In what Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler described as a history-making moment, the city and Water District 54 have taken the next step toward getting higher fire flow into the downtown area.

At a recent council meeting, the City Council unanimously approved negotiating a contract between the district and the city to put a 12 inch water main down Marine View Drive and add connections at the cross streets from that water main to the water main along 7th Avenue South.

This new project has been scaled down from original proposals and will cost an estimated $500,000 less to construct. The new project is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

In the new project, the cross street connections between 7th and 8th Avenues were eliminated. City staff told council members they hoped construction would begin in March or April and last two to three months.

In the current agreement being worked on the district has agreed to pay for the project, including taking out any required loans, if Des Moines releases the $486,000 in federal grant money they received to improve the water system downtown and waive all permit fees and administrative charges.

Between the federal grant and district funds, $788,000 is currently available for the project. Permit fees and other concessions by the city equal $181,000. There is a project shortfall of $378,000, which will likely be covered by loans taken out by the district.

When discussions about this project began in April, Water District 54 Commissioner John Rayback said the district did want to be responsible for loans, and they did not feel they would be able to secure a loan. Ali Larkin, district board president, said loans for fire flow were a low priority for lenders.

At the council meeting, Rayback said he did not yet know how much money the district was going to need. He said he is going to meet with banks in the coming weeks.

Larkin said she felt the banks would look favorably on the district for a loan.

The water main will be laid underneath the sidewalk along the west side of Marine View Drive, to avoid dealing with concrete panels located underneath the road.

The original Marine View Drive is concrete with bricks laid on top of it. The new asphalt road is wider than the concrete underneath it. The state Department of Transportation knows the concrete is there, but there are no plans that show exactly where the concrete is in the road.