In the next few months, construction will begin on a 250,000-gallon water storage tank behind City Hall and is expected to take about a year to complete. The tank will cost nearly $3 million and will initially provide water for fire trucks and Heritage Farm Park’s field irrigation and restrooms. Rendering courtesy of the City of Oak Ridge

OAK RIDGE – The city’s largest and most visible investment in municipal water supplies will be built behind City Hall in the next few months.

The Oak Ridge City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 1 to spend nearly $3 million to build an elevated water storage tank. It directed the city to execute the $2.99 ​​million contract with Caldwell Tanks Inc. to build the 250,000-gallon tank. The tank will be funded by a federal grant and funds from the state Legislature and will initially be filled with groundwater from Heritage Farm Park and eventually with water from Kernersville.

Although the timeline has not yet been finalized, City Manager Bill Bruce hopes the contractor will begin construction in the next few months. Construction will take about a year, he said in an email earlier this week.

Oak Ridge’s investment came weeks after some leaders in the Legislature questioned whether Summerfield could be considered a “paper town” because it offers too few services to keep its charter. The discussion came up during a debate in Raleigh before lawmakers voted in late June to split off developer David Couch’s nearly 1,000 acres of land in Summerfield.

Investing in municipal water supplies “underscores that our city is reputable for those at the state level who want cities like ours to be competitive in the state’s growing economy,” said Council Member Ann Schneider. “We need to catch up here, but we’re doing it in good faith.”

Later, former City Councilman George McClellan added in public comments that the Council’s “transformative vote … puts us in the enviable position of leadership. You can no longer say we’re a paper town.”

The tan tank will initially provide water for firefighting and watering the athletic fields and restrooms at Heritage Farm Park. In a second phase, the city will install a water main along NC 150 from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Utilities, creating a reliable source of clean water for businesses and homeowners.

Those who currently rely on well water will no longer have to rely on municipal water, according to Kinneman. A later expansion, which Councilman Jim Harton said would take decades, involves extending lines from the Highway 150 water main to lines that serve existing and new homes and businesses.

The fact that the city is relying on state and federal funds to build the tank and cover part, if not all, of the water main costs is “a fantastic win for Oak Ridge,” Schneider said.

Former Mayor Spencer Sullivan looked back on nearly 25 years of the city researching and pursuing municipal water supplies and said, “We’ve finally reached the point where we’re taking the first step. This is going to benefit and transform our city one generation at a time. Long after most of us are gone, it’s going to make a huge difference in this city.”