Water tower rises along Trunk Road

PALMER — Construction is nearing completion on a hilltop water tower designed to boost capacity and reliability ahead of anticipated developments.

The tower — visible from about a mile away along Trunk Road, the nearest main thoroughfare — stands about 40 feet high, is 72 feet in diameter, costs $4.3 million and will one day hold about a million gallons of water for Mat-Su College, a possible large-scale commercial development in the Four Corners area, and other development on the outskirts of the 36-square-mile Palmer Water District.

Previous construction had extended city water as far as Mat-Su Regional Hospital, according to Palmer Public Works Director Tom Healy, and the emphasis of the tower and station construction is on capacity.

“It provides capacity for the water system,” he said. “The first project extended water and sewer from Palmer all the way to the hospital. The line’s been extended to the four corners area.”

The college’s needs are adequately met by an existing well system, said Mat-Su College president Talis Colberg.

City officials “wanted a second tower — as I understand it — to balance out the elevation,” he said. “They asked to get about five acres. In exchange for getting that property, they agreed to connect us to the water system.”

“While we don’t need it because obviously we’ve been without it for many decades, in the long run it will be beneficial,” Colberg added.

The overall plan is to construct a loop serving the water district, said Palmer Mayor DeLena Johnson. Part of the construction of the loop, which currently ends near the intersection of Trunk and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, will require water towers at regular intervals to regulate system pressure, Johnson said.

“This is an additional piece to the system, so it’s been par of the construction that goes to the hospital and then to the Four Corners,” she said. “If you ever have a fire, and the sprinkler systems come on or a fire truck hooks up to a hydrant, it’s pretty hard to keep up with that with a well. It helps with fire suppression as well as the stand-by.”

A completed loop with adequate tower capacity could also spur development in the area for large-scale commercial developments, Johnson said.

“With the high-quality water flow, the opportunity to develop facilities is maximized, and without this type of utility, having the (Performing Arts Center) or retail development would be near impossible at that location,” she said, referencing the theater that the college is building nearby.

The water tower is designed to act as a back-up system for those places connected to it. In the event of a pump failure or other interruption in service, the tank will provide potable water to the connected areas via gravity to last long enough for public works personnel to fix the problem, Healy said. Current well systems rely on electricity — sometimes unreliable in the Valley — to function.

“Infrastructure-wise, I think it will be a good thing in years to come,” Colberg said.

Nor will the tank long retain the latticework white-and rust checkerboard on the outside. Palmer officials say the tank will be painted on the outside to resemble a stand of birch trees. Officials had initially intended to incorporate the name of the nearby college onto the outside of the structure, though that’s no longer a possibility because to do so would violate Alaska law prohibiting billboards.

“We were hoping to have something that would make it more attractive,” Colberg said.

Tower construction is anticipated to wrap in a few weeks, contract workers at the site said, though final construction for the site, which also includes a large pumping station, is slated to wrap up in November, with a window to complete additional construction until June 2015.

The general contractor for the project is Anchorage-based Frawner Construction. Sub-contractors include tank specialists T. Bailey out of Washington State, and earthworks provided by Wasilla-based Big Dipper.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com