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Pierson council reviews who pays for backflow devices and annual certifications
Summary
Council examined code language requiring backflow devices at meters and debated whether residential owners or commercial customers should bear installation and certification costs after the town recently replaced 13 commercial devices and invoiced labor costs.
Rob read the town code that requires a backflow prevention device at a meter and said the town has historically supplied devices and charged customers the labor cost in some cases. He reported that the town recently replaced 13 commercial backflow devices and planned to divide the roughly $2,500 labor cost among those businesses.
Council members discussed two issues: whether the town should require commercial customers to hire a certified tester annually and submit proof of certification at the business’s expense (as other municipalities do), and whether residential backflows — which are typically buried and not inspected annually — should be treated differently. Rob said the ordinance currently places installation and maintenance responsibility on the customer and proposed the council update hookup‑fee language to cover realistic material and labor costs rather than an outdated fixed dollar amount.
Members instructed staff to research other towns’ practices for certifying commercial backflows and to compile a list of commercial devices in town so the council can enforce annual checks or billing as appropriate. No new enforcement action was adopted; staff will return with options and cost estimates.
