Proposed water tank to sit above campus

Like any other city, Ogden must adhere to the basics in city planning; utilities are a must. Ogden City has been in the process of updating the water system, renovating existing tanks along the mountainside, along with designating areas where new tanks might go to support the continuing growth of the city. Among new sites being considered, one location for water tanks is just above Weber State University on campus property.

While the project still has several stages left in local legislature and is waiting to go through the city planning council, city engineer Justin Anderson has been hard at work planning out where the 1.25 million-gallon tank could be safely located. WSU is considered one of the only locations, if not the best, for the water tank.

“There’s not too many places I can fit (the water tank) up on the hillside and make it work the way I want it to,” Anderson said. “There is a location on Weber State’s property that would work. And that is the location that I have proposed.”

The water tank proposed to go above WSU’s campus is only a part of Ogden City’s initiative to update its water supplies. New tanks above 9th St. only recently became operational, and another tank close to the one proposed on WSU land is currently going through City Council for budget approval. These new tanks will serve as a cleaner, more structurally sound water source for the community, updating the older tanks, which are nearly a century old.

Existing tanks require constant maintenance and are structurally at risk. Rick Grover, an Ogden City planner, expressed concern about the stabilization of the current water tanks.

“The boosting tanks that are up there are very unstable and if an earthquake or anything like that were to happen, they would go very quickly,” he said.

If the water tank proposed by Ogden is passed by the city council, WSU must also approve the plans and allocate a portion of land to the city. The tank would be partially buried, leaving the upper face exposed and visible from campus. Land allocated to the city would most likely be an easement grant, said WSU Vice President Norm Tarbox, meaning WSU would allow Ogden City to use the land at no cost.

“We get asked pretty regularly, primarily with municipalities or utility providers or something like that, to grant easements,” Tarbox said. “And if it’s something that doesn’t affect our plans for future developments of the campus and doesn’t have any kind of visual effect or any kind of negative impact on the university, we’ll generally grant it.

But if we have to give something up, whether it’s visual or a spot where we were going to put something, or it affects our master plan, then we weigh that request differently.”

Visually, the structure will be visible from Ogden, positioned on the eastern end above campus.

“Obviously the city has concerns,” Grover said. “And we want to make sure what happens up there doesn’t create a huge scar on the hillside and that it blends it with the area.”

While the university lacks any master plan for the mountainside behind WSU, both the Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees have directed school administrators to begin planning. The current campus stands at 2.5 million square feet. From previous studies conducted on WSU’s property, approximately 1 million square feet of land is viable developmental space for the school.

“For Weber State to expand, they will need some sort of water storage,” Anderson said. “It’s required by code. So that’s something that will be needed to expand.”

The land Anderson considered for the project would be too steep for campus buildings.

“It would be built on an area where Weber State would not be able to build its campus due to the slope,” he said. “It’d be too great to build a building, but we are able to build water tanks there.”

WSU has now hired an engineer without ties to the university or Ogden City to review the water tank proposal to determine what course of action would be in WSU’s best interests.