Upgrades to existing water system approved in Monday's City Council meeting

Monday’s Kinston City Council meeting had a light agenda.

One of the biggest highlights included the board approving the upgrade of the existing water system SCADA to Microcomm. The system allows KPS to monitor wells, tanks and lift stations 24 hours a day and retrieve data history of how the systems function. Also, the system notifies KPS of alarms, unusual water levels in tanks, pump and generator failures and high water in lift stations.

The city appropriated $150,000 in the budget for the system and the upgrades will cost $136,285 at no cost to the taxpayers.

“The system is 10 to 12 years old, so it needed some upgrades,” KPS director Rhonda Barwick said. “We were prepared for it and had $150,000 in the budget, so we’ll install the equipment and monitor the stations for both water and sewer.”

An adoption of an ordinance for a rooming house was also approved for Hope Restorations on East Vernon Avenue.

“The rooming house was a highlight of the meeting, along with the upgrades of the water system,” Kinston Mayor Don Hardy said about the strong points of Monday’s meeting. “It’s important to keep the system up at the highest level we can.”

The next Kinston City Council meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. A work session is scheduled for 5:30 on the same day.