Berwick wants to buy new water meters

The town is trying to get funding to buy 150 new water meters to connect to a water line in the older part of Berwick.
The council accepted a resolution Tuesday requesting $35,000 in funding from the state Office of Community Development to purchase an additional 150 water meters to connect customers to an existing 12-inch water line in an older section of Berwick.
The resolution stated that existing funding is insufficient to cover the cost of buying the meters and additional funding isn’t available to Berwick in the town’s current budget.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, the council adopted the city’s 2016-17 budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The $4.085 million budget is slightly less than $4.091 million budget with which Berwick projects to finish the 2015-16. The originally adopted 2015-16 budget totaled $5.348 million.
The 2016-17 budget projects $5.095 million in revenues, down from the $5.258 million town officials expect to spend by the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year. The originally adopted 2015-16 budget projected $6.617 million in revenues.
A public hearing will be held Oct. 5 at a planning and zoning meeting to address issues discussed during a Sept. 7 meeting, Planning and Zoning Director Gary Beadle said.
Some of the issues stem from “uses by right” that were included in a previous ordinance and accidentally left out in Berwick’s current zoning regulations, Beadle said. The planning and zoning board will then be able to provide recommendations to the council.
Public Works Director Rafael Lopez said the sewer project on Fairview Drive is about 75 percent complete, and officials expect to finish in roughly a week. Consulting Engineer Reid Miller said he plans to meet soon with town leaders to discuss which projects to submit for state capital outlay funding.
In other business, the council
—Approved amending the town’s 2015-16 budget.
—Approved a parade permit for the Berwick High School Homecoming Parade. The parade will begin at 4 p.m. Sept. 22 at the high school.
—Approved a five-year waterfront lease to Sewart Supply to occupy 132 feet of waterfront property with the option to renew for five more years. The lease payment is $777.84 per month for the first year with consumer price index increases in each of the remaining years.
—Approved a five-year lease to Jo Ann Butler to occupy 346 feet of waterfront property with the option to renew for five more years. The lease payment is $2,038.90 per month for the first year with consumer price index increases in each of the remaining years.
—Approved Berwick entering into a contract with Integrated Payment Solutions to provide software and services to collect payments owed to the town via credit or debit cards.