Council rebuffs direct water taps for outlying property; discusses sewer access and meter upgrades

The Byron Town Council confirmed at its June 9 meeting that the town denied requests to connect new service lines to the town water main for certain Hernandez properties, citing Town Statutes and advice from the Town Attorney. Mayor Allan Clark said the town has the authority to deny such taps, and councilmembers discussed annexation as the likely pathway for properties seeking new taps; annexation would require coordination with the county and the town attorney and could take significant time.

Public Works Director Jacob Gruell told the council the pump issues raised earlier stem from undersized sprinkler lines at Jones Park and low ditch water levels rather than a mis-sized pump. He recommended bearing upgrades when replacing pumps and suggested installing automatic shutoff valves to protect equipment. Gruell also described a suite of operational issues: the town is updating its map of lines and valves (with MAPS) to better than one-foot accuracy, plans to verify sewer line locations with True Pipe prior to excavation, is phasing out older meters and will require new meters and a new program, and intends to add locks to laterals after instances of tampering.

Why it matters: The council’s stance affects property owners outside town limits who sought direct tap connections; denial on legal grounds leaves annexation or Rural Water Project participation as the primary options. Separately, public-works improvements and meter replacements affect billing accuracy, service reliability and maintenance costs for the whole town.

Next steps: Council encouraged the affected property owner, Mike Hernandez, to consider annexation and to pursue Rural Water Project options. Public works will continue mapping and coordinate with True Pipe before any excavation; the council did not take final binding actions on annexation or a specific meter budget at the June 9 meeting.