Salt Lake County proposes pipe repairs for Millcreek

Salt Lake County wants to fix a 60-year-old fire-protection problem in Millcreek Township, but angry residents say their wallets will get seared.

Starting in the 1940s, a haphazard series of 4-inch water lines was installed in the chunk of unincorporated county, covering much of the area from 700 East to 2700 East and 2700 South to 3900 South. The result has been low water pressure for fire hydrants, which are spread about 800 to 1,000 feet apart rather than the recommended 500 feet.

The lines often dead-end and are not interconnected in a grid or looping system, so a break at one spot could leave everyone downstream unprotected against fires, county public works director John Patterson said.

So the County Council is considering creating a $13.8 million special improvement district (SID) to put in a 20-mile looping series of 8- and 12-inch water mains and add about 350 new hydrants. The county plans to pitch in about $4 million, with Salt Lake City offering $3 million because it is the city's water company that provides the residents with water. The rest would come from a bond to be paid off over 10 years.

But residents are reeling at the notion they will have to pay an average of $1,688 for the bond, which can be paid up-front or via 10 years of payments averaging $208 a year with 4 percent interest. A property owner's obligation would be assessed by a combination of property value and the number of lots owned.

More than 100 residents attended Tuesday's public hearing on the issue, with many standing during the three-hour meeting to ask why they should pay for a 60-year-old problem and lamenting that it is too costly too afford.

"The best solution is for the city, the county and the residents to come together for an SID to improve the lines," Patterson told the crowd Tuesday.

But resident after resident complained that they were being made to pay for a problem that should have been dealt with years ago. They wondered why they had to pay rather than the money coming from countywide tax funds, asserting their tax dollars often fund projects such as road improvements elsewhere in the county.

"This frankly should not be a countywide initiative," Patterson said. He said unincorporated residents in places such as Kearns, Copperton and Magna should not be asked to pay to fix Millcreek's water problems since those residents have been paying higher water rates for years to water districts that own and maintain the lines in addition to providing water.