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Carbondale staff outline water upgrades, new well and AMI opt‑out policy as drought tightens supplies
Summary
Town staff told the board the treatment-plant upgrade and a new well will strengthen capacity but stressed drought risk; the town is applying for a DOLA grant and adopted an AMI meter opt‑out policy that shifts manual-reading costs to customers who decline.
Town staff updated the environmental board on multiple utilities projects designed to increase water-system resilience amid ongoing drought. The speaker said the town is advancing a treatment-plant upgrade this spring, has redrilled Rolling Fork Well No. 1 and plans to connect that well to the well house; bids are out and staff will submit a DOLA grant application in February to support a next-phase upgrade (additional filters and a new disinfection basin).
The speaker said the plant upgrade, if fully funded and executed, would enable the system to meet peak-town demand; the town described current inflow and local water metrics as roughly 45–50% of normal and said last year’s intake never rose above winter lows. "We're putting even more emphasis on it," the speaker said, noting the work aims to backstop Neville Creek during potential low-water years.
Staff also reported that the board of trustees adopted an opt-out policy for the recently deployed advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) after residents raised privacy and radio-frequency concerns. The town explained opt-outs mean staff must manually drive to collect meter readings, which increases labor, vehicle use and costs; the board adopted a policy that places the extra labor cost on customers who choose to opt out rather than distributing it across all ratepayers.
No vote or change to rates was recorded at the meeting; staff said they will pursue the DOLA grant and bring bid results and next steps to a future board meeting.
