Wells council approves June invoices and reviews year-end budget showing fire spending above estimate

At its July 7 meeting, the Wells Town Council approved payment of June 2026 invoices after staff detailed line items and explained expected reimbursements.

Staff member (speaker 3) reviewed notable invoices and program costs: Badger meters billing for remote meter data ($142.41 monthly total), Barton Excavating ($2,760 for playground chips), Dynamic Integrations ($1,872 for IT setup) and a payroll total for the period of $6,534.50. The staff member said the town expects a state reimbursement of $18,213.24 tied to recent fire responses that will offset personnel and equipment costs.

On the year-end operational report, staff told the council the general fund revenue finished at roughly 101% of budget (a small positive variance), total general fund expenditures were about 97% of budget, the fire budget showed 171% of its estimate (with much of that spending expected to be reimbursed), and the water fund spent about 122% of its estimate due to software and system setup, some of which was reimbursable by grant funds.

A council member moved to approve payment of the invoices, a colleague seconded the motion, and the council approved the payments by voice vote.

Council discussion flagged the fire overrun and noted incoming reimbursements; staff said remaining grant funds would be applied to SCADA and electrical upgrades for the water system.