The City Council unanimously approved a plan at Tuesday night’s meeting, to build a water storage tower, not on Lot 22 as was first proposed, but on a nearby, more secluded plot of land atop the Hyland Park hill.
To change the location, Jim Waselues will pay the city $75,000 to buy a portion of Gary Combs’ land, and because the new piece of land is worth $200,000, Combs will donate the remaining $125,000 to the city. In turn, the city will turn over Lot 22 to Waseleus.
At last week’s special City Council meeting, Waseleus asked the city to give him a week to work out a deal to prevent Lot 22 being used for the water tower site. He lives next to Lot 22, and the tower would have been built 100 feet from his house.
Building the tank at the new site will cost the city $230,000 more in development costs than if it were built on Lot 22, said David Jurgens, Fayetteville’s utilities director. The added cost comes from needing additional piping and building a taller tower, among other expenses.
However, Jurgens added that council members should consider the potential for incurring legal fees if the Hyland Park Home Owners Association decided to seek litigation for Lot 22.
