The Sac City Council has hired an engineering firm to conduct a study on the feasibility of Sac City supplying drinking water to nearby Lytton. Administrator, Jamie Lawrence, says he was contacted recently by officials from Lytton about a potential partnership.
Sac City has a population of approximately 2,000 people while Lytton stands at 275, so Lawrence believes they would be able to handle the increased load on their system without any major problems. However, they need an engineer to examine everything before moving forward with the proposal. At Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved a $8,500 contract with JEO Consulting to perform that study. Lawrence explains what JEO will be looking for.
Lytton sits nearly seven miles straight east of Sac City along 255th Street. A similar project is underway in neighboring Calhoun County between Lake City and Lanesboro, and early estimates to build seven miles of water main to connect those communities came in between $2.5 and $3.5 million. Prior to becoming Sac City Administrator, Lawrence was Water Management Coordinator for the Pennyrile Area Development District in Kentucky. He says agreements like this are likely to become much more common in the coming decades.
JEO’s study is expected to take 90 days to complete, so officials in Sac City and Lytton will not have an initial cost estimate until then. Lawrence says both councils are very supportive of the idea, so it is likely Sac City and Lytton will move forward with the project.
