by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Sept. 15 meeting the Sewanee Utility District Board of Commissioners approved the contract negotiated by the University with Southeast Management Services to conduct hydrant maintenance, flushing, and flow testing. The board also approved purchase of a new service to replace the 2015 F250 truck with over 250,000 miles. Looking ahead, SUD manager Ben Beavers alerted the board he anticipated hiring two new employees, one for the field crew and one for the office staff.

At the August meeting, the board insisted on reviewing the hydrant contract and on being added as an additional insured, citing liability concerns since SUD owns the hydrants. Beavers noted there were 170 hydrants. The $20,000 contract for servicing up to 220 hydrants calls for clearing away weeds, flushing, flow testing, and general maintenance, and color-code painting the caps to correspond with the flow rate. The flushing and flow testing will be according to the ISO insurance rating standards used to score the fire department to determine residents’ insurance premiums. SUD is only required to flush the hydrants at the ends of lines, 60 according to Beavers, and is not required to flow test or color-code the caps. Flushing, testing, and color-coding all 170 hydrants would require an extra half an employee per year. As typical for joint projects, the University will cover 80 percent of the cost and SUD will pay 20 percent of the cost, $4,000, plus bear the cost of the water used in flushing and testing.

But the board agreed it was a worthwhile undertaking. “They’re getting the information they need, and we’re getting the service,” said Board President Charlie Smith.

Purchasing a new service truck was listed as a $55,000 expense in SUD’s 2026 Capital Improvement budget. SUD will utilize a Tennessee State Vehicle Contract to purchase the 2027 Ford F350 4wd crew cab, reducing the $59,000 list price to $51,409.13. Beavers anticipates delivery in October or November.

The current service truck “still runs fairly well,” Beavers said, but the truck struggled on steep inclines when pulling the mini-excavator SUD uses for field work. Beavers intends to keep the F250, enabling SUD to have two field crews for distribution and collection service work, in keeping with his plans to hire an additional full-time field crew employee.

The field crew position takes a year of on-the-job training, Beavers said, and at least a year before the trainee can take the Distribution and Collection Test. “I encourage that,” Beavers stressed. “We need professional people working here. I’m going to pay to train them and pay for them to take the test.”

The additional office staff employee will help address the 2025 audit finding of inadequate separation of duties to provide financial oversight. “Most utilities our size have three office staff employees,” Beavers said. SUD currently has two. The auditor recommended an office staff of six. “We would need 5,000 customers to justify that,” Smith observed. SUD only has 1,574 customers.

Prior to the meeting, the board received a full copy of the 2025 audit. Board member Clay Yeatman noted an error, listing Wilson County as the administrator of American Rescue Plan Act grant funding SUD received; Franklin County is the administrator. In addition, the board wanted an explanation of several entries and deferred approving the audit until an October in-person meeting with the auditor, John Poole.

Beavers also hopes to have a draft budget ready for the board’s review by the October meeting. The big-ticket item for 2027 will be painting the main water tank, estimated cost $450,000. Beavers suggested hiring an engineer to get accurate specifications for the project, estimated cost $15,000, to facilitate seeking bids and applying for grant funding assistance.

The SUD board meets next Oct. 27, different from the regular meeting date on the third Tuesday.