Town board moves to halt Water District 10 construction, schedules dissolution hearing

Don Allen, assessor, and town board members voted to stop moving forward with construction of Water District 10 and to take several administrative steps to close out the project. The board approved a motion to "determine not to proceed with the construction of Water District Number 10," then authorized communications with USDA Rural Development and other funding agencies and directed a final accounting of project costs.

Board discussion laid out the financial problem: the district was originally conceived in 2019 with a $600,000 grant and an estimated project cost of $1,100,000; the project estimate has since grown to $2,125,000, and only 30 homes would share the cost. "There's only 30 houses, 30 residents in Water District 10," Don Allen said during the discussion. The board noted town budget support to date and ongoing obligations: "As of right now, dollars 128,000 that we've been covering out of the town budget," the chair reported when reviewing interim expenses.

The board adopted a sequence of resolutions: suspending further consultant work except for closeout, rescinding or superseding prior implementation authorizations, and directing a final accounting of project costs with the expectation that any outstanding consultant invoices will be identified. The board also set a public hearing on the proposed dissolution for July 8 at 06:45 and agreed to a fifteen-minute pre-hearing review to allow staff to collect invoices for the accounting review.

The motions passed by voice vote. The board asked staff to continue communications with Rural Development and other funders to determine whether any funding or modification remains feasible. No final decision on dissolution was made at the meeting; the July hearing is the next formal step.