Middleton public works director outlines water, sewer, street and park projects; accessible playground opens Monday

Public Works Director Jason Van Gilder delivered a comprehensive update May 14 on Middleton’s water, sewer, stormwater, streets and parks operations, describing staffing levels, recent accomplishments and projects planned for the coming year. Van Gilder highlighted an accessible playground opening, ongoing water-meter conversions, treatment-plant planning and a multi-pronged approach to streets and drainage maintenance.

Van Gilder opened with staffing and shop improvements, saying the city “have 4 people funded from our water department for 4 laborers... 4 laborers funded through our sewer department... 3 funded through the streets and general fund... and 1 funded through the parks department.” He said crews are reorganizing records, digitizing as-built drawings and improving facility maintenance and fleet uptime.

Parks and facilities: Van Gilder reported the splash pad’s recycled-water system is operational after testing and that Grove Park’s irrigation now uses irrigation-supplied water. He said the city will open an accessible playground at Middleton Place Park on Monday and has hired skate-park consultants to assess wear at the skate facility. Van Gilder said the city is considering resurfacing underused tennis courts for pickleball courts and is reviewing replacement options for aging mowing equipment.

Water system: Van Gilder said Middleton supplies high-quality groundwater with a low chlorine residual and reported the system pumped about 310,000,000 gallons last year versus a billing baseline of about 262,000,000 gallons, which he described as an approximate 16% unaccounted-for water loss, down from prior years. The presentation covered an automated meter conversion push (about 480 meters remain to be replaced), a recently added generator at Well 8, and a planned rehabilitation for the city’s 2-million-gallon storage tank above Foothill Road.

Sewer and wastewater: The treatment plant processed roughly 298,000,000 gallons in the last year without permit violations, Van Gilder said. He noted upgrades including a backup generator ordered for a lift station, replaced pumps at Pines Lift Station, slip-lining work in older neighborhoods and on-going biosolids consolidation to extend lagoon life. He also said the city advertized for professional services to support a larger wastewater project that could see construction activity within about a year if funding aligns; he emphasized that the project is driven by environmental requirements on the Boise River rather than by growth alone.

Streets and drainage: Van Gilder described a roadway restriping memorandum of understanding with Nampa, an upcoming chip-seal program (including sections of Middleton Road), culvert rehabilitation projects, a new street sweeper on order and completed work such as a new signal at Cemetery Road and extension of bike-lane shoulders through Sawtooth. He summarized a road safety audit for Cemetery Road and a potential multi-jurisdictional grant application for pedestrian improvements.

Regulatory and planning items: Van Gilder said the city must update a federally required risk and resiliency plan for its water system and is pursuing water-rights planning and a second river crossing to provide redundancy for the south-to-north connection. He noted the city is reviewing its municipal separate storm sewer (MS4) obligations and has studies underway for roadside swales and an overall stormwater plan. He also praised a recently adopted local ordinance requiring video inspection by directional drillers to protect sewer lines.

Council members asked follow-up questions about specific projects and the timing of work; Van Gilder provided project-season timing, budget sources and who will manage coordination. The presentation was informational; no formal council action was taken on the update.