South Pittsburg OKs second water line to Kimball

The South Pittsburg City Hall building is seen on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in South Pittsburg, Tenn.
The South Pittsburg City Hall building is seen on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in South Pittsburg, Tenn.

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - Local officials here are working on running a second water line between South Pittsburg and Kimball as a backup in case the current one fails.

The South Pittsburg Board of Water Works and Sewers supplies Kimball, too. Sam Saieed, a grants coordinator and regional planner for the Southeast Tennessee Development District, said the water company was awarded a $525,000 Community Development Block Grant for the project.

The grant requires a 13 percent local match, which Kimball city leaders approved in March. The vote was 3-2 to commit $47,572 to the project.

Saieed said the work will consist of tapping into the existing waterline south of Interstate 24 and boring under the interstate to connect to the water distribution center in Kimball.

"The intent of it is basically to provide water capacity and redundancy to the commercial and residential areas of Kimball, so that if the other water line ever does go down for any reason, there would be water capacity there," he said. "The area wouldn't be without water."

The South Pittsburg City Commission voted unanimously to approve the project at its January meeting.

South Pittsburg Utilities Manager Donald Blansett said the Tiftonia area recently suffered a broken water line and was without water in some spots for two days.

The current line to Kimball runs under a creek and the interstate, he said, and could be quite difficult to repair if it failed.

A situation like that could have a devastating effect in Kimball, the commercial hub of Marion County.

Kimball Mayor Rex Pesnell cast the tie-breaking vote in March to approve the matching funds and said he considered what the town could lose if the current water line failed.

"I just look at the revenue we would lose in the event of a water break in the one line we have now," he said at the time. "We would lose more than $47,000. I guarantee you that."

"That's what we're trying to avoid here with this by getting another line," Blansett said.

Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.

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