PULASKI, Va. – People in the town of Pulaski County could expect to pay more for water and sewer starting in July as utility rates could go up if approved by town council.
“We’re in a situation right now, according to our engineers, where it’s no longer an option,” said Todd Day, Pulaski Town Manager.
The Pulaski water treatment plant has been online since the 1950s, but hasn’t seen renovations since the 80s.
“We’ve actually stretched this facility out way past its life expectancy,” Day said.
Now, every July for the next three years, people in the town will likely see an increase of around 25 percent on their bills to pay for upcoming upgrades.
“The reason for that is we have to make that debt service payment on that 25 million dollars, and we want to be able to have that revenue there in order to make that debt service payment, and we don’t want to drop it on our citizens all at one time,” Day said. “The 25 million dollars is not only just for the upgrade of the water plant, it’s also for the raw water line that’s a little over 2 miles.”
Day said the plant needs lots of work, starting with the outdated technology inside.
“This right here came over on Noah’s ark,” Day said. “This is obviously a control station for each filter, but today’s technology, this doesn’t even exist. It’s on a computer panel. We can’t even get parts today to replace here.”
He said the other issues are mainly structural.
“That’s a ticking time bomb right there,” said Day. “At any time, those vertical forces caused by all that water on the other side, that’s a bunch of pressure and at any time it could just blow it out.”
Workers at the plant also said the upgrades are needed.
“Some days work better than other days,” said Michael Davis, Water Treatment Plant Operator. “It’ll be welcomed, but I’m also almost 62, can we speed it up? Haha!”
Todd Day said the last thing he wants to do is raise utility rates, but its a decision that has to be made.
Day said the expected start for the renovation would not be till at least 2027.