The Tanglewood water reservoir, which took years of discussion, debate, planning and construction, is finished and in operation.
Cathy Lindsey, marketing and communications director at the Frankfort Plant Board, told The State Journal that the secondary tank has been removed as well.
“We anticipate the landscaping of the entire area to be complete in the spring,” she added.
Lawrenceburg-based Smith Contractors Inc. was awarded the contract for the full replacement of the tanks at a cost of approximately $7.45 million — slightly higher than initially anticipated due to updated construction costs and a contingency percentage.
This aerial photo shows the completed reservoir as well as the Frankfort Plant Board Clubhouse. (Photo courtesy of Frankfort Plant Board)
Initially, the FPB considered a $3.8 million option for the tank's replacement, but the Tanglewood Neighborhood Association, the Frankfort-Franklin County Planning Commission and eventually the City of Frankfort dissented. FPB sued the city over the project. The litigation was later dropped and the current option was agreed upon as a compromise.
Conversations about replacing the reservoir had been ongoing for more than a decade.
“They've been looking at this tank for more than 14 years. It's a huge deal, but it's finally getting done. And we were glad that all of us — the city, Tanglewood Neighborhood Association and FPB management — could come to an agreement to make sure that it happened because it's for the betterment of our whole water distribution system,” Lindsey told the newspaper in 2021 as work was getting underway.
The State Journal reader who inquired about the reservoir also asked whether the FPB Clubhouse will be reopened for public rental and use.
Lindsey said the future of the clubhouse is unknown at this time.
“It needs a lot of updates in order to open it up to the public, which means a financial investment,” she stated. “When the time comes, those will be decisions made by the board of directors.”
“ for the betterment “ would’ve been the $3.8 million dollar tank at the beginning, instead the wealthy Tanglewood entitled bunch , caused it to more than double . Think they are republicans?
I know that some of the more vocal TNA members are definitely MAGA Trumpers. The original Preferred Alternate (PA) of the FPB engineers was $3.8 million and then the rich, old guard white men of the Tangled Woods Neighborhood Assoc. had a collective senior moment, flexing their crepey arms, declaring that they didn’t like it because the PA was too tall and therefore, it would be an eyesore for the upper entrance to the neighborhood. The kicker is that because of the slope at the peak of the metal roof, the PA was 2 1/2’ higher than the one that was built. It would’ve taken an engineering transit to determine that there was any height difference at all when viewed from the road. Another interesting point was that many of the old guard didn’t even live that neighborhood any more, and for those that did, they couldn’t see the reservoir from their property.
What was really at issue here was small town politics of the neighborhood old guard who were still mad at the Frankfort Plant Board for building a two story structure beside the clubhouse and then installing numerous satellite antennas on the hill for the cable TV, years before. Also, at issue here in the lawsuit, was the fact that by statute, the Frankfort Plant Board was supposed to be an independent, nonprofit, quasi governmental agency, that was free from local politics when making engineering decisions, like what kind of reservoir to construct. The old guard proved that that was absolute fantasy. Mayor May and the old board of commissioners, capitulated to this crepey old guard bunch, and then essentially fired two of the FPB board of directors that Mayor May had appointed, Chair Anna Marie Rosen, and the deputy chair, Walt Baldwin, primarily over this issue. Then the City installed two more “rubber stamp” directors, according to numerous critics, who have proven to be much more compliant with the politics of Frankfort's old guard. And we’ve never heard from the Frankfort Plant Board directors again.
I take exception to the accuracy of following phrase, “… the full replacement of the tanks at a cost of approximately $7.45 million — slightly higher than initially anticipated due to updated construction costs and a contingency percentage.” That is twice as much and took well over 2 years longer to complete. That is not slightly higher! Now, that may not sound like a very long time until you consider that the old reservoir had been declared in eminent danger of catastrophic failure for the last decade at least! According to an engineer with the Frankfort Plant Board, if the old reservoir had failed catastrophically, people living downstream could have died from the flash flood!
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“ for the betterment “ would’ve been the $3.8 million dollar tank at the beginning, instead the wealthy Tanglewood entitled bunch , caused it to more than double . Think they are republicans?
I know that some of the more vocal TNA members are definitely MAGA Trumpers. The original Preferred Alternate (PA) of the FPB engineers was $3.8 million and then the rich, old guard white men of the Tangled Woods Neighborhood Assoc. had a collective senior moment, flexing their crepey arms, declaring that they didn’t like it because the PA was too tall and therefore, it would be an eyesore for the upper entrance to the neighborhood. The kicker is that because of the slope at the peak of the metal roof, the PA was 2 1/2’ higher than the one that was built. It would’ve taken an engineering transit to determine that there was any height difference at all when viewed from the road. Another interesting point was that many of the old guard didn’t even live that neighborhood any more, and for those that did, they couldn’t see the reservoir from their property.
What was really at issue here was small town politics of the neighborhood old guard who were still mad at the Frankfort Plant Board for building a two story structure beside the clubhouse and then installing numerous satellite antennas on the hill for the cable TV, years before. Also, at issue here in the lawsuit, was the fact that by statute, the Frankfort Plant Board was supposed to be an independent, nonprofit, quasi governmental agency, that was free from local politics when making engineering decisions, like what kind of reservoir to construct. The old guard proved that that was absolute fantasy. Mayor May and the old board of commissioners, capitulated to this crepey old guard bunch, and then essentially fired two of the FPB board of directors that Mayor May had appointed, Chair Anna Marie Rosen, and the deputy chair, Walt Baldwin, primarily over this issue. Then the City installed two more “rubber stamp” directors, according to numerous critics, who have proven to be much more compliant with the politics of Frankfort's old guard. And we’ve never heard from the Frankfort Plant Board directors again.
I take exception to the accuracy of following phrase, “… the full replacement of the tanks at a cost of approximately $7.45 million — slightly higher than initially anticipated due to updated construction costs and a contingency percentage.” That is twice as much and took well over 2 years longer to complete. That is not slightly higher! Now, that may not sound like a very long time until you consider that the old reservoir had been declared in eminent danger of catastrophic failure for the last decade at least! According to an engineer with the Frankfort Plant Board, if the old reservoir had failed catastrophically, people living downstream could have died from the flash flood!
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State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.