Engineering and wastewater officials press operating budget changes as council schedules April public hearing

Engineering and the Water Pollution Control Department (WPCD) presented handouts and line-item highlights March 24 that the council said it would use as the basis for upcoming deliberations.

Merrick Kennet, introduced as director of engineering, explained the department structure and pointed councilors to the budget book (engineering p.133; WPCD p.137). He said the engineering division is asking for a 2.8% change while the WPCD overall is seeking about a 1.8% increase; the department estimated a net 1.9% increase to the combined budget.

Merrick emphasized moving recurring equipment-replacement costs into operating. “Last year equipment replacement was in capital; we agreed to bring that cost into the operating,” he said, noting he originally requested $230,000 for A&E supplies and the town manager reduced that to $210,000. He asked the council to fund a more sustainable operating approach for pumps and routine plant equipment and to incrementally restore a construction line that was cut in prior years.

Chemical costs were highlighted: methanol spending was described as more than $11,000 per month, and staff requested an increase of roughly $37,000 to align the methanol line with recent prices and consumption (estimating annual methanol closer to $132,000).

Merrick and staff also updated Mixville Park, saying the project budget is roughly $1.2 million and that a DEEP grant of $1.0 million is fully executed and available for the boardwalk, pavilion and bridge work pending permitting and bidding schedules.

Town staff demonstrated a mill-rate calculator for members to model policy choices and tax impacts. The tool shows the current mill rate used for budgeting (29.74) and allows members to test targets such as 32.40 mills and see impacts to the average taxpayer and fund-balance use. Staff said they will provide the calculator and may explore a public-facing tool or links to assessed-value lookups for residents.

At the end of the agenda the council approved Resolution 032426-01 to hold a second public hearing on April 15, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers; the motion passed unanimously by those present.