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Council schedules meeting about $11.1 million project By Melissa Martin of the Mail Tribune SHADY COVE -- The City Council wants to build an $11.1 million water system, paid for by $3.6 million in state and federal grants and a $7.5 million general obligation bond. The council will hold a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Center so residents can discuss the measure. Those wanting complete details about the project may pick up a copy of the city's newsletter at City Hall. Residents would repay half the $7.5 million debt through a property tax increase that is estimated to be $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed value, the other half through the $18.50 monthly water charges, city officials said. The system would include a filtration plant to draw and treat water from the Rogue River, distribution pipes to carry water to Shady Cove homes and businesses, water meters at each home, fire hydrants, water storage in Lost Creek Lake and a 2-million-gallon storage tank. The city would incorporate the 19,000 feet of pipe and meters built by 15 community water systems that exist in Shady Cove. Shady Cove city leaders at one time investigated hooking up to the Big Butte Springs source, but found the costs prohibitive: They would have had to build 30 miles of pipeline to the closest distribution point, which is a master meter station in White City that directs water to Eagle Point, said Laura Hodnett of the Medford Water Commission. In March 1992, Shady Cove voters rejected a $2.2 million obligation bond. At the time, half of the project would have been paid for by grants. The bond would have cost property owners an estimated $2.43 per $1,000 of assessed value. Since then, Shady Cove's assessed value has more than doubled, reaching $120,568,810 last year. Shady Cove's population has grown from 1,482 to 2,315 in five years. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA