Summerdale council considering water system improvements with American Rescue Act Plan funds

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 8/31/21

SUMMERDALE - The Summerdale town council is considering making water system improvements with funds received from the American Rescue Act Plan. The town received approximately $399,000 from the …

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Summerdale council considering water system improvements with American Rescue Act Plan funds

Posted

SUMMERDALE - The Summerdale town council is considering making water system improvements with funds received from the American Rescue Act Plan. The town received approximately $399,000 from the Rescue Act Plan.

“These funds can only be used for certain items, and water is one of them,” said Mayor David Wilson. “I would like to get new meters. We’ve got 760 meters right now, and if we get a new subdivision, all those homes are going to need water meters.”

According to Wilson, the water meters the town has currently are an older model and require a Public Works employee to visit each meter to obtain the reading. Civil Southeast, a company the town is working with on numerous projects, will be assisting Summerdale in obtaining information on which type of meter may be best for the town.

“We’re helping a few other municipalities in the area make the switch from a traditional meter,” said Civil Southeast Engineer Alan Killen. “We’ll be looking to switch what you currently have in the ground to one of the new technology meters, whether it be a drive-by system or a system where you push a button and all the readings come to town hall. We’re going to start working up some different ways to pay for that, and will hopefully use the American Rescue Plan Act if that’s something the council decides.”

Killen said while the cost for an upgrade may be substantial, the council should keep in mind the manpower and time it currently takes to check meter readings. He said with updated meters, the Public Works Department could divert attention to other projects and save time on meter readings. Wilson added digital readings would also eliminate possible errors and accidental misreading of meters.

Along with a possible meter upgrade, Wilson said he believes the American Rescue Plan funds could be put towards obtaining a long-range water system plan from Fabre Engineering & Surveying. During summer, the council received a quote from Fabre on what such a plan would cost. It was determined at that time that the cost was too high, and the plan was put on hold.

“I think this will cover obtaining that plan, and I think we should move forward with that,” Wilson said. “We could create these guidelines on our own, but having a plan in place that we can stick to I think is something that’s a better way to move forward. We need to in a very short time address our connection fees and our rates for water service, which I don’t think have changed in five years.”

He said during 2016 the town began an incremental increase plan, where the water rates would increase by a small percentage annually.

“That way it’s not felt so bad by the consumer, and I think that worked really good the last time we did it,” Wilson said. “The citizens seemed to appreciate instead of getting one lump sum with a huge increase, we break it down over a five-year period and it’s not felt so badly.”

Originally, the town considered using the monies to improve roads. However, the council later confirmed such projects are not supported by the American Rescue Plan funds. Wilson said the town will continue to look for other sources to go towards road paving and improvements.