The Limestone County Water & Sewer Authority board voted Thursday to purchase additional electronic meters at a cost of $493,259.

LCWSA CEO Daryl Williamson explained to the board the original order was for 20,200 meters, but it wasn’t enough to provide one to all customers. He cited a mix of population growth and a few faulty meters as the reason more were needed.

The utility’s total customer count as of Thursday was 23,558.

The funds will come from a previous construction bond and not from the utility’s general fund. The estimated cost of the entire project is about $4.2 million.

The board also voted to make a final payment of $86,856 to BH Craig Construction to close out the Decatur booster station project. Williamson told the board 2–3 million gallons of water was being sent through the pump each day, but power to the pump is running at low speed.

Elsewhere Thursday, the board approved an amendment to its existing water conservation policy. Utility engineer Alan Lash told the board the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Office of Water Resources requires an updated drought conservation plan every few years.

“It gives an outline of how you would enforce drought conservation measures in the event of drought conditions,” he said. “The current policy was one single page and (didn’t have) much information based on what the actual drought plan requires. There is a two-page requirements list we have put into this policy.”

He explained to the board it’s unlikely the plan would ever be fully enacted because the utility draws its water from the Elk and Tennessee rivers.

“This would be an armageddon-type situation,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll never see it.”

Lastly, the board tabled a decision to purchase a new skid steer loader. Williamson presented the board with an option to purchase a JCB model for the price of $53,634.89, which represented the lowest responsible bid.

Board member Richard Robinson said he didn’t know much about JCB’s products but felt like purchasing a Kubota at a cost of $53,723 might be a better option because of Kubota’s reputation.

Board member Ty Smith asked Williamson to provide more information about the models for consideration at the June meeting.

Other business

In other business, the LCWSA board:

• Accepted a new phase of Graystone Estates, which will contain 25 lots and be located at the southern end of School House Road in Ardmore;

• The board unanimously approved the purchase of a valve exercise maintenance trailer at a cost of $79,905.58. The bid was awarded to E.H. Wachs;

• Approved hiring Barge Design Solutions to update the utility’s GIS and water model. Williamson said $250,000 had been pre-approved for the task. “This is a pretty big endeavor and an important one, because the water model and GIS are part of our 20-year plan,” he told the board. “They are the driver for what we do.”