Altamont Discusses Water Main Replacement Project

The Altamont community began discussing a city-wide water main replacement project Monday night.

The Altamont City Council scheduled a public hearing following their meeting at the Municipal Building and about 15 members of the general public joined them to hear about the project.

Citizens seemed to view the situation frankly; no one wanted a water rate increase, but understood the replacement project has to be done sooner or later. As to whether the project should be done in phases, the consensus seemed to be that everyone wants the good water and will be paying for the work, so let's do it all at once.

The project will involve replacing water mains that were run down the center of roadways with lines that will run along City sidewalks; that way, the sidewalks can be replaced at the same time as the water mains, and without tearing up the roadways.

The City's engineering firm, Curry and Associates of Nashville, will continue with the drawings on the work and City officials will contact USDA Rural Development to continue earlier discussions on financing the project. Area legislators will be contacted for any assistance on funding for the work.

During the regular meeting Monday, the Altamont Council approved a Tax Increment Financing agreement with Tyler Polk and Eric Schmidt for work on a wall of their building downtown that was exposed when the old locker plant next door was torn down.

The Council also extended outdoor seating for restaurants for another 60 days, which should assist those smaller seating operations in accommodating their patrons until they can fully re-open. Bars are moving back inside.