Andover faces difficult decisions as it tries to balance work on replacing water mains and making upgrades to the water treatment facility, Town Manager Andrew Flanagan told the select board Monday.
“At some point in the…next couple of years, we’re going to have to make a decision on whether we want to maybe pull back a little bit on water mains and increase money for the treatment plant or maintain mains at what they are or increase them and ramp up plant improvements with a rate implication,” Flanagan said. “Those are the two options…but we’re getting to that point where we just got to either figure what the appropriate trade-off is or raise rates.”
The conversation started after select board member Kevin Coffey said he received complaints from residents and business owners about discolored water when the board discussed Flanagan’s proposed Capital Improvement Program. The budget for capital project included level funding of $6 million for water system upgrades.
“Are we really moving fast enough to upgrade our water mains and not continue to deliver damaging water?” Coffey aaid. “It continues to happen. It’s better than it used to be, but it’s still a problem level. And when we look at our CIP, I hope we’ll consider accelerating that and not just {keep funding level]. It makes us fall further behind each year.”
Coffey also noted inflation has increased construction costs, meaning the Town may not be able to complete as much work on water main replacement with level funding.
Andover has spent $35.5 million replacing water mains over the past eight years, compared to $15 million over the previous 22 years. Flanagan said the accelerated pace of replacement has meant that other critical needs within the water system, such as upgrades to the water treatment plant, have been somewhat deferred.