Big Pipes Not So Big Afterall

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After all the projects the city of Janesville has toyed with over the years, ranging from new public swimming pools to underpass tunnels to skate parks to bridge repair to you-name-it, one would think the respective city departments would have been ordered to prepare preliminary and historical reports for future reference.

As more information trickles out about the city’s lack of shovel-ready projects to claim a piece of the nation's economic stimulus pie, now comes word that the water supply to a large section of some of the newer residential growth areas in Janesville is inadequate. The city is requesting another water tower be built to service those customers.

It was only two years ago when the Janesville Administration ramrodded Janesville’s first water tower through the council for the far northwest quadrant of the city. That tower was needed to service the Hendricks country club residential development's higher altitude and special terrain conditions. The city, no doubt at the request of the owner/developer, opted to socialize the expense of this impact on the backs of all Janesville water users by burying the $2.7 million cost into our water bills. The PSC rubberstamped their approval.

Back then, I suggested that special needs of encumbered private land should come at the expense of the landowner, that beyond the normal trenching and laying of water pipes and sewer, the water tower should have been paid for through a special assessment on each parcel it is designed to serve – much like sidewalks. Many disagreed. The same can be said today for the water tower now proposed for the northeast corner.

JG Excerpt:
Dan Lynch of the water department said everything north of Interstate 90/39 experiences low water pressure even when a small water main breaks. A tower is needed regardless of city growth, he said.

Granted, this development is now established, but should that exclude it from the fiscal burden of it's current reality (low pressure) resulting from developer error? Whether it is a matter of poor planning, inadequate infrastructure or a lack of growth impact fees and charges on all of these new developments, once again the City Administration will socialize the losses incurred and all Janesville water users will be made to foot the bill.

The views posted on this web page are the independent perspective and opinion of the author.