Black Hills Energy is using a window of opportunity to reset pressure levels on the gas pipelines serving Seward residents.
The Seward City Council on April 7 approved the company’s plans to repurpose the existing Town Border Station 1 and move its functions to a new station east of the city off Bluff Road.
Town border stations are the point at which a wholesale natural gas provider delivers the gas via pipeline into a “spider’s web” of lines serving local retail gas customers, according to Seward City Engineer Mike Oneby. He said when the existing Town Border Station 1 was built at Columbia Avenue and Hillcrest Drive decades ago, it was at the edge of the city and its service area.
Now it makes sense to move that delivery point out of town. Black Hills Energy’s recent completion of the Town Border Station 2 south of Seward to serve the DARI LLC dairy production plant that is now under construction provides a way to shut down the old border station and move its functions to a new station on Bluff Road without interrupting service to Seward homes and businesses.
Later, when DARI LLC is in full operation, temporarily using the Town Border Station 2 for a 12-hour shutdown of the other station may not be a viable option, Oneby said.
The shift will change the flow of gas from the wholesale pipeline at the old Town Border Station 1 from 350 to 550 pounds per square inch (PSI) to 50 to 60 PSI, Oneby said. In some areas of the route, there may be intermediate pressure around 128 PSI after the transition.
“Gas is generally very safe in the United States,” Oneby said.
Black Hills wants to get this transition done “efficiently and quickly” before the Town Border Station 2 is in the service of its intended users.
The change should serve Seward for 60 to 70 years, Oneby told the council, making such projects “once in a lifetime” opportunities.
The old Town Border Station 1 and its replacement Town Border Station 1 will be connected with a new pipeline routed from Bluff Road to a point near Karol Kay Boulevard then south of Bader Street and west to North Columbia, where it will go south to the original station.
Much of the line will pass through Seward’s Wilderness Park Addition, which is city-owned land running from south of Highway 34 to Waverly Road, which includes the bike trail, Parade of Flags area, and ballfields. It also includes land the city purchased as part of flood plain mitigation efforts that is not considered suitable for housing.
City Administrator Greg Butcher told the council the city and Black Hills have been working on easement agreements along that route.
“What we are doing tonight is saying we are generally OK with letting an easement go through here,” Butcher said.
He also noted it will be beneficial to get the work done along East Hillcrest Drive/ Bluff Road while the state is working on the East Hillcrest bridge replacement project in that area.
Jeff Hohnholt of Black Hills Energy also attended the council meeting and said the company also wants to move this higher pressure line outside city limits.
Oneby said the project will be before the council again after Black Hills Energy has had the area surveyed and specific plans created.
Also at the April 7 meeting, the council approved a Class C liquor license for Pour Choices Pints and Plates, LLC, a sports restaurant and bar at 133 N. Sixth St., which previously housed Squire Ward’s Pub.
Former Seward resident Jarrod Oborny, who now lives in Lincoln, was approved as the liquor license manager. He and Nathan Steinbach are listed as owners.
In other actions, the council:
• Approved Seward Memorial Library’s plans to apply for Seward Foundation grant funding for part of the expenses for updating the main meeting room on the library’s main floor.
• Approved the $2.8 million contract with Jolma Utilities LLC for the Seward industrial substation expansion project based on earlier acceptance of the company’s bid.
• In addition, Council Member Megan Kahler asked that staff present at a future meeting information on current ordinances that may impact the safe use of electric scooters in Seward or may need to be amended to do so, especially noting the use of scooters in the downtown district.
