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Town reports water‑plant communication failures; consultants and loan partners eyed for Staley Spring project
Summary
The town manager told council staff had to manually operate pumps around the clock after a transducer failure; feed pumps ordered, consultants (Lane Group/Davenport) are completing a preliminary design and the town will engage BDH and potential loan partners to fund the Staley Spring water‑plant project.
The Rural Retreat town manager reported a recent failure at the municipal water plant that required staff to manually operate pumps for multiple days while crews diagnosed the problem. "We did it 24 hours a day for a couple days and couple nights," the town manager said, describing staff turning pumps on and off roughly every 40 minutes to maintain water service.
Staff identified a faulty transducer as the cause and replaced it; the town manager said that a replacement transducer had been found on the shelf, and an additional spare has been ordered. The town also has feed pumps ordered and staged at a supplier warehouse awaiting installation for the upgrade council previously approved.
On longer‑term planning, the town manager reported that the RDA team (the Lane Group and Davenport & Associates) recently met to review an initial preliminary design report for the Staley Spring water‑plant project. He said the next steps include involving BDH and searching for loan partners to finance construction, and that the groups will reconvene later in March to review consultant findings. He warned council that certain loan programs can carry Davis‑Bacon wage requirements and domestic‑procurement (American‑made) conditions, which could affect bid specifications and cost.
Councilors and staff also discussed metering and calibration work. Staff said an external site‑meter check had been located and verified but that internal calibration work remains outstanding. The town manager said the team will follow up with meter‑software vendors to assess compatibility for any residential monitoring program the town may consider.
The town manager disputed a consultant assumption about equipment asset life, saying a 20‑ to 25‑year service life estimate is too short for some plant components. "I strongly disagree with that. Comparatively ... it's a 40 year," he said, noting the tradeoffs between higher upfront costs and lower long‑term interest expense when choosing financing structures.
Next steps the manager identified include receiving consultant reports at a follow‑up meeting, coordinating pump installations once parts arrive, completing planned cleaning once a heater for the plant arrives, and advancing funding conversations with potential loan partners.
