Submitted photo

Hines’ new water tank now is complete and has been serving residents since Sept. 13 of this year. 

The city of Hines provided the following summary of its Water Improvement Project. This summary has been edited for clarity and length:

Hines is ready to start winding down its Water Improvement Project, which has been in progress for the past six years.

The project started in 2015 when the city hired Anderson Perry to create a Water System Master Plan (WSMP). The state requires every municipality to complete a WSMP every 20 years.

The purpose of the plan is to analyze existing systems and discover areas that need to be repaired or updated. The plan also ensures that the city is collecting proper revenue to sustain future operations.

Completed in spring of 2017, Hines’ WSMP was based on an estimated sustained 20-year population of 1,700 people.

The plan revealed a few issues:

1. When the supply system was evaluated, the WSMP showed that Hines’ three permanent wells were capable of producing 1,800 gallons per minute if the wells were operated 18 hours per day. This capacity met the city’s peak daily flow demands. However, it was found that water levels could not be monitored, and the pumps at each well needed repaired and updated with new electrical controls to monitor water levels in each well. Also, the well houses needed improvements to protect the pumps and electronics from the weather. Security fencing was also needed.

2. The WSMP also studied the city’s storage needs. At the time, Hines had two operating storage reservoirs — the 250,000-gallon elevated reservoir (the old water tower) and the 600,000-gallon bolted steel reservoir (the south tank on Hines Logging Road). Combined, these two reservoirs offered 850,000 gallons of storage capacity, which was 550,000 gallons short of the anticipated 1.4 million gallons needed. In addition to this deficit, the old water tower was at the end of its useful life.

3. The plan also analyzed the distribution system, which is how water is delivered to each home and business. The city’s distribution piping system was in relatively good condition, but several areas could not provide adequate fire flows. Undersized, dead-end, and old distribution system piping within the city lead to low fire flow capacity and issues with water circulation in these areas. All of these things needed to be repaired to bring the distribution and fire line systems up to code.

As a result of the WSMP’s findings, Hines decided to complete a major water system improvements project to address the deficiencies mentioned above. The improvements project was estimated to cost $7.2 million.

From 2017 through 2019, the focus turned to project financing and implementation — how the WSMP would be put in place and funded. On June 27, 2017, the city attended a One Stop Meeting where several funding package options were evaluated. Ultimately, the city chose to pursue a Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund loan and grant. The City obtained a loan for $6,449,000 with an annual interest rate of 1 percent on a 30-year term, and a grant for $750,000. It was estimated that the debt service cost each year to repay the loan would be $250,000.

During this time, a water rate study was conducted. This study showed that the city needed to raise the base water rate for a basic residential meter from $48 per billing cycle ($24/month) to $91.84 per billing cycle ($45.92/month) and increase the usage rate from $0.004 per cubic foot to a graduated tier system in order to generate the revenue to pay for normal operation and maintenance costs and pay the estimated $250,000/year payment. When the study was conducted, there were 651 residential accounts and 45 commercial accounts. Only a few more accounts have been added since then.

Knowing that rates needed to be raised eventually, the Hines Common Council voted in December 2017 to raise rates gradually, instead of surprising residents with an almost 100 percent increase all at once. Starting in January 2018, residential rates increased about $4 each billing cycle until the final base rate of $91.84 was reached in October 2019.

During this same period (from 2017 through early 2020), Anderson Perry worked with the city to create designs for the improvements. Survey crews mapped the locations where new waterlines would be installed, environmental effects of the project were analyzed, and archaeological crews inventoried the project area to assess possible impacts to cultural resource sites. All of this information was combined to create a clearly defined plan for a contractor to follow.

By March of 2020, the city was ready to request bids and hire a contractor. Warrington Construction of Ontario won the bidding process and was hired to begin construction. They wasted no time. By May of 2020, they had mobilized equipment, secured materials, and were ready to work. Warrington was able to install 80 percent of the new water lines before winter of 2020 set in.

Around the time that construction started (spring of 2020), the meter reading system failed. The city’s ability to measure water usage at each meter become outdated and no longer reliable. After discussion with the lender, the engineers at Anderson Perry, a change-order was agreed upon, and the city added installation of new meters and a new meter reading system with new financial software to the project. As result, the waterlines and new water meters were installed simultaneously.

A new antenna was also installed behind the west side of the fire hall. This antenna can connect to approximately 97 percent of the new water meters. The antenna will be able to collect usage information every 15 minutes, providing very accurate and up-to-date data for billing purposes. Also, the new water meters will measure units of usage in gallons, instead of cubic feet. Hopefully, seeing usage measured in gallons on their water bill will help residents see of how much water they use during a billing cycle.

In spring of 2021, construction for the new water tank began. This 800,000-gallon tank solves the storage deficit, bringing the storage capability up to the WSMP requirement of 1.4 million gallons. 

Electricians and electrical automation crews also began updating the pumps at each well. Their work will allow the Public Works Department to run the entire water system on an updated, computer-controlled network that allows them to measure well water levels.

The new tank now is complete. It was filled with water, flushed several times, and analyzed to ensure structural integrity. The water was also tested to ensure that there were not any contaminates. Once all requirements were met, the new tank was ready for service. So, on Sept. 13, 2021, the old Hines water tower was disconnected from the water system and officially retired from service. Since that day, residents have been using water from the new tank.

Hines is now looking at the final stages of the project. A few waterlines — about 10 percent of the total distribution improvements — were added to the project in the following areas: between South Roanoke and South Saginaw, from Byrd to Barnes; along West Pettibone; along North Saginaw in two separate spots; and a fire line for a new fire hydrant on North Peter French. These water lines, along with installing water meters in these areas, will finalize the distribution portion of the project.

Due to changes in approach during the project, one archaeological site in the above areas cannot be avoided. The city is working through a consultation process, as required by federal and state law, with the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, the Burns Paiute Tribe, and several other entities who were invited to determine what mitigation measures can be implemented to offset adverse effects to the site. This process has consisted of bi-monthly meetings to brainstorm potential options, including public outreach and education, future cultural resource management plans, cultural monitoring of the construction, and other measures. This process typically takes six months or more to complete, as multiple parties need to weigh in and sign the final agreement. The city is close to signing the document that will finalize the mitigation measures and allow construction to proceed within the area of the cultural resources.

Along with finishing the installation of waterlines, the city is now completing planned upgrades and repairs to well #3 (the Jones well). The well is on schedule to be completed by November. Also, the installation and testing of the software for meter reading is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year.

This has been a huge undertaking for all members of the Hines community. The city would like to thank Anderson Perry, Warrington Construction, and the subcontractors. The city would also like to thank the Burns Paiute Tribe and city staff (especially the Hines Public Works Department). Most of all, Hines would like to thank its residents for their input, help, and patience throughout this process. Thank you!