Council asks questions on water/sewer operations, treated‑water losses and customer‑service costs

Councilors pressed utilities staff Thursday about water and sewer operations, including treated‑water losses, customer‑service operational costs, and overtime in distribution and conveyance divisions.

Treated‑water losses: Council member asked whether treated‑water losses were declining after earlier spikes; staff said losses had been as high as about 24 million gallons (measurement period described in the meeting) and that recent efforts have reduced leakage to roughly 18–19 million gallons (staff said additional detection work and instrumentation are planned). Staff described field work to identify leaking transmission joints and plans to install monitoring devices on transmission lines to detect and locate leaks.

Customer service and operational budget lines: Councilors asked about a $2.04 million operational total for the customer‑service division (which includes meter readers, collection clerks and related operational costs). Staff said that total covers salaries and benefits, supplies, maintenance and contractual services for the division and pointed councilors to the detailed page in the packet for line‑by‑line items.

Overtime and staffing: Council members asked why overtime remained high in water and sewer divisions and whether hiring, reclassification, training support or equipment purchases could reduce reliance on overtime. Staff said they are tightening timekeeping and work‑order verification, have hired an assistant manager with operations experience, and are focusing on certification and training to reduce overtime needs; they also said temporary services appear in specific divisions and will be managed per division needs.

Ending: Utilities staff said they will return with more detailed time‑and‑attendance reconciliations, a list of equipment purchases intended to reduce overtime, and a monitoring plan for treated‑water losses.