Study recommends wells and treatment plant to serve Pleasant Grove Park; county cautions on cost range

A consultant’s feasibility study presented to the board on March 4 proposed new groundwater supply and treatment to extend water and sewer service to Pleasant Grove Park and the Commonwealth Boulevard corridor.

Ryan Boakes (Duberry) said preliminary work identified eight candidate well sites, two possible pump station locations, and two site alternatives for a treatment facility. For fire‑flow needs the consultant recommended an offline ground storage tank with a booster pump for cost reasons but presented elevated tank alternatives for comparison.

High‑level cost estimates shown in the report included a water‑system treatment and distribution range of roughly $9–10 million and sewer improvements near $1.2 billion in the transcript (note: consultant indicated substantial variability dependent on chosen treatment and routing; board discussion treated the sewer estimate as an early placeholder). The consultant recommended well testing to confirm yields (an estimated 8 months), design and permitting (12 months) and construction (~16 months), with total time to construct about three to four years from the start of testing.

Board members noted the importance of confirming well yields and water quality before committing to larger downstream costs and asked staff to continue value‑engineering and to reassess cost estimates after well testing. County administration said minimal design funds were included in the FY2027 CIP to begin well testing and initial design.

Next steps: conduct well yield testing and update cost estimates; staff to return with refined numbers and schedule milestones for board consideration.