As the Highlands Board of Commissioners begins tackling the upcoming 2023-24 budget, the needs of several town departments have come into focus.
During the board’s retreat, the commissioners heard requests ranging from a single $7,000 commercial swimming pool vacuum to a seven-figure project to make upgrades and repairs to the water/sewer system.
Highlands Public Works Director Lamar Nix kicked off his annual presentation of proposed projects with a look at three road repairs and improvements on the horizon. Included were a proposed $450,000 to replace a culvert and repair 2nd Street, $72,000 for paving Gibson Street and $33,000 to pave Laurelwood Drive.
Other roads included in the proposed paving plan for 2023-24 were $49,000 for 3rd Street, $90,000 for Wyanoak Road, $120,000 for Wingina Place, and $37,000 for Upper Lake Road.
“That culvert on 2nd Street seems awfully expensive given that it only serves a handful of structures,” commissioner Buz Dotson said. “What is past that culvert two businesses?”
Nix acknowledged that the culvert doesn’t serve a high number of properties, but noted that if the culvert failed, and the road was washed away, it would also affect businesses in Highlands Plaza that use 2nd Street as a secondary ingress/egress form the side parking lot.
Water department
Nix started off his discussion of water and sewer needs with a look at line replacement projects including $250,000 for new lines near Blackrock Circle, $120,000 for lines near Hummingbird Lane and $90,000 for lines near Melrose Drive.
The water treatment plant carried the largest price tag in Nix’ proposal for 2023-24.
“The caustic tanks at the water plant need to be replaced and that is going to cost about $695,000 to do,” Nix said. “This is no small project. The pre-clarifier tank is also reaching the end of its life and that is estimated to cost $205,000 to replace. We also need to cover the bleach tank, at a cost of roughly $80,000.”
Nix also advocated for allocating $150,000 for a water/sewer line study, specifically looking at forced mains in Highlands.
“Everyone knows about the issue we had down Franklin Road last month where we had a major sewer line break and it took crews working all night and part of the next day to fix,” Nix said. “The circumstances that led to that line break are not unique to that location. We need to see where we have other vulnerabilities and be proactive in fixing those, to avoid future emergencies.”
Along with the water department needs, Nix advocated for replacing a bucket truck for the electric crew and replacing one trash truck in the sanitation department.
Information Technology
Information Technology Director Matt Shuler informed the board that he would be including $43,000 in hardware and software upgrades in his proposed budget.
Shuler’s bigger ticket item however has to do with the town’s utility poles and private companies that use them to do business.
“Within town limits we have about 3,000 utility poles, and when we did a pole audit we found that 1,210 of those have some issue, and most of those are related to compliance,” Schuler said. “To fix all of the issues we have, it will cost about $3 million. But a portion of that cost would be passed on to the companies that use our town poles – Highlands Cable Group, Balsam West, Frontier, Vyve, etc.”
Shuler proposed the town having legal representation sit down with lawyers from the impacted companies to determine a payment plan for each.
“In most instances, the companies know they are not compliant and it’s a matter of them not having the manpower to go to each pole and do the necessary work to make it right,” Shuler said. “We could set up a payment plan, where we do the work and they reimburse us.”
Shuler noted that the town does have 46 utility poles that need to be replaced, and that cost would fall on the town in its entirety.
Police Department
Highlands Police Chief Sissy Holland detailed a plan to remodel the magistrate’s office in the EMS building for a cost of $20,000.
“This office hasn’t been touched in years and it needs some work, it needs carpet, paint, new bathroom fixtures, basic repairs,” Holland said. “There isn’t really one big thing that is wrong with the office, just a number of small things that all need to be repaired at the same time.”
Holland also proposed the purchase of two new Ford hybrid SUV’s for department use at a cost of $38,000 each. The department purchased a pair of hybrid SUV’s last year and the response by officers has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Holland.
“We actually haven’t saved that much money on gas, but the performance of the vehicles themselves has been excellent,” Holland said. “Obviously, up here in Highlands we have some rough terrain and there is always the possibility of winter weather and other circumstances where the SUV’s just perform better than a traditional sedan.”
Holland added that the department is planning on selling a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro that has been driven by the Highlands School resource officer. That officer will be placed in another sedan in the current HPD fleet.
Parks and Recreation
Highlands Parks and Recreation Director Lester Norris kept his budget request short and sweet during the retreat.
Norris proposed buying a new commercial swimming pool vacuum for a cost of $7,000.
“Our current pool vacuum still works, but it’s about at the end of its life,” Norris said. “My plan is to purchase this new vacuum and put the current one in storage as a backup. This new model is more advanced and more efficient, and I anticipate it lasting several years.”
Norris also shared a proposal to upgrade the Highlands Community Building at an estimated cost of $550,000, but noted that project is not pressing and can be moved to a future budget year if needed.