Jamestown council approves water‑system amendments, votes to fund bridge interconnection work

The Town Council, sitting as the Board of Water and Sewer, approved a contract amendment with Parr Corporation and adopted revisions to the town’s water system supply management plan focused on limiting future expansions.

Town officials approved a $56,100 amendment to a Parr Corporation contract to complete an environmental assessment, to be paid from waterfront reserves, and then voted to accept changes to the water system supply management plan that explicitly prioritize protecting existing supply and restricting water-district extensions. Mike Gray, the town’s water and sewer official, said the changes respond to guidance from the state Water Resources Board and will be followed by a rule rewrite to detail how (if at all) extensions would be processed.

The amendments emphasize the district’s limited supply and the compounded summer demand caused by seasonal population increases, accessory dwelling units and potential new development, and explicitly aim to prevent expansion of distribution outside the district. Gray told the council the edits target several pages of the plan and that the rules governing extensions will be drafted next. He also said the town submitted the plan in April and is awaiting approval from the state.

Gray reviewed related operating work: the town completed annual hydrant flushing and repairs to distribution mains; crews inspected 50,000 linear feet of gravity sewer main and are awaiting the inspection report and recommendations for later projects; and the wastewater plant received awards recognizing multiple years of regulatory compliance. On the planned interconnection pipeline with North Kingstown, Gray described equipment that will inject disinfectant and a corrosion inhibitor at Jamestown’s intake and said the dosing station will be housed in a trailer or small shed near the bridge, will require power, and will be inspected and approved by the Rhode Island Department of Health before use.

Council members moved to approve the plan amendments with added emphasis about prohibiting extensions; the motion carried with the affirmative voice vote. The council directed staff to continue preparing the rules that will govern extensions and to return with final regulatory language for review.