Water District Reports $62K in Savings
Jay Cary, left, was sworn in by County Judge-Executive Luke King to continue serving on the Cumberland County Water District Board Of Directors.
By Greg Wells
CCN-Editor
The Cumberland County water district was told at last Monday night’s meeting $62,029 worth of savings was found in warrantee coverage for repairs, including $9,000 in excess charges which they did not pay.
The district’s Operations Manager Michael Ballard said he caught the excess charges while reviewing a service providers billing, and that other staff had made sure that equipment found defective was submitted under warranty to the service provider.
He also told the board that the public service commission has approved expenditures in excess of $86,000 for zone meters and upgraded residential meters to help the district combat water loss.
Ballard said the account to cover such investments has reached over $103,000 at present.
The new zone meters measure water flow through different sections of the district’s piping, which allows them to focus on locating leaks.
He said these meters will save the district a great deal of money, since they are in a network system that will report flows automatically.
Ballard said presently they have to spend four man-hours a day to physically drive around and read those 14 meters across the county.
He said a grant application was also underway that would allow the district to shift some of its dependence on purchasing water from a Clinton County source to the Burkesville Municipal Water Company.
The move would improve service for customers, as Clinton County’s system is experiencing difficulty supplying the needed water to the water district.
Word on the grant is expected soon, while bids would be advertised for in the other upgrade soon.
Board member Jay Cary was sworn in by County Judge-Executive Luke King at the meeting.
Cary was reappointed to the board by the fiscal court. Cary was first appointed to the board and a 2014.
King also told the board that the county had agreed to assist in repairing the districts’ access to one of its water towers.
He said it was the County Attorney had agreed that if the district paid for the rock the county could provide the equipment and labor to repair the road, since the work was for a public utility serving county residents.
