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What’s the Big Idea?
The Pleasanton City Council held a special workshop November 16th to begin to discuss with the public a proposal to take needed infrastructure to the Highway 69 corridor. The area in question is located North & South of 6th Street/E1100 Rd and between Tucker Rd. /69 Highway. The city is currently formulating a plan to bring water and sanitary sewer to this potentially valuable commercial ground.
The City of Pleasanton’s water distribution system is in poor shape. At one point this last summer the Public Works Department repaired no less than 19 water leaks in a 30 day period. Cast iron lines that on the map show a 6” diameter effectively work like a 3” diameter line due to corrosion and wear. A new 12” or larger PVC line running from the tower through town would allow us to tie in existing lines as well as branch off with new lines and begin the process of replacing and updating our aging water distribution system.
Why in the World do we Need to do This?
Our community is in desperate need of new economic opportunity. The latest census numbers and the naked eye provide evidence that our population and business base are declining. The fact that the highway has bypassed Pleasanton makes it necessary to chase after it. Unfortunately, our community gave up (many years ago) the right to dictate where and when economic growth would occur. At this point our area of economic growth is going to be dictated to us and has been by the movement of the highway. We have to give the everyday traveler along 69 Highway a reason to stop and spend money in Pleasanton.
By promoting development along this geographically beneficial area of Highway 69 we effectively put Pleasanton back on the map. Think about it; we reside square in the middle of a nearly 60 mile gap in services. To our north lies Louisburg and to our south is Fort Scott, with the exception of a couple of service stations there really isn't anything in between. Pleasanton has to capitalize on our location by giving the highway traveler the things they need in close proximity to the highway. The fact is that there isn’t any other community in Linn County in a better position to take advantage of the Highway then Pleasanton.
Economic Development is all about putting together a winning formula.
LOCATION+TRAFFIC+ INCENTIVES+INFRASTRUCTURE+COMMUNITY SUPPORT=SUCCESS!
Pleasanton has the location.
The Highway provides the traffic.
We are prepared to offer tax incentives.
We need infrastructure and community support.
I’ve Got Something to Say!
We have tentatively scheduled 3 more workshops between now and March of 2012 followed by Town Hall Meeting in April in order to develop the plan for expansion and gather input from the community. Our first workshop, held November 16, welcomed about 40 attendees including several members of the Pleasanton City Council as well as the Linn County Commissioners along with other city and county officials and many local business owners and citizens. The purpose of this workshop was to lay out the tentative proposal and gain feedback on the idea of developing the corridor. Almost without exception those in attendance agreed that the Highway was the key to Pleasanton's future. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas and ultimately gain your support. Please, attend a workshop, read the paper, check out the website-www.pleasantonkansas.org or just give us a call.
Let’s Get Specific
The initial proposal calls for a new 12” (or larger) water line to be run directly from the water tower east through town out to the development area. Then, the line would be looped back into town and reconnected with an existing line. There are two benefits to this plan; providing water with sufficient flow and pressure to support substantial development and fire suppression sprinkler systems east of town AND provide a new trunk line from which we can connect into existing city lines and begin to improve water service for the entire town.
The current thinking for the sanitary sewer portion of the plan is to provide the service to the commercial area in between Tucker Road and 69 Highway. The system will probably require a lift station and force main setup because of the shallow existing sewer mains on the east side of town.
Where do we go From Here?
This process will take time. Development, construction, financing, marketing and several other issues will have to be worked through in order to see this proposal through. We are estimating that the entire process will take about a year and a half to complete. Everything discussed here is tentative to say the least; we have many more months of planning and research before any concrete decisions are made.
UPDATE-The City of Pleasanton has scheduled our second "Looking Towards the Future" Infrastructure Expansion Workshop for Wednesday-January 11, 2012 at 6pm. |
