Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Board: contractor hydrant use pushes treatment plant near capacity; staff to pursue grants and hold work session
Loading...
Summary
Board members heard that a contractor has been pulling roughly 1,620,000 gallons a day through hydrants, bringing the plant close to its effective 1.75 million-gallon capacity; staff will pursue grant funding and schedule a work session with legal counsel to review options, including customer pricing or throttling.
The Water and Sewer Board discussed urgent capacity concerns after staff reported a contractor drawing large volumes from the system, bringing the plant close to its treatment limit.
Engineer Evan White of Midtown Engineering told the board the contractor’s recent activity meant "they're running 1,620,000 gallons a day," while the plant can "successfully treat 1.75" million gallons, which staff characterized as roughly 92% of capacity. White explained that routine backwashing further reduces the plant’s continuous throughput, creating a material constraint on operations.
The board and staff debated whether the contractor’s use, described repeatedly in the meeting as coming from hydrants in the corridor, could be addressed through higher charges or contractual limits. One member asked whether the utility could "throttle" a customer; the chair said the board needs legal counsel to review contracts before taking action and proposed an executive-session work session to explore options and prepare a list of questions and potential remedies.
Board members also noted a worsening water-loss figure that complicates the capacity picture: staff reported water loss fell to "23 and a half percent" in November but rose to "39.8%" in December. The chair asked staff to continue narrowing suspected leak sources, including a River Street leak, so the board can determine how much of the increased pumping is leakage versus authorized withdrawals.
The board discussed grant and regionalization opportunities as a longer-term response. Members said the recent capacity surge strengthens a federal-grant justification but cautioned that federal funds often require a local match and can take considerable time. The meeting referenced assistance from "congressman Rose" in helping identify funding options.
Staff were directed to schedule a focused work session, including legal counsel, to review contracts, potential pricing or operational responses to large users, and grant application strategy. The chair said the work session would be scheduled soon so the board could return to a formal session with options and recommended actions.
The board did not take immediate formal action to change customer service or pricing at this meeting; members instructed staff to continue troubleshooting, confirm the volumes pulled from hydrants, and prepare materials for the work session.
