Water

New Water Agreement With Park Township

Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) and Park Township entered a new partnership, bringing much of the township’s water distribution system from a wholesale arrangement into a full-retail relationship with HBPW. HBPW began serving about 4,000 Park Township water customers on July 1, 2020.

“This regional partnership brings high value to both HBPW and Park Township ratepayers”

– Dave Koster, General Manager

“This regional partnership brings high value to both HBPW and Park Township ratepayers,” said Dave Koster, General Manager. “A combined system reduces risk for both service areas and creates a lower and more predictable cost structure for the township.”

Park Township does not have a dedicated water utility department or staff, and the township pursued the agreement with HBPW to control costs, mitigate risk and create a simpler customer service experience. The township already relied on HBPW and Holland Charter Township for maintenance and installs. The new agreement transferred billing, proactive planning and maintenance to HBPW, but leaves Park Township with control over any significant expansions to its water service area.

The Park Township Board of Trustees, Holland Board of Public Works and Holland City Council signed off on the retail agreement in April, 2020 after determining the consolidation of services was a good fit and cost-saving measure for the region.

“HBPW has a strong reputation locally and across the country for reliable service, future-focused planning and community investment,” said Howard Fink, Park Township manager. “In entering a full retail agreement with HBPW, our customers benefit from a highly advanced utility provider, ensuring the system is prudently operated and maintained over time.”

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Designing System Redundancy to Ensure Reliable Water Service

Holland Board of Public Works focuses on delivering reliable utility services to our community. Building redundancies into the utility system is an important part of ensuring essential services.

Water transmission mains carry potable water from the Water Treatment Plant to customers in Holland, Park Township, Laketown Township, Holland Township and Zeeland. The largest transmission main in HBPW’s territory is a 36-inch diameter main located on the north side of Holland that runs along Perry Street and Ottawa Beach Road. The main is a critical asset to the HBPW water system. Since the main was constructed in the mid-1950s, additional smaller transmission mains have been added on the south side of Lake Macatawa, but should an emergency arise that prevented the north side main from being used, HBPW would have difficulty serving all their customers. “This is why redundancy is so important in ensuring reliable utility services,” said Andrew Reynolds, Planning Engineer.

“This is why redundancy is so important in ensuring reliable utility services”

– Andrew Reynolds, Planning Engineer

Holland Board of Public Works plans to resolve the lack of redundancy by building a new water transmission main that runs down Lakewood Boulevard from 160th Street to River Avenue, spanning just over three miles. Another advantage of the second transmission main is that it sets the water system up well for growth, should it be needed in the future.

The design of the project will be completed by the summer of 2021. During the design phase, research is done to find the best route for the new main, considering factors such as cost, constructability, traffic impacts, customer disruptions, and conflicts with existing or planned buried utilities. “There are a lot of utilities underground that need to be considered. Before construction begins, we have to find where it can be built, giving enough space for the other utilities,” said Reynolds. “Design is also when we figure out the details like where to add valves and exactly where and how the new pipe connects to the existing system.” The new water main will be able to receive water from HBPW’s Water Treatment Plant or directly from the Wyoming interconnect main.

The project is a good example of regional coordination between HPBW, Ottawa County Road Commission and Holland Township. “A lot of coordination is required to make a project like this a success. For example, we are already talking with the Ottawa County Road Commission to see if there are ways to coordinate the timing of this project with the road commission’s future plans for resurfacing Lakewood, which could reduce project costs and traffic impacts,” explained Reynolds.

Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2021.