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Trenton council approves $40,000 state grant to update water master plan amid concerns about hookups and system losses
Summary
Council members approved accepting a $40,000 state grant to update Trenton's water master plan after residents raised concerns about business hookups, seasonal shortages and an apparent system loss estimated at about 25,000 gallons per day.
Trenton leaders voted to move forward with a state grant to update the town's water master plan after residents and council members spent nearly an hour debating water hookups, seasonal usage and suspected system losses.
Speaker 2, explaining the grant, said the award is not a loan and "it's $40,000 to help pay for that" master-plan work and related projects. The council discussed which consultant would perform the work and engineering cost risks; Speaker 7 later moved to approve the master-plan contract and Speaker 5 seconded the motion.
The discussion followed extensive public comment about who gets new water hookups. Speaker 3 asked whether business hookups were recorded separately from residential listings; council members replied that an ordinance allows the council, at its discretion, to authorize a commercial hookup but does not remove people already on the residential waiting list.
Speakers and residents also flagged operational problems. Speaker 5 told the council staff had discovered drainage or valve issues that "are probably dumping about 25,000 gallons a day," and said staff would meet with the town engineer and system designers to locate and fix the losses. Council members noted that household usage varies but that many homes use 10,000 gallons or less in a month, and that seasonal peak months remain a concern.
Council members discussed a recent fertilizer plant (IFA) and a tank farm installed by the company. Council members said the plant's seasonal consumption pattern (spring rather than July/August peak months) and on-site storage were factors weighed when approving the hookup; residents said they remain concerned about overall water quantity.
Council members also discussed a related meter-replacement project and possible procurement of Neptune meters for automated reading as part of the long-term plan. Speaker 5 described a separate proposed $2,500 GPS/GIS probe purchase to map valves, meters and buried infrastructure to make shutoffs and repairs easier.
Next steps: staff said they would pursue the master-plan contract work once the grant acceptance is finalized, investigate the suspected 25,000-gallon daily loss with engineers, and return to council with proposed procurement documents for meters and the GPS probe.
