The Orem Buried Water Tank Project

Recently, residents of Orem were interviewed by the Daily Herald concerning “The Water Tank Project.” If you haven’t heard of this you wouldn’t be the only one. The Herald says, ”Orem residents who live around Community Park, where a proposed water tank is to be placed, say there has been a drought of information on the project.” This water tank will be 16-20 feet deep and will hold 10 million gallons. Where are they going to do this project? Right in Mountain View’s backyard, Orem Community Park.

The city wants to build this well because the city is 10 million gallons short on water storage. They say they have been planning this project to some degree since around 2016. Recently, they offered to buy houses in a neighborhood right next to the park. This is when the residents became acutely aware of what was going on. Eric Shaumann that they were previously, “wholly unaware of the tank project.” The fact that they had no idea this was being discussed until the city offered to buy their properties was very disconcerting.

The well will take about two years to build and will involve a lot of digging. The excavation and construction will take a long time before it is finished. The residents near there have expressed that they don’t think the city is taking nearby areas into consideration. They are worried about the amount of strangers, like construction workers, dust, and construction that will take place right near them. The city has addressed some of these concerns but the residents aren’t satisfied.
Recently, the city held two video meetings with residents and discussed the issue. They also have released a Q&A that can be found on the Orem city website. The residents didn’t find these meetings to be very satisfactory, though. Shaumann said, “I believe the answers given by Mr. (Brenn) Bybee, (Jamie) Davidson, and Tschirki were truthful but incomplete and did not present some key information.”

The city argues that this will be a great thing for Orem. They will have to dig up half of Orem Park including the Tennis Courts and bathrooms but they will build it up again and it will be better than ever. They also say that the tank is safe. There are lots of procedures in place on the very small chance that it does fail.

Discussions continue to be had about this tank including alternative locations. A final decision has not been made about a lot of things. If you want to get updates and learn more, the Orem city website has lots of information. Both sides have good arguments and it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17kbnJ18qrtyVLTHj1gMYRBteY6IapGA2VBqmr4ureI4/edit

https://orem.org/watertank/

https://youtu.be/_ZdlR3F4WtU

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/orem/orem-residents-pipe-up-about-water-tank-location/article_61c7cdf3-1125-58c9-96f1-12ebb17c4db0.html