JOHNSTOWN — The city Water Board on Monday approved a revised and updated list of 2021 Water Department bonding projects totaling $7.32 million.
Board President Michael Capparello said he previously conferred with Senior Water Treatment Plant Operator John Denmark — not in attendance — about the proposed projects.
He said Denmark said the list of a dozen proposed items to be bonded goes a long way toward putting the water department back in “really good shape.”
“Right here, this would bring us up where we need to be,” Capparello quoted Denmark as saying.
Capparello said the board got together final bond information and submitted it to city Treasurer Michael Gifford.
The list of potentially bonded projects includes $4,643,875 in construction costs for phase II and III dam repairs at the Hydaddy-Cork Center Reservoir. The vendor for that project would be GPI/Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. of Albany.
“I also talked to John Denmark about our meters,” Capparello said.
The second most expensive project on the list is an $850,425 one by Ti-Sales of Sudbury, Mass. to change out all the water meters in the city. Capparello explained that some of the meters installed in a more recent project are not now reliable and everything now needs to be replaced with Neptune Meters.
“Some are lasting five years, some are lasting two years,” Capparello said.
But he said the water department can’t continue to lose revenue with some of the inaccurate meters that were installed in the city.
The bonding list includes a $600,000 project by CT Male Associates involving sedimentation basins at Sylvan Falls/Apple Bessie. Several of the projects involve work at both of the city’s main reservoirs — Christman Reservoir and Cork Center Reservoir.
C./T. Male would be doing a $450,000 project involving dam repairs at Cold Brook; and a $250,000 project involving bypass and fall repairs at the Cork Center intake reservoir.
Capparello said a $255,000 project by C.T. Male to fix a leaky Route 30A waterline situation in front of Noble Ace Hardware is sorely needed.
“This has been a process for years,” he said.
Other projects on the final bonding list are: Vehicle purchases — three Silverado 3500 pickup trucks — $127,750; door and lighting project at both reservoirs by C.T. Male — $98,000; SCADA System upgrade at both reservoirs – $34,370; two turbidimeters at both reservoirs — $10,725; leak locator by Pollard Water — $3,800; chlorinator/vacuum regulator at Cork Center Reservoir by Asanti Control Systems — $1,900.
Capparello also said board members also need to have a discussion about proposed water rate increases in the city.
“We need to look into the numbers,” he said.
He suggested the board form a committee and “do it through the phone.” He said board member George DiMarco — who was absent — expressed interest in serving on the committee looking into rates.
“We need to do something,” Capparello said. “We haven’t had an increase in seven years. We need to bring up our revenues.”