Milton council to award contract for water meter project

Milton Town Council awarded a $1.2 million contract for a town-wide water meter replacement project at its  Jan. 13 meeting.

The town’s engineering consultants, Davis, Bowen and Friedel, recommended the bid of contractor Core and Main, a national firm with offices in Milton. If approved, the work would include procuring and installing new water meters throughout town, as well as installing a data collection system.

Town Manager Kristy Rogers said the bid is under budget, which will be helpful in case of any unknown circumstances that arise during the project. She said installation of the new meters will take place over a couple of months, with the pace of work determined somewhat by weather conditions.

Mayor John Collier said the project will help make the water department much more efficient, allowing for billings to get out much sooner.

Core and Main would be responsible for not just installing the new meters but would also put in a data read collection system on existing town administration computers and perform annual software maintenance on the system.

The project is being funded with $1.5 million in funds raised by the bond issue as part of the special development district for the Granary at Draper Farm development. Of that money, $1 million is part of the first tranche of money as part of the Granary funds, with the town matching to the tune of $500,000. 

Town council made the decision in July to use the funds to replace the current radio-read water meters throughout town. A special development district is a special tax levy to be paid by Granary residents. The first two phases of the Granary project, a 1,350-unit development on 450 acres on Sand Hill Road to be built over 20 years in 10 phases, have already broken ground and begun site work. The first phase will include 175 units, while Phase 2 will comprise 110 units. 

As part of the special development district, the town agreed to issue special obligation bonds – bonds developer Convergence Communities says are backed by Granary residents, not the town – up to $42 million. The proceeds from that tax will be put into a special fund to be used for public infrastructure improvements within and potentially outside the Granary. The special tax does not preclude developer Convergence Communities from paying town-required performance bonds, which set aside money to ensure roads and other infrastructure are completed.

The first bond issuance, which closed July 11, is actually two sets of bonds: one that matures in 2044 and another that matures in 2053. These are maturity bonds, designed to earn the investor interest until the maturity date, in which the investor will be repaid at face value. The difference is the 2044 bonds will earn at a 5.7% interest rate and the 2053 bonds will earn at 5.95%. Convergence will use the money from the bonds to pay for infrastructure projects benefiting the public, which could include streets, sidewalks, and parks and recreation facilities. Convergence has agreed to give the town up to $5 million from proceeds raised by the special development district to use on other infrastructure projects in three tranches, with the other two tranches coming in 2030 and 2035. 

Council chose the water meter replacement project after narrowing a list of projects down to four, which included land acquisition, a basketball court, and a shared-use path between Cannery Village and Heritage Creek. Replacing the meters was chosen in part because the project can be brought to bid quickly. The shared-use path between Cannery Village and Heritage Creek is currently under discussion by the parks and recreation committee. 

Water main replacement project

The Town of Milton has also put out a call for bids on a proposed water main replacement project.

The project comprises the installation of 3,970 linear feet of 8-inch diameter pipe along Mill Street, Magnolia Street, Walnut Street, Bay Avenue and Carey Street.

Bids must be received by Wednesday, Feb. 19, and would be opened at town council’s March meeting. The contract would last for 210 days, or about seven months. 

The town has allocated $1.78 million in state funds for the project. Voters approved the borrowing at a January 2024 referendum.