At the September monthly meeting of the Brown County Water Improvement District Board of Directors, much of the agenda concerned increased expenses which will result in higher water rates next year, according to District General Manager John Allen.  The higher costs occur in three areas:

   ***  Chemicals – Some of the chemicals used in treating the water have doubled and tripled in cost recently, resulting in an extra $20,000/month expense.

 ***  Zebra Mussels – The district has received a proposal from the engineering firm of Freese and Nichols to protect the pump stations and pipelines against damage from zebra mussels.  The district will solicit bids for the construction of the necessary equipment.  Freese and Nichols has estimated the cost at $1.3 million.

   ***  Electrical Power Upgrades – The water treatment plant lost electrical power during the hard freeze event in February.  One possible way to avoid that in the future is emergency generators.

Freese and Nichols has estimated a cost there of $2.7 million.  Alternatively, Oncor Electric has proposed the installation of automatic switching equipment, that would feed electricity to the treatment plant from a different power grid, in the event of a power outage.  The estimated cost is $190,000.  To pay for some or all of these two options, the District has requested funds from Brown County that were received from the Federal Government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.  But, so far, the County has not approved any of those funds for the Water District.

Allen predicted that all the above will result in a double-digit percentage increase in water rates, especially if no relief funds are received from the County.  If the new, higher water rates do materialize, they would begin with the next fiscal year, September 1, 2022.

(story by Mike Blagg)