Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Utility Funding And Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hamilton water board gets ARC grant update, addresses late sampling notice and considers mapping system
Summary
At its meeting, the Hamilton Water Board reviewed an ARC grant application that could fund multiple projects, discussed ARPA and engineering updates, acknowledged a disinfectant byproducts sampling notice taken four days late, and heard a proposal to buy a handheld mapping system to improve operations.
At a meeting of the Hamilton Water Board, staff reported that the authority has received the first round of requests for information from Washington on its Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant application and that the grant could provide up to $5.7 million for the authority’s projects.
The board heard updates on other funding and operations: staff said engineering work on an ARPA-funded project is underway, a recent pump replacement cost roughly $14,000, and the authority must provide public notification after disinfectant byproducts sampling was taken four days outside the required quarterly window despite laboratory results being within limits.
The board discussed buying a handheld mapping system that staff said would cost between $4,000 and $5,000. Staff described the system as a way to keep the utility’s valve and hydrant records up to date, speed 811 locate responses and reduce field time. Staff also reported about $9,600 in estimated savings from meter sets and repairs completed in a little over a month.
Manager (unnamed) told the board that the ARC application has moved to federal review, saying, “we got the first round of RFIs from Washington on our ARC grama. So that's fantastic. They're already looking at it.” The manager said the ARC award, if approved, would be “up to $5,700,000 total,” and described work with an engineer to update the preliminary engineering report for ARPA-funded work.
On the sampling notice, the manager said samples had been taken, and “everything come back fine on them. That's not an issue. The issue is they were taken 4 days past the deadline.” The manager said staff will handle required notifications and follow-ups.
Board members and staff also discussed travel and training opportunities through the Alabama Rural Water Association. Staff encouraged at least one board member to attend a leadership session and the association’s May conference, and the board discussed standardizing a travel policy for future training and conference attendance.
Procedural items on the agenda included approval of the March 11 minutes and acceptance of the mid-month financial report. The board approved the minutes and the financial report by voice vote. The manager said the auditors have not yet started fiscal year 2022 work but that a local bookkeeper has FY 2022 ready and auditors expect to begin and progress in the coming weeks.
The board set its next meeting for May 13.
