After two town hall meetings and several public board meetings, the Basin Water and Sewer Board made a motion on Feb. 9 to unanimously approve a $760,000 option from Triple Tree Engineering Inc. to replace service lines from the main line to the property line with meters and meter pits.
Aware this is not a popular decision, Basin Water and Sewer board members reiterated in the town hall meetings and again at its board meeting on Feb. 9 that residents will not pay more for the meters. The board’s intent with installing meters is to better the water usage tracking systems. Meter pits are part of this, as they are insulated and house the meter.
“This is a major advantage of the meters,” said Basin Water and Sewer Treasurer DeDe Rhodes. “They address cumulative leaks so they don’t build up and stress the system.”
Why now? After much research and inspections by professionals, the Basin Water and Sewer Board determined the old, deteriorating service lines needed replacing. The condition of the service lines resulted from significant system leakage problems, according to Rhodes.
Based on tank level measurements, the district is leaking more than 60,000 gallons per day, which could be prevented by monitoring water use through meters.
“We really need them,” said Basin Water and Sewer Director Nancy Smallwood. “It will help the water operator, and I support anything that makes it easier for the operator.”
Installing meters is also easier on the system, as it prevents the system from going over capacity, which Basin Water and Sewer Board President Jason Norman said the district can’t afford. That’s the bottom line, he said. Meters aren’t to restrict water usage; they are a preventative measure.
Norman said he and other members of the board aren’t out to tell people what to do with their water. If they want to water their grass, if they want to have a garden, that’s fine, but if they have a toilet in their bathroom that’s been running for three months, it’s important to alert them of the situation. That’s where Norman said meters can be particularly helpful.
“I’ve lost hours of sleep over this. I’ve spent days and weeks researching this myself,” Norman said. “I’ve had a lot of questions and I’ve gotten them answered by our new water operator, Kory Kaplan. With the last board I couldn’t get my questions answered and it made me not feel good. This time I’ve gotten more answers than I asked for.”
Following the town hall gatherings and the Feb. 9 meeting, the board gathered a total of 19 votes for the option with meters, one vote for replacing the existing service lines with curb stops (no meter pits or meters) and one vote for no option at all. The 19 “yes” votes did not include the board. It did, however, include board employees Andy Giulio and Kailie Beaupre. Votes were collected following each town hall and also during the Feb. 9 meeting. Rhodes said votes were used to assist the board with determining the best path forward for the community.
“The way I look at it is you can either ask or you can mandate,” Rhodes added, “and I prefer to ask.”
Norman and other board members said at the Feb. 9 meeting they appreciated people in the community coming out and adding to the discussion. At the Sunday, Feb. 5 town hall meeting, 16 people attended. The Monday, Feb. 6 town hall meeting brought in an additional eight, and five members of the public atttended the Feb. 9 meeting.
According to Rhodes, the board made multiple attempts to involve the public in this decision. This included advertising in the newspaper, on social media, posting flyers and mailing invites to every user.
Norman said he was ultimately pleased with the turnout.
“Unless people are extremely upset, you’re not going to get more members of the public than that,” he said. “They are either OK with it or they don’t care.”
Community member Celeste Sotola begs to differ. Following the Feb. 9 meeting, Sotola told the Monitor in an email that the Basin Water and Sewer board’s vote to implement water meters didn’t even take into account 10% of the town. She considered the board’s employees voting to be a conflict of interest. Sotola voiced her frustrations during the Feb. 9 meeting, in which the board vehemently defended its process.
“We gave them time to respond, and we gave them options,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes, Norman and Smallwood know what it’s like to be in Sotola’s shoes, as they expressed concerns about meters when the previous water and sewer board brought them up in 2020. The irony did not go unnoticed by the new board, who admitted they didn’t expect to find themselves in this situation, but through advice from Brad Koon at Triple Tree Engineering and Kaplan, they believe this decision is in the town’s best interest.
And the board can afford this option. Thanks to $265,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding, a $392,000 State Revolving Fund loan, a $125,000 pending infrastructure grant and $15,000 of Basin County Water Sewer District funds, they have $797,000 to work with.
“The previous board didn’t have the ARPA funds to work with,” Rhodes said. “They just had the SRF funds.”
Norman said during the Feb. 9 meeting it’s important for the board to make a decision so the project can get out to bid.
Rhodes said during the Feb. 9 meeting the water and sewer bills will not be based on meters. The board will continue with base billing with a resolution to protect the users.
“If users prefer to be billed by meters the board will put it out to a vote of the users,” said Rhodes.
