Negaunee-Ishpeming Water Authority wants to buy land to build new well

This winter hasn’t only produced headaches for residents. It’s also brought hard times for municipal water authorities.

The Negaunee-Ishpeming Water Authority has asked Ishpeming to sell nearly nine acres of land so that it can build an additional well. The parcel of land is a wooded area on Sunset Drive between the wastewater treatment plant and the city’s road salt storage barn.

“We’re trying to work out a deal where we can obtain from (the Negaunee-Ishpeming Water Authority) some access that we need on their property and they can use our property to drill the well that they need,” Ishpeming City Manager Mark Slown said. “It’s what we should be doing, working together to get the job done.”

The need for another well became apparent this winter. The authority had to run its water system at maximum capacity for the whole season because of pipes that froze or ruptured in the cold weather.

“We even had to buy water from a nearby community in order to prevent from creating a possible boil-water notice or other kinds of extreme conditions, so this new well will help to prevent those kinds of situations in the future,” Slown said.

At a special meeting this morning, the Ishpeming City Council voted to allow Slown to begin negotiating a possible sale or lease. The water authority has asked to buy the 8.7-acre parcel for $8,700.