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Shady Cove ponders water system City wants residents to meet with engineer to discuss plans for city's first water system By MELISSA MARTIN SHADY COVE -- An engineer will be on hand Tuesday to answer questions about a plan to build the first water system in the largest town in Oregon that still relies on private wells for its water supply. The City Council is inviting residents to ask questions and express their opinions about a plan to treat water from the Rogue River and pipe it into homes and businesses in this city of 2,315 people. "It's a community project and we need to hear from the people," says Clay Baumgartner, an engineer with HGE Inc., a Coos Bay firm that specializes in city water and sewer systems. A Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Two Pines Smokehouse, 21331 Highway 62, Shady Cove. The proposal calls for building a water treatment plant, laying 14.7 miles of water pipe around the city, installing water meters, building a 2-million-gallon storage tank and buying water storage at Lost Creek Lake. The estimated cost is $9.5 million, with federal and state grants picking up 35 percent. The city will ask voters for a $6.5 million bond issue in the Sept. 21 election. There are many questions that still need to be answered before the water plan is final, city officials say. Residents will likely have the option of connecting to the city system; they may still be able to use well water even if they do connect; they will pay a monthly fee regardless of their choice. Residents who don't hook up to the system could expect to pay a $15 to $25 monthly fee called an availability charge. Residents who hook up to the system would pay about $10 to $15 a month more, depending on how much water they use. The city might offer an incentive to hook up, such as paying the estimated $200 it would cost to lay pipe from the house to the street, according to Mayor Tom Anderson. "The more connections you have, the lower the monthly water rates," Baumgartner says. Shady Cove tried unsuccessfully to pass a $5.9 million bond issue for a city water system in 1991, with 63 percent of the voters saying no. That year, 57 percent of the total cost of the project would have been funded by grants, compared to 35 percent of this year's proposed project, the mayor says. "Right now, I believe that water is the most important thing in Shady Cove," Anderson says. "We don't know the condition of our wells tomorrow. They could go dry or become contaminated." Anderson says there are costs to running a well. He spent $2,200 for filters for his well after sulfur and iron began appearing in the water, $1,000 to replace a pump, plus monthly power bills to run his well. But his biggest concerns about living in a city that depends on private wells is the lack of fire protection. "In the summer, we get a north wind from 3:30 to 8 p.m. It blows all the junk out of the air into Medford and then we get to see the stars at night. "But if a fire started in the afternoon in the north end of town, it could burn all the way through Shady Cove." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA