The Bridgeport Utility Board met on Tuesday at City Hall to discuss the water and sewer budgets for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

 

The talks were preliminary as the budget(s) will be up for approval at a May 7 meeting.

 

One item in particular on the proposed water budget involves an upgrade of some of the city’s hydrants to ihydrants, a feature-rich monitoring tool designed to save money through grid analysis, problem prevention and rapid-response mitigation. They would allow Public Works employees to identify potential problem areas and proactively maintain the system to prevent main breaks before they occur.

 

City Engineer Beth Fox said one of the first steps when they are aware of a leak is that the city goes outs and tests the pressure on the hydrant nearest the area.

 

The ihydrant would send that information directly to those who need to know and would send it immediately.

 

“It constantly reads pressure,” Bridgeport Director of Public Works Tiny Grimes said. “So if somebody went out there and stole water, it sends an alert. We can see where there is a rapid drop in pressure and know where to go.

 

“It pings right away. You set what your expected pressure is and if it drops, it sends a notification.

 

“We’d like to start out with four or five because they are expensive. We want to space them throughout town, put one in each of our zones.”

 

A brand-new ihydrant costs approximately $11,000 but there is also an option to retro fit existing hydrants with the ihydrant equipment for approximately $5,500.

 

In addition to budget discussions, updates were given at Tuesday’s meeting on a handful of projects as well as one that may be the next capital project (it’s on the proposed 2024-25 budget as well).

 

The waterline relocation project near Meadowbrook Mall is nearly complete.

 

Fox said the contractor has completed all their work and the final steps are being conducted by Grimes and his crew. Those final steps have been slowed because of a delay in getting parts, specifically three fittings.

 

Grimes said if they get the fittings this week, they will start doing nighttime work on the project Sunday.

 

In regard to the storm water study, infrastructure improvements and FEMA, Fox said efforts are still in progress.

 

“We are not going to be getting as much reimbursement as we were hoping for,” Fox said. “We did put out an RFP and we’ve secured Thrasher Group as our on-call consultant for any emergency projects, FEMA projects and grant projects. We had to go through that process for the wall up on Thompson Drive.”

 

She added that this particular contract with Thrasher Group is for five years.

 

Superintendent of Utilities Jared Cummons said a lot more visible progress on the Lift Station #6 and Headworks should be able to be seen in the upcoming weeks.

 

He said the sub-grade block structure has been completed and the walls and floor of the trough have been poured and passed the mandatory specs.

 

Associate Engineer Jake Griffith said the city’s lead and copper inventory efforts have slowed and they are hovering around five percent when it comes to returned surveys.

 

The City of Bridgeport is asking all water customers to complete a service line survey in order to be in compliance with the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule. That survey can be filled out HERE

 

With Lift Station #6 nearing completion, the city may turn its attention to upgrading Lift Station #1 which is located off Godfrat Drive and the bottom of Stone Street.

 

“It’s not a project yet, but it’s on our want list,” Fox said. “It might be our next capital project.”

 

Grimes also said the installation of a two-inch water line on Deegan Lake Road has been completed and that in July, two of his four crews will break away and focus on water and sewer only.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows City Engineer Beth Fox discussing a project during the Utility Board meeting. Bottom photo is of the work site on the waterline relocation project near Meadowbrook Mall.