Jamestown approves three-year contract with Veolia for plant staffing, OKs ARPA funding for meter replacement

Jamestown’s Town Council approved a three-year agreement with Veolia North America Northeast LLC to provide operation and maintenance services for the Jamestown Water Treatment Facility and separately authorized use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to start a meter-replacement program.

Public Works Director Michael Gray told the council the town faces a prolonged staffing shortage at the water department and has relied on consultants and a small core staff to keep the system running. “I think the most important thing out of all of it for now and going into the future is managing it,” Gray said, arguing the agreement was intended as a temporary bridge until the town can recruit and train permanent staff.

The memorandum of agreement and contract — presented to the council in a memo dated Dec. 12, 2024 — set a three‑year ceiling not to exceed $1,852,839 for Veolia’s operation and maintenance work. Council members repeatedly emphasized the contract is intended to supply staffing support rather than convey ownership or permanent privatization of town water services.

Councilors also voted to accept an interdepartmental resolution that will allow the Water Department to access up to $850,344 in ARPA state and local fiscal recovery funds to cover engineering, bid preparation, procurement and installation for a Jamestown Water Meter Replacement Program. The council separately approved a Parry Corporation proposal for bid assistance related to the meter project for up to $70,800, to be paid from the approved ARPA allocation.

Gray provided a broader status report on the water system that framed the council’s decisions. He described Jamestown’s current sources — a North Reservoir (capacity cited at 60,000,000 gallons), a primary well (JR1) and a limited interconnect with North Kingstown — and said the interconnection is currently constrained to about 200,000 gallons per day while peak summer weekend demand can reach roughly 350,000 gallons.

Gray also summarized earlier technical work and options the town considered, including a reverse-osmosis pilot that was rejected as cost‑prohibitive and because its brine waste could not be safely discharged on‑site or to the bay. He described grant work to re-open wells, pilot package plants for seasonal supplement, and the long-running effort to update the state-required water-supply management plan.

On lead-service-line compliance, Gray said Jamestown has completed a portion of the EPA service-line inventory required under federal guidance; of roughly 1,600 service lines to review, staff had completed approximately 621 at the time of the meeting. The town’s records show older steel lines are concentrated in pre–World War II homes; Gray said the town has 10 years to develop a plan to replace identified steel lines while staff continues to clarify which part(s) of service lines fall under municipal responsibility.

Councilors praised long‑serving water employees — several members named Mark Robertson for decades of service — and framed the Veolia contract as a way to remove immediate operational risk while the town addresses staffing and infrastructure needs. The council approved the Veolia agreement after members spoke to the urgency of maintaining continuous operation of the water plant.

The council directed staff to continue work on meter implementation and to report back with timelines and a plan for public rollout. The near–real‑time meters are intended to allow the town and homeowners to detect leaks earlier, reduce estimated bills, and improve reservoir management.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract documentation with the vendor and proceed with ARPA-funded procurement work for the meter program; the council expects further updates as recruitment and infrastructure tasks continue.