The Knox City Water Department will get a reimbursement for expenses related to the management of the Downtown Serenity Garden.
The project was started by a class at Knox High School as a way to learn about community involvement. The site of the Serenity Garden was developed following the demolition of a downtown building. It took several months to complete the work.
Water Department Superintendent Todd Gardner says the tap is located behind the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center.
“We did have, that area had another tap that came into the old building, but it was underneath the sidewalk and it would have had to have been replaced to there and probably back to the main, but I didn’t want to dig up the road and sidewalk, so we’ve got it shut off,” says Gardner.
Instead, the water department found another method for accessing the water main. The new piping will be used to water the grass that is now growing at the site of the garden.
A fund was set aside in the City’s annual budget to manage the creation of the Serenity Garden. Due to the $800 expense associated with accessing the water main, the Knox Water Department asked who is footing the bill for the project.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers says a reimbursement was contingent on actually having the funds.
“If there’s any money left in the Serenity Garden Fund, we reimburse the Water Department for the expense of that water pit, approximately $800,” says Chambers.
The matter was approved by the Board of Works, unanimously.
Gardner expects the tap for use by the sprinklers to last for an extended number of years before it may eventually need to be replaced.
