The city of Tama has since acquired the property, and it includes two Jordan wells that Mayor Brian Hanus said they were “very, very interested in” as a potential water source. The city also kept the office and warehouse buildings with the hopes of repurposing or renting them out to private tenants in the future.

Tama’s existing wells are shallow, only about 15 feet deep, and last fall, a PFAS or “forever chemical” advisory was issued for the city’s water supply. While officials had discussions about modifying the existing water treatment plant at 305 Siegel St., and they were eventually told it would make more sense long-term to build a new facility on the former paper mill site utilizing the two deeper wells as opposed to trying to pump the water several blocks to the existing plant.

“We had actually let a bid to do the revamp of our old one, and we changed our mind and backed out of that and are going forward now with building a new water treatment plant on site where it’ll be actually easier to get the treated water pumped into our water system than it was to pump the raw water from the new wells clear up to our existing treatment plant,” Hanus said. “We’re in the planning stages right now, obviously.”

The city is working with Snyder and Associates, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other government agencies on the logistics for the project. Both wells have been televised and were determined to be in “excellent shape,” and Hanus said only minor work will need to be done before they’ll be ready for use.

Cherry Lake has dried up since the closure of the paper mill, and city officials are still working toward figuring out a long-term solution.

Hanus expects the new plant to be up and running in around three years, and the total cost will be between $4 and $5 million. He plans to seek out grant funding, and he said the PFAS issue actually strengthens the city’s position in potentially receiving outside money to cover the expenses.

The city will be responsible for some portion, he added, and the council is working on receiving approval to bond an amount that will not require a public vote.

Cherry Lake update

Since the closure of the mill, Cherry Lake has completely dried up as there is no longer a water source feeding it. Historically, it was a source of water power for the mill, and it was later used as a source of fire protection and a sewer system of sorts for the mill.

Currently, Hanus said there is no hard and fast solution to the situation, but he would like to see it turned back into some sort of recreational area.

“When the mill shut down, they quit putting water in there, and the lake dried up,” he said. “We’ve got several ideas, but these are just people kicking around ideas, citizens and employees alike. One of our biggest problems with this is we have an (Army) Corps of Engineers flood control dike that goes around it, and they are very, very picky about what you can do on that dike. You can’t dig under it, you can’t dig through it and you can’t put anything over the top of it. So it’s kind of hard to get water back there.”

Hanus is hopeful that a public meeting can be held with the Corps of Engineers and DNR representatives sometime in the future to answer the questions residents may have.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.