Water district approves 2016 budget

LOWELL -- The Beaver Water District approved a $24.2 million budget for 2016 during a meeting Thursday. The water district's fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

The biggest increase in the $24,230,600 budget is the cost of chemicals, Adam Motherwell, chief financial officer, told the board. Chemical costs are up 12.7 percent, both from an increase in production and increase in cost of some material, he said.

The district anticipates $23.58 million in revenue next year from sales of an estimated 18.6 billion gallons of water.

The budget for 2015 was for $21,694,100 but spending was closer to $20,401,000, according to Beaver Water District documents.

The budget also includes placing probes at gauges at Wyman Bridge and War Eagle for better information about the quality of water coming from Beaver Lake.

The district will see a savings of $51,000 a year after paying off a 1965 contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that gave the district initial rights to the water, Motherwell said. A second agreement inked in 1992 will be paid on until 2042.

The board approved a $340,558 cost-saving change order to a generator project Thursday by electing to go with a new engine model. The change will lower the $3.17 million contract for the two generators to about $2.83 million.

The board approved a $20,280 purchase of five acres of land near the water district's southern intake off Beaver Lake. The land includes a bluff and while it is unlikely to have been developed it improves the district's buffer from development, said Alan Fortenberry, chief executive officer.

NW News on 08/28/2015

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