Resolution would let Juneau borrow up to $10 million to replace Glacier Highway water main

The Juneau Assembly on Monday will consider letting City Manager Katie Koester apply for a state loan of up to $10 million to replace a 45-year-old water main under Glacier Highway.

The ductile iron pipe, which runs between Ross Way and Salmon Creek, "has experienced corrosion and breaks causing leaks," according to the resolution. It is also undersized, the resolution says, and no longer has the flow capacity to meet all of Juneau's current and future needs.

A larger main would carry more water from the city's sources downtown and at Salmon Creek to the Mendenhall Valley, according to the meeting agenda.

The city wants the new pipe in the ground before the state works on that stretch of road. The Alaska Department of Transportation plans to reconstruct or resurface Glacier Highway between Ross Way and Salmon Creek in 2029. Replacing the main first would save the city money, the resolution says, because it would not have to fully repave the highway after laying the line.

The project is expected to cost about $13 million. The agenda says a project that size will take a combination of fund balance, transfers from capital projects and the state loan.

The loan would come from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation's State Revolving Fund. None of it would be forgiven. The city would repay it at a below-market interest rate over 20 years.

Juneau's water and sewer utilities get no property tax revenue, and households are partway through five straight years of 5% increases on their bills, Alaska News reported in September. The agenda says that when the Assembly set those rates, dealing with the utility's aging infrastructure required rate increases, fund balance and state loan debt.

In September, the city asked engineering firms for bid-ready plans, a memo on what size the new pipe should be and a plan to build it over two construction seasons, according to its request for proposals. The city's purchasing archive lists the engineering firm DOWL as the apparent vendor.

The city's Public Works and Facilities Committee recommended using state loan money for the design in August. The resolution is on Monday's consent agenda, and Koester recommends adopting it. If it passes, the Assembly would still have to approve an ordinance to borrow the money once the city has a loan agreement in hand, the resolution says.