NEWBERRY COUNTY — The Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority will soon publish a draft of its fiscal year 2016-17 budget. The total revenue and expenses for the 2016-17 budget is proposed at $3,904,700.
The water budget has water revenue at $2,847,100 with miscellaneous revenue at $75,000. The total water expense is $2,879,700 for a positive result of $42,400.
Highlights from the proposed water budget include $15,000 to perform hydrant maintenance and $60,000 to purchase and equip a heavy duty diesel service truck and forklift.
“The $15,000 is to perform hydrant maintenance and add color coded, reflective hydrant markers. These markers will make the hydrants visible at night and give firefighters hydrant flow rate information based on the color code,” said Daniel Quattlebaum, assistant manager of the Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority.
The sewer budget has sewer revenue at $897,800 and miscellaneous revenue at $9,800. Total sewer expense is $1,025,000 for a negative result of $117,400.
Highlights from the sewer budget include $7,000 to add cellular monitoring to additional sewer pump stations and $10,000 to continue diagnostics of electrical components at wastewater treatment plant and pump stations.
According to Quattlebaum, the cellular monitoring utilize cellular technology to send information and alerts directly to sewer operators. These diagnostics help identify problems and decrease power usage.
Board member Jerry Koon made a motion to publish the draft budget, and board member Bryan Alvarez seconded. The board will approve or make changes to the budget during a future board meeting.
Other business
• Water distribution reported one line break at Jollystreet Road, a six inch main line break due to poor bedding. They also reported 10 new services installed.
• Wastewater collection reported no line breaks and two new services installed.