Butler County Utilities Director Jim presented a broad 2026 utilities plan that includes large capital projects, staffing shortfalls and operational changes to reduce emergency risk.

Jim said 2026 capital spending requests total roughly $13.7 million for water and $25.5 million for wastewater projects. Named water projects include polybutylene and cast-iron pipeline replacements, pump-station improvements at Beckett Ridge and the countys continued investment in technology to locate and record utilities accurately in GIS. On the wastewater side he highlighted continued work on the Upper Mill Creek plant: biosolids dryer work, clarifier and grit system upgrades, improvements to equalization and inflow control, and the West Mill Creek trunk that needs repair.

Jim said the utilities office is implementing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS, Hexagon/7i) to track equipment, labor and work orders so replacement and preventative activities can be prioritized based on usage and failure patterns. He said crews have logged 95 main breaks this year (21% more than the same point last year) and called out 445 after-hours callouts that generated substantial overtime. The utility logged 665.6 overtime hours for the waterline-maintenance team alone; Jim said additional overtime related to collections and operations was not fully captured in the work-order reporting yet.

On staffing the director requested additional line-maintenance and hydrant positions to reduce emergency response gaps and to run a hydrant-exercising program and valve-exercise program (to confirm valves actually operate so repairs can be isolated). He proposed up to six new hires for line maintenance grouped as hydrant repair, valve exercising and main-break response; he asked commissioners to let the utilities staff present a time-and-cost analysis tying hires to reduced contractor expense and overtime.

On contracts and interlocal work, Jim said the Monroe/annexation and wholesale-water discussions remain in negotiation; he asked for updated data for large proposed developments that might change capacity planning. He also said the utilities will pursue ODOT grants for runway-related water demand at the county airport and noted new LED/taxiway projects identified for 2026 grant funding.

Jim told commissioners the department continues to use outside contractors for CCTV and collections work where needed; he said an external vendor currently repairs West Chester Township lines under contract and has helped reduce backlog while internal staffing remains constrained.

Commissioners asked for a more detailed time-and-cost breakdown before any position approvals; Jim agreed and offered to return with a staffing-cost/net-overtime analysis and a schedule of capital projects and funding sources.