HEATH —
The City of Heath is again moving forward with plans to build a water tower on city-owned property behind The Fulton School.
Mayor John Ratcliffe said Tuesday night during a regular meeting of the Heath City Council that school officials had been given 90 days to explore alternate sites for the elevated water storage facility. School officials were “very diligent” in their efforts, Ratcliffe said, but they were not successful in finding an alternate site.
After a discussion, Ratcliffe asked city council members where they wanted to go with the project.
“I think we should go on with the engineering and proceed with the project,” responded Rich Krause.
City council members agreed with Krause.
“We’ve talked with Fulton and I appreciate what you have tried to come up with,” said Lorne Liechty. “And I don’t minimize the impact on the school, but I don’t think as a city we have much of a choice and I don’t think waiting two or three months will bring a solution.”
“I was hoping there would be some alternative for everybody,” said Karen Lewis. “And it’s just unfortunate that there’s no magic wand in this situation. I think that’s what makes it hard. But I also think that we have ... got to move forward.”
The city will proceed with engineering plans for the project. That part of the project will take four or five months, according to City Engineer Pedram Farahnak. He said construction will take about 12 months.
The city council heard from 16 speakers during a 2.5-hour “public input” session in March. Speakers urged the city council to pursue an alternate site for the water tower. Most of the speakers expressed concern for the safety of children who attend the school.
During this week’s meeting, several speakers talked about safety concerns and how the project would disrupt school activities.
Rebecca Moore told council members that it’s a “real shame that there isn’t some place or some other solution rather than disrupting. ... It’s a real shame. I think its a sad day. I had far rather see grownups discombobulated than all these children.”
Information presented during the March meeting indicated the elevated storage facility — which will be the city’s second — is necessary to meet the demands made upon the water supply by a growing population.
The site selected for the new water tower has been a site for water storage since 1961 and was designated as “best suited” for the city’s planned elevated storage tank in 1998 by Freeman-Millican Engineering. Elevation of the property is one reason it is a preferred site.
In December 2009, the City of Rockwall formalized in writing its directive that the City of Heath build additional water storage. The City of Heath is currently “borrowing” space in the City of Rockwall’s storage facility and is exceeding its allotted amount of water to meet demands.
City Manager Ed Thatcher said it’s springtime and the City of Health already has gone over its allotment twice. He said City of Rockwall officials already have inquired about “where are you on getting the tower down.”
Ratcliffe said at the beginning of the meeting that the city and school had made proposals that were rejected.
One city proposal was to sell the school land on a city-owned, 75-acre site for the school to relocate. The school turned down that offer. One Fulton proposal was to sell the city its current site. Ratcliffe said the city “is not in a position” to do that and referred the proposal to the economic development corporation.
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