Douglas Water Committee votes to seek $144,000 at fall town meeting for capital projects

DOUGLAS — September 30, 2025 — Douglas Water Committee unanimously backs $144,000 fall town meeting warrant article. The four-member board voted September 30 to seek the funds from water department retained earnings, covering a $100,000 rehabilitation of a failing water filter — one of which is already out of service with rust developing in the chamber — and approximately $72,000 for a new utility truck equipped with a truck-side plow, lift gate, and matched paint. Member Bob Sullivan described the filter work as essential preventive maintenance, warning that delay would convert a manageable expense into a significantly larger one. A separate project to install permanent stairs along the sequencing batch reactor tanks, where staff have been navigating variable-height drops using stacked cinder blocks, was discussed but deferred pending firm cost estimates. Sullivan also noted an unbudgeted $32,000 road repaving bill from recent water main breaks.