Utilities Board gives updates on months’ activities

Replacing poles, fixing streetlights, and conducting investigations are all things the Watertown Municipal Utilities does on a monthly basis.


The Watertown Municipal Utilities Board unveiled the findings of it 2023 audit to the public at their Sept. 30 meeting. Overall, the utility audit did not find any major problems, significant deficiencies, or repeating occurrences that necessitated inclusion in the 2023 report.

The report, which has already been approved by the Legislative Audit Board, was considered a resounding success and achievement by board members. In addition, it was found that the municipal utilities and the city of Watertown were 100% compliant in all matters related to the audit.

The board is also cancelling and reissuing about 5,300 checks (mostly overpayments and refunds) to try and return funds to their owners. For amounts over $50, the municipal utilities tried to get in contact with the party to update their contact information so the check can be reissued. For those that did not respond to the request to update their information or those that have refunds due to them under $50, they are sent to the states unclaimed property division so the subject can collect it in the future.

The board is also looking forward to budget season and scheduled a public meeting on Nov. 12 of the utilities Finance Committee.

Funds for the cast iron watermain replacement project were also approved through a bid from Halme of Lake Norden for $3,821,861.70. This number was below the budgeted engineers estimate of $4,720,384. According to the board, this leaves plenty of room for adjustments and overruns.

In other board news:

  • There were 61 unscheduled electrical outages during the month
    • 5825 7th Ave SW, 27 customers for 1:24 hours
    • 127 12th Ave NW, 100 customers for 2:00
    • 511 13th St NW, 1 customer for 1:30
    • 415 S. Maple St., 1 customer for 1:40
    • 2424 10th Ave NE, 6 customers for 1:15
    • 321 1st Ave SW, 2 customers for 1:30
  • One new utility pole was installed, 1 rotten pole was replaced, and 15 poles were pulled
  • 2 streetlights were installed, 71 were repaired, and one light which was hit by traffic was replaced.
  • Two fire hydrants were replaced, along with 43 malfunctioning water meters.
  • There were 301 utility investigations in September: 154 electric, 104 gas, and 43 water.