City utilities staff told the Board of Aldermen that wastewater treatment capacity and a long list of water and sewer projects will require more detailed engineering and outside financing if the city is to maintain service and allow planned development.

Jack, a city staff member in engineering/utilities, and Chuck, a city staff member overseeing master plans, told the board the wastewater treatment plant has a design capacity of 1,125,000 gallons per day and that recent development and system inflow have pushed average daily flow toward the plant’s limits. "Our design capacity is 1,125,000 gallons per day. We are currently at 1,000,000 gallons a day, average daily flow," Chuck said. Staff said two new developments under review would accelerate the timing for expansion unless the city stages projects differently.

Nut graf: staff proposed moving wastewater treatment‑plant engineering into 2026 to begin the facility plan that will support an application for State Revolving Fund financing and to allow design work to be ready for a 2027 bid and multi‑year construction. That change is paired with a wider program of conveyance and interceptor projects (Owens Branch, Rocky Branch) intended to reduce the number of lift stations and open new areas for gravity sewer service.

The presentation listed several operational and capital items staff consider baseline maintenance or near‑term requests. Dave, a city operations staff member, described mandatory UV lamp and wiper replacements for disinfection equipment (manufacturer lifespan ~10,000 hours, roughly every three years) and said failing lamps risk state violations. He also asked for additional SCADA call‑out boxes to monitor lift stations remotely, saying 17 of the city’s roughly 31 stations already have call‑out capability and new cellular service changes make some older boxes obsolete.

Requested capital items highlighted in the work session included a secured river crossing replacement (the Rain Tree water line) to prevent repeated outages where an exposed water main is vulnerable to washouts; replacement or trade‑in for the aging sewer jetter used for cleaning; and additional wet‑well aerators that staff said reduce grease and lower vacuuming costs. Staff estimated a package of requested water/wastewater items would raise the fund’s capital projects line; one slide showed requested items increasing the 2026 capital total by about $250,000.

On capacity, Jack explained the distinction between conveyance capacity and treatment capacity. The North force main currently caps new development to about 263 units until Owens Branch interceptor segments are completed; staff said completion of the planned segments would open northside conveyance capacity for many years. He said the South force main upgrades under construction, including a bypass and a pump station, will substantially extend southside conveyance capacity.

The finance implications were explicit: Rick, a city staff member in finance, said cash‑flow projections show the combined water/wastewater fund moving toward reserve exhaustion in 2028–2029 under current schedules. Staff said they will pursue external financing (for example, Certificates of Participation or State Revolving Fund loans) to smooth cash flows and support the treatment‑plant expansion and major gravity‑line projects. "There will be debt service implications. Obviously, we'll have a payment of debt service for quite some time," Rick said, and staff said a rate study will follow updated construction cost estimates before any utility rate change is proposed.

No formal decisions were made; staff asked the board to authorize proceeding with the facility plan, continue design work, and to support work to secure reimbursement and financing options. Staff said they will return with refined cost estimates, a rate‑study RFP and financing proposals.