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Council discusses making secondary municipal water source a higher priority
Summary
Councilmember Brent Dodge urged the council to raise the priority of Element 6 of Preston’s comprehensive plan to seek a secondary municipal water source for redundancy and emergency use; an AI-generated model in the packet projected the system could reach 90% capacity by 2026 and estimated a $100,000,000 replacement cost, which staff said needs engineering verification.
Councilmember Brent Dodge led a detailed discussion of Element 6 (natural resources) of Preston’s comprehensive plan, arguing the city should elevate efforts to secure a secondary municipal water source for emergency redundancy and future growth. "The city should seek to develop a 2nd source of municipal water to provide future growth and as an emergency source," Dodge read from the element and said the council should consider options such as utilizing water shares the city owns and studying water availability.
Dodge told the council he included an AI-generated analysis in the packet that flagged near-term capacity concerns: "by 2026, our system will reach 90% capacity," he said, and reported an estimated replacement cost in the packet of "$100,000,000." Legal and planning staff cautioned that the AI material was preparatory and should not replace an updated engineering study. "I think that would be a poor strategy to rely on chat GPT and me instead of an actual engineering report," Lyle said, urging the council to secure engineering verification before adopting fee or policy changes based on those numbers.
Councilmembers agreed on the need to explore options despite high costs. Chris Larson and other members said their priority is protection of current residents and that pursuing a secondary source will be expensive but necessary. The council asked staff to incorporate clearer language elevating Element 6’s priority in the comprehensive plan update and to bring back engineering analyses and cost estimates to support any future funding or fee proposals.
Next steps: staff will work with engineers to update Element 6 language, seek verified capacity and replacement-cost estimates, and return to the council with recommended priority changes and supporting studies ahead of the December public hearing process.
