At a rare Saturday morning meeting of the Plymouth City Council, a major step was taken toward creation of the long-awaited Plymouth pipeline.
In a 4-1 vote, the council approved Amendment No. 2 to the agreement between the city of Plymouth and the Amador Water Agency for the Plymouth Pipeline Project.
This approval paves the way for opening of the bidding process for pipeline construction. The AWA Board of Directors had already approved Amendment No. 2, so approval by the city council eliminated the final obstacle.
AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said the timetable for putting the project out for bid has set dates for August, which can now be kept on schedule.
Bob Reeder of Reeder and Sutherland, developers of two large subdivisions planned for annexation into the city, hailed the decision. "You only see a window like this once in 10 years," Reeder told the council. "The contractors are hungry right now."
Much of the difficulty in planning for pipeline financing has been caused by the inherent imprecision that results from what can only be called guesswork about the cost. Estimates of cost for the pipeline range from $7.8 million to more than $12 million. Once a winning bid has been chosen, finalization of funding should follow rapidly.
The economic climate for construction-related activities in northern California remains stagnant. Hopes expressed by council members and developers alike are that the bids will come in at the lower end of the projected range.
Amendment No. 2 eliminates Segment 3 of the pipeline project. Segment 3 was generally referred to as the Swift tank, a 1.5-million gallon tank planned for installation along the path of the pipeline. This removal is projected to save between $3 million and $3.5 million.
The amendment also allows the city to maintain its existing wells and treatment system, "to provide a back-up water supply to the city in the event of an interruption in water service," according to a staff report.
Recital I of Amendment No. 2 clarifies the decision not to increase the size of the transmission pipeline from its planned 12-inch diameter to a proposed larger 16 inches.
Actual capacity of the 12-inch pipeline remains a mystery. Projected water demand in Plymouth in the year 2025 is 1.3 million gallons per day. Various methods of calculation, using maximum day demands and storage alternatives, yield new dwelling unit availability numbers ranging from just over 500 to a possible maximum number of 2,767.
| Jerry Budrick |