Hardin Plaza Water & Sewer board approves purchases, hears engineering update and audit fix plan

The Hardin Plaza Water & Sewer Utility Board on a routine evening approved meeting minutes and the monthly financial reports and authorized purchases up to $30,000, and received updates on several infrastructure projects and an auditor finding about the utility's purchasing procedures.

The approvals came early in the meeting. The board voted to adopt the minutes as presented and later moved to approve the financial reports included in the packet. Separately, the board approved a motion to allow staff to approve purchases up to $30,000; the board specified that purchases over $30,000 must return to the board for approval. The motions passed by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.

The engineering update came from Evan White of Midtown Engineering. White said the team has collected “good data” from recent runs and noted about three inches of readings in recent weeks. He identified two areas of concern that require more investigation before the contractor can complete an ARP-funded project. White said a demolition associated with a tank project has been postponed and the demolition advertisement date was moved to March 18 to allow additional contractor outreach. He also reported that design work is starting on a proposed water treatment plant and described a design detail involving a change from a previously bid configuration (the firm is preparing a revised design to match the currently intended pipe configuration). White said some options could be paid from ARP funds if the board allows the scope to change rather than the utility covering the additional betterment costs.

In the general manager’s report and during an audit-committee update, staff described an auditor finding related to how purchase orders (POs) were created in-house compared with the county’s purchasing practice. The auditor provided a sample blanket purchase-order approach to bring the utility into compliance. Board members and staff discussed using the auditor-supplied blanket policy as a short-term amendment (described in the meeting as a “Band-Aid”) and later revising the full purchasing policy to better fit the department’s operational needs while remaining within federal and state guidelines. The manager said staff met with the auditor and with Amy Thomas of Metro to review the sample language; the board agreed to implement the interim blanket approach so the utility is aligned for next year’s audit.

Staff also reported a small rise in water loss this month, which the general manager attributed to recent cold weather and frozen or leaking lines that have increased usage. Separately, a staff member asked the board for permission to proceed with certain purchases and repairs; the board’s $30,000 approval covers those near-term needs.

Board members asked staff for more detail on recent field work. One board member requested a spreadsheet showing hydrant or system work completed and outstanding so the board can track progress; staff agreed to provide that in a future meeting. The demolition advertisement for the tank project and the water treatment plant design will return to the board for subsequent updates or formal approvals as the projects advance.

Public comment at the meeting was limited and no substantive policy proposals or legal authorities were introduced by members of the public.