HELEN - The Helen City Commission has approved changing a planned water line, a move their engineering firm will save the city money and produce better results.
Fletcher Holliday of EMI said the city has not been maximizing the water it can receive from the White County Water Authority, and thus developed a proposal to increase delivery.
Holliday recommended the city authorize EMI to proceed with the first phase of Option B, which is to replace a six-inch water pipe with an eight-inch line at a cost of $92,900. The project would result in an increase from 125 gallons per minute to 310 gallons per minute.
The commission approved Holliday's recommendation, chosing that option in lieu of installing a 12-inch water line that would cost $133,000 and would only increase available water flow by one gallon per minute.
Since the project is being done with Georgia Environmental Finance Authority funds, the revision will have to be submitted back to GEFA, but Holliday says he doesn't anticipate there being a problem getting it approved.
"It's a better project with better returns at a lower cost," Holliday told the commission.
Asked by Commissioner Helen Wilkins for a timetable on the work, Holliday said, "It would probably be a 60-day project."
