GRANBY, Mo. — The City of Granby is putting a multi-million dollar fix to its water system in the hands of its residents. Folks got an update during a town hall meeting last night.
“What holds us back in increasing that, is the water distribution part and the system,” said Ira Hawkins, Mayor, City of Granby.
Back in January, the City of Granby’s Council members voted to put an $11-million bond issue on the April 4th ballot. That decision was made after city officials worked with Anderson Engineering to complete an assessment of the city’s current water system.
It found that the majority of the City’s water system dates back to 1912.
“In round numbers, roughly half the system – a lot of it is older two-inch line that’s been in for a long time and they’re leaking a lot of water out through the system, roughly 70% of the water they’re pumping right now is being lost,” said Patrick O’Bryant, Project Engineer, Anderson Engineering.
In other words, for each gallon of water pumped — two and a half gallons are lost.
The project intended to fix that is one that Mayor Hawkins says is vital for the city’s potential to grow.
“If a plant would come in to try to relocate to Granby on a piece of property, it’d be hard for us to supply water to them, or even a housing development would be a difficulty of that, recreation — everything uses water. And the more you grow, the more you add water,” said Mayor Hawkins.
The city’s proposed improvement project has a price tag of $9,500,000.
“The April election, the citizens would go to the polls and vote yes on the bond. That gives us the opportunity to move forward then. If they vote not in favor, or no, then our moving forward has come to a screeching halt,” added Mayor Hawkins.
If the bond issue passes, the city can begin the planning process — but likely won’t see construction until the fall of 2024.
