Council discusses asset-management obligations after state law; utility commission could assume oversight if town falls short

Council reviewed obligations from recent legislation (House Enrolled Act 1001) affecting planning and wastewater utilities. The chair noted the law increases reporting requirements and directs the utility regulatory commission to provide education; if the commission believes the town is not meeting asset-management requirements, the commission may take steps to assume oversight of the utility.

GRW prepared an asset-management plan in 2020, but council members said the town no longer has ready access to the file. Council discussed asking Banning Engineering to prepare an updated plan or retrieving and updating the GRW file, noted that required annual training for elected board members is to be developed, and concluded that existing sewer rates should hold for the near term given current revenue and recent infrastructure repairs.