March 29, 2022 |
Inflation is impacting the price of everything, from gas to groceries. Even items you thought might be inflation proof are proving not to be so. The residents of Saratoga were told at the last council meeting that the cost of the critical chemicals needed to treat municipal wastewater at the lagoons north of town has doubled.
Councilman Ron Hutchins, who joined the meeting by phone, delivered the budget-busting news.
Pictured above: File photo of Saratoga Town Hall. Photo by Emma Diercks/Bigfoot 99.
One of the items on the shopping list for the public works department is an oxidizer for the wastewater treatment plant. Oxidizers are used to remove a variety of common chemicals found in wastewater, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides and toxic compounds, along with odors and colors.
Oxidizers are not cheap. Hutchins told council that one barrel costs $800, and the town needs to purchase four. Hutchins, who is the council liaison to the public works department, said he gave Public Works Director Jon Winter permission to buy one barrel saying he would seek approval for the other three.
Saratoga Town Council, with Ben Spaulding absent, passed the motion unanimously. The price increases mean the public works department will blow through its budget to keep the plant running.
