By Jolene Farley
Water woes were the hot topic at the Hills City Council meeting Tuesday.
Rock County Rural Water Manager Dan Cook addressed the council with options to increase the water supply to the city.
Discussion stemmed from a Tuesday, June 25, incident when the city water tower was pumped dry.
The incident was mostly attributed to heavy agricultural water usage and dry weather conditions.
"It's been a stressful year," said Cook. "There hasn't been any rain relief."
Hills residents were immediately put on an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. watering ban after June 25.
The first option Cook presented included the installation of a six-inch water line from two miles north of Hills to the northern edge of town.
The larger water line would increase water pressure and capacity from 1,680,000 gallons per year to 2,940,000 gallons per year.
The new line would cost the city $219,024. RCRW would consider financing the improvements, according to Cook.
If the costs were passed on to Hills residents, this would increase rates $5.77 per month per water meter.
"Yes. We've spent a lot of money to improve the service here on the west end," said Cook when asked if Hills would be the only one paying for these improvements.
"The increased capacity would be for the sole benefit of the community."
The city of Hills is an off-peak customer, according to Cook. Direct pressure customers are a priority for RCRW.
"We still have to met this peak demand, and you're (Hills) creating the demand," said Cook.
"I got a real problem with $200,000," said Mayor Jim Jellema when he heard the estimated cost of the improvements.
"It's a lot of money, but yet, what is the price of water?" Cook said.
He anticipates the population in Hills will continue to grow, and he thinks Hills will continue to have problems with higher water usage.
"Continued growth patterns are written all over it," he said. "They've added population since rural water but more important they've added water usage.
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Cook encouraged the council to make a decision before the RCRW board meets again on August 5.
"Just looking at these numbers, I don't think it's something we are going to sit here and decide in two minutes," said Jellema.
The second option to increase water capacity would include blending water from the city well with rural water. The council hopes this will be a more cost-effective alternative.
Hills hooked up to RCRW in 1980. Prior to that, Hills had its own water storage and delivery system.
The council discussed this at length and will check with Minnesota Department of Health about the regulations the city is required to follow before the water can be used for human consumption.
The council was advised the water in the city wells is extremely hard so it would likely need to look into a softening treatment.
The issue was tabled until a later meeting when more information is available.