Preston seeks water tank funding as city grows

PRESTON, Idaho — The city of Preston is growing, and city leaders say they need more water storage to keep up with that growth while also preparing for emergencies.

A new 6.5-million-gallon water tank is planned, but the project is expected to cost millions of dollars more than originally anticipated, and voters will decide if and how to pay for it.

Like many communities, Preston is seeing a lot of growth. City leaders say planning for that growth means addressing infrastructure needs, including water.

Kelly Mickelsen has served as Preston's city treasurer for 10 years. He said the city has a single source for its water, making additional storage important in case that source is disrupted.

"If something happens to that, we've got to have time to fix it," Mickelsen said.

That's one reason the city wants to add the 6.5-million-gallon tank to its existing three-tank storage system.

"Probably emergency storage is the biggest reason," Mickelsen said.

The additional storage would also help Preston capture more of the water available from its source. Currently, excess water flows into nearby Foster Reservoir and Glendale Reservoir, which are near the city's existing water tanks.

Grant falls short of project cost

Preston applied for federal grant funding to help pay for the new tank, but the city received less than it had requested.

"We applied for actually $5.1 million in grants. Then we have to have a 20% match for that. So technically, that probably would have got us there, but then we only got $3.75 million in grant. So now we're short," Mickelsen said.

The city then opened the project to bids. Mickelsen said the bids came in between $6.3 million and $7.8 million.

With the project costing more than the city had available, Preston will need to find additional funding.

City leaders plan to ask voters in November to approve a $2.5 million revenue bond to help make up the difference.

Mickelsen said the bond would not increase residents' water bills.

"It will not add anything to the water bill," he said.

That's because the city expects to pay off an existing bond in early 2028. The new bond would essentially replace that payment, according to Mayor Dan Keller.

"That's exactly the reason. We will pay that one off. This one will basically take the place of it for a shorter period of time," Mickelsen said.

Planning for growth and drought

The additional storage would give Preston more water available during drought years while providing additional capacity as the community continues to grow.

The city is averaging about 40 newly built homes per year, according to city leaders.

"Trying to be a little proactive on it," Mickelsen said.

The proposed tank would be built alongside Preston's three existing water tanks. Keller said the city's engineering costs for the project have already been paid out of pocket.

The $2.5 million revenue bond proposal is scheduled to go before Preston voters on the November ballot. It would require a simple majority to pass because it is a revenue bond, according to Keller.

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