By Patrick Adrian Staff Writer
NEWPORT — Newport voters will decide in May whether to support two bonds totaling about $3 million to fund two separate infrastructure projects, including the replacement of Newport’s oldest and most vulnerable waters lines, some of which are more than a century in age.
The Newport Selectboard held a public hearing on Monday for the proposed town budget for fiscal year 2022 and two proposed bond-funded projects presented in separate warrant articles. One article seeks the issuance of $750,000 in bonds to fund targeted road reconstruction projects over the next three years.
A second article seeks approximately $2.3 million in bonds to begin critical upgrades to the town water distribution system on Unity Road. The town expects to fund about $1 million of this project through a grant and the town to assume a repayment of $1.3 million.
A 2019 asset management study concluded that Newport must complete more than $30 million in upgrades to its water distribution system, the majority of those comprising of water main replacements, over the next 10 years.
The study reports that more than 85,000 feet of Newport’s water pipes were built between 1895 and 1920 and at the end of their operating life.
“A large section of the water supply system on Gilman Pond is pretty much surviving its second pandemic,” said Newport Selectboard Chair Jeffrey Kessler, noting that the oldest pipes predate the 1918 Spanish Flu.
Additionally, more than 30,000 of cast-iron pipes installed during the 1960s have had a frequent breakage history and should also be replaced, according to the report.
Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg said the town would begin replacing the line starting at the Gilman Pond pump station and “working our way into town as far as the funding will allow.”
Rieseberg said Newport would require the support of a national infrastructure bill to fund the total replacement project. In the short term the town plans to prioritize the lines evaluated to be most vulnerable and a highest risk to public health.
Finance Director Paul Brown said the bond would be for 20 years with a projected interest rate of 1.3%. The annual principal would be $66,500 with an interest payment in the first year of $17,290. The total interest on the bond would be approximate $181,545.
The project’s cost is projected to increase the town’s water rate next year by an additional 88 cents per 1,000 cubic feet, though water rates may also be adjusted further to accommodate additional construction necessary to update the system, Brown said.
Bond to repair roads
For several years, Newport has budgeted about $250,000 annually to repair its roads, Kessler said, and as of today most of the town roads have been addressed.
This year the selectboard decided to make a “commitment” to invest $1 million into roadwork projects now, including the $250,000 appropriation in the main budget proposal and the proposed bond article. The targeted projects represent the remaining town roads, which would have taken four years to fund under the previous approach.
Because of the current record-low interest rates the annual bond payments, totaling $245,000 with interest, would be less than what the town would pay the next three years if appropriating $250,000 through the main budget.
Total interest on the bond, at a rate of 1.5%, is projected to total $21,000.
“By going out to solicit bids for doing $1 million worth of work in one shot, instead of going out in four separate years, we will certainly get out more than that $21,000 worth of work,” Kessler said.
The targeted roads for repair would include residential roads in areas such as North Newport.
The proposed town operating budget for 2022 is approximately $11 million, with an estimated tax rate of $11.79 per $1,000 of assessed property. The proposal would actually reduce the tax rate from the current year by 14 cents, according to Brown.
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