The state Department of environmental services has been on Franconia's case about water quality. The water is somewhat acid, which eats the pipes and fills the water with zinc and iron corroded off said pipes. Plus the water pressure is lower than they would like. They fear that under heavy demand, say a fire, water pressure would drop below zero and suck ground water and sewage back into the drinking water. The current Franconia water system dates back to the 1930's, and so replacement now, after 70 years, is not totally unreasonable.
Franconia's budget meeting last night revealed the plans and costs to us citizens. They plan to install a big 350,000 gallon storage tank up on Cole Hill road, and replace the water mains from the new tank thru out the downtown area. We are talking about a 12 inch water main here. The project will cost $3.8 million. One million to be contributed by the state, the rest borrowed on a 30 year 2.75% loan from the state. Annual payments of $64,000 are required to service the debt. Town water bills will rise 23% to pay for this AND the town real estate tax will go up $0.18 per thousand, so everyone has the opportunity to contribute, even if they don't use town water.
If approved at Town Meeting in March, detailed engineering will start. Bids will go out 1 August, and accepted 15 September. Construction is expected to start immediately after bid acceptance. The project is supposed to finish by December 2010.
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