Dockery to review city’s water system plan

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen put the brakes on an extensive water system improvement plan last Tuesday, March 17, in order to give new City Administrator David Dockery time to review the project.

City officials had been working for several on an improvement plan worth up to $3.9 million with an eye toward applying for funding through the US Department of Agriculture. The plan included replacing the standpipe water storage on the east side of town, improving waterlines throughout the city, and installing water meters that can be read electronically, reducing errors and lost work time.

City engineer Clayton Scales went over the plans during last week’s city meeting and detailed the funding opportunities through USDA, which could provide a portion of funding as a grant and finance the balance with a low interest loan. The USDA might also require the city to tap a portion of its reserves for the project.

Dockery commended the board for the work the city has done to identify issues of concern that need addressing and finding a way to pay for those improvements, but he asked the aldermen to give him one month to review the project before proceeding.

Dockery suggested the city might want to pursue the electronic water meters as a way to enhance accuracy and recoup the man hours lost to reading meters (as much as one week a month for some employees) and then tackle the remainder of the project in smaller increments.

“My main concern is depleting the city’s reserves and the indebtedness we would incur,” Dockery said. “We need a capital improvement plan and then do things more incrementally.”

The board agreed with the administrator and took no action on moving the project forward to allow him a month to make a recommendation.

In other business, the city’s longstanding Tuesday meetings became a thing of the past when the aldermen approved Ordinance 441. Regular city meetings will now be held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

City officials also discussed the idea of implementing a citywide clean-up once or twice a year. More information will be presented at a future meeting regarding the expenses and logistics of such an idea.