollig told the council that building a new tower would trigger an extensive environmental review tied to historical mitigation and that the review could delay the project and risk falling outside Rural Development’s funding window. Bollig said Bollig Engineering recommended purchasing 50,000 gallons per day of capacity from Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water to meet the city’s needs.

After discussing the funding risk, Councilmember Brian Baartman moved and Stu Peterson seconded a motion to rehabilitate the old tower; the motion passed unanimously. Councilmember Chris McCurdy then moved and Baartman seconded a separate motion to purchase 50,000 gallons per day of capacity from Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water; that motion also passed unanimously. Mayor Stan Townsend, Councilmembers Darwin Sietsema, Brian Baartman, Chris McCurdy and Stu Peterson voted yes on both motions.

The council’s decisions were presented as funding-driven: rehabilitating the existing structure avoids the environmental review that the engineering consultant said could delay a new-build option. The council did not provide cost figures at the meeting and no formal schedule or contract award was announced.

Next steps noted at the meeting included the city deciding the volume to buy (the council approved 50,000 gpd) and staff following up with Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water and Rural Development to finalize funding and procurement details.