City buying land near fish hatchery

By Scott Aust, Journal staff | Wednesday, December 03, 2008

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Rapid City is in the process of buying two properties, in total a little over one-third of an acre near Cleghorn Drive, that would be used in the proposed Jackson Springs water treatment plant construction project.

After a closed session at the end of Monday's regular Rapid City Council meeting, the council authorized the mayor and finance officer to sign a real estate purchase agreement to buy two parcels at 5225 Cleghorn Drive from Marguerite Lukens.

The council authorized spending up to $167,000 for the two parcels, one .18 acre and the other .17 acre. The money will come from the city's water enterprise fund.

City Attorney Jason Green said terms of the sale are still being negotiated but the parties had agreed on a sale price. He declined to discuss issues still in negotiation, other than to say they don't appear to be significant.

In response to a question, Green acknowledged one of the details to work out is the future status of residential structures on the lot and a tenant.

The city considering spending $135 million to build two water treatment plants and upgrade the water distribution system.

The project will bring the Jackson Springs water gallery back on line and replace the city's existing water treatment plant, which was built in the 1960s. Capable of producing 8 million gallons per day, officials say Jackson Springs is too large a water source for the city to ignore.

Jackson Springs, which bubbles to the surface near the Cleghorn Springs fish hatchery, provided about half of the city's water supply before it was shut down by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 over potential surface water contaminants mixing with ground water.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com