Oct. 7--DECATUR -- The Decatur City Council laid the groundwork Monday for a multimillion-dollar loan to cover a wide-ranging water infrastructure project.

The estimated $10 million to $13 million plan by the city's Water Management Department would provide better water pressure to residents all over the city, said Keith Alexander, water management director.

"This will dramatically improve the flow of water," Alexander said. "We'll be able to get water at a faster rate to the central and north portions of our community."

The plan calls for the construction of a new water storage tank, a new pump station and a new water main between the South Water Treatment Plant and two existing storage tanks.

The move also will preserve the city's high fire protection rating, a factor he said should help keep insurance costs lower for landowners.

"We already have a high rating, but this will further enhance that high rating," Alexander said.

The creation of a new pump station comes in the wake of the city's decision to sell the former North Water Treatment Plant to Archer Daniels Midland Co.

"The system was set up to have flow from both water plants," Alexander said. "Since 2001, we have a changed water flow in our entire distribution system."

Former Mayor Terry Howley said the 2001 sale of the plant came after staff determined repairing the aging facility was beyond the city's price range.

"There were some issues with that plant," he said. "We were told from the inception it was never designed correctly. The city had put a lot of money into that plant just to maintain it and upgrade it."

Alexander said the creation of the new pump station and the water main would, in effect, create two water pressure zones: One for the north part of the city and the other for the area south of Lake Decatur. Alexander said the effect would be that each half of the city draws from its own source of water pressure rather than the entire city drawing from one spread-out system.

In addition to the federal appropriations, Alexander said the city will attempt to borrow the remainder of the money under special low-interest loan programs from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. He said the city also would seek federal stimulus money.

The project already has been awarded some federal money. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., last month announced $250,000 in federal EPA funding for the project.

Alexander said that if funding materializes as the city hopes, the project should break ground in the spring and be finished within two years.

klowe@herald-review.com 421-7985

-----

To see more of Herald and Review, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald-review.com

Copyright (c) 2009, Herald and Review, Decatur, Ill.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:ADM,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.