The City Council has accepted a staff recommendation and voted unanimously to abandon plans for a secondary water system because of the high long-term infrastructure costs associated with the project.
A staff study revealed the 30-year costs for the secondary water system would be $92 million as compared to only $31 million for an expanded culinary water system."Secondary water is not bad," Alex Jensen, city manager, said. "But it won't work for Layton City and its small lots . . . It's not a good situation for Layton right now."
Jensen said Layton would not object to certain areas of the city having a secondary water system - if it contained larger lots and also if the citizens could participate on a voluntary basis.
He said Davis and Weber Canal Company officials, who would have installed the pressurized irrigation lines, are not upset by the staff's recommendation to abandon a secondary water plan, but they are disappointed. He also said the canal company worked in good faith and its costs were fair estimates.
"The city needs to secure some water for the future," Jensen said, explaining there is still a strong need for Layton to obtain water rights and expand its water system to ensure it has enough water for its estimated 112,000 citizens when it reaches maximum population in the year 2010.
The city received 1,170 protests against the secondary water system and even though that was only about half what was needed to officially halt the water plan by a public vote, it was enough to get staff attention for a closer look at costs.
"The input from the citizens has been good," Jensen said.
Mayor Jerry Stevenson also complemented the citizens for their interest and involvement on the secondary water proposal.
City Councilwoman Ethel Adams said she actually heard from a lot of citizens who wanted secondary water, but she knows the plan would have been a hardship on fixed-income residents.
Proposed costs for the secondary system would have charged residents access and monthly rates based on lot size. The fees ranged from $150 to $450 for the one-time access charge to $8-$30 a month for the water.