Cut-rate plumbing on tap for Proctor
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By Brent Curtis Staff Writer - Published: May 15, 2009
PROCTOR — Town officials are hoping to get $1.67 million worth of water system improvements for only a fraction of the cost.
But it will be up to the voters to decide next week whether the town should bond for a pair of projects that would replace 3,700-feet of antiquated pipes, install back-flow prevention devices and install water meters on every home and business in town.
From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, polls will be open at Proctor High School where voters will decide a pair of bonding questions.
The two articles ask voters to authorize $770,000 and $900,000 in bonds.
But the dollar amounts on the ballots are much higher than what the town would actually pay.
That's because town officials are hoping to tap into federal stimulus money available for drinking water improvements. The two articles are contingent on federal money being available, town officials said, so if Proctor doesn't qualify for stimulus money, the town would not go to bond on the projects.
If the town qualifies for federal money, the $770,000 price tag for the new pipes would be cut by an estimated 57 percent, leaving taxpayers with only $331,100 to pay. The water metering and back-flow prevention bond request would be offset even more, dipping from $900,000 to an estimated $297,000 expense if stimulus funds are available, town officials say.
Those reductions would lower the total cost to the taxpayers to $628,000.
That amount isn't chump change for a small community, but Select Board Chairman Bruce Baccei said they are expenses the town needs to absorb to fix its ailing water system.
The first project, seeking to replace a 4-inch-cast iron water main pipe with an 8-inch ductile iron pipe, is the simpler of the two and has gathered support from more quarters.
The new pipe would replace one more than 100 years old and would improve fire protection on streets near the high school by increasing the available volume of water and pressure, Baccei said.
Broken down, the 3,700-foot-long pipe would encompass a 1,570-feet-long section of Olympus Road, 930 feet of Park Street and 680 feet of Grove Street and Holden Avenue.
The second project, which seeks to install water meters, has drawn more criticism from skeptics who wonder whether the expense is warranted and who worry that the town may use the meters for billing purposes in the future.
Town water users currently pay for the utility based on a flat rate.
Baccei said the town has no intentions of changing that arrangement if the meters were installed — although he said future Select Board members might have a different opinion.
"I think some people are really afraid that we plan to bill based on the meters and that their bills would go up, but that's not what we're trying to do," he said.
Rather, the meters would be used to measure how much water the town uses so engineers can design a fix for the town's much bigger water issues, which need to be fixed within the next four years.
Problems with the town's surface water system, which has tested high for chlorine-related byproducts, has prompted state officials to threaten sanctions unless the town solves its issues by 2013.
Knowing how much water the town uses will be a factor in designing a new system. But because of leaks in the infrastructure, engineers can't simply look at the amount of water flowing out of the town's water source in Chittenden to find the answer.
"The data from those meters is critical," said Scott Stewart, a hydrologist with the state Water Supply Division. "You never catch leaks just looking at what goes into the pipe. If the town is wasting a quarter or half of what's going into the pipe there's a big savings involved in having a better handle on what's used."
That said, Selectwoman Sue Feenick said she's not sure the meters the town is looking to buy are worth the expense.
Because the purchase of the meters is contingent on federal funds paying for more than two-thirds of the expense, Feenick said the board decided to buy the "Cadillac" version of water meters. The meter's features include a component that would allow the town's water operator to read them remotely — saving the town time and money otherwise spent visiting the meters, Feenick said.
Because of that feature and the need to measure water use, Feenick said bonding for meters makes sense.
But she said she also has doubts.
"Still, we're talking about spending almost $300,000 for metering," Feenick said. "It may be that people would feel the money would be better used for some other water system improvements."
brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com
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