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NORTH MANCHESTER – At Wednesday night's meeting, the North Manchester Town Council awarded multiple contractor bids for upcoming water utility improvement projects estimated to begin in February 2026 and conclude by August 2027.
Council approved the $9.02 million bid from Atlas Excavating, which was the lowest of three bids received and was $480,000 below the project estimate provided by Commonwealth Engineers, who is managing the project.
For the water main project on Market Street, the council approved the lone $368,702 bid from Jones and Henry Engineers.
Introduced at the meeting were two ordinances to amend the utility rates. The minimum for water usage on a residential line is increasing from $25.63 per month to $40.89 per month. The ordinances were approved on first reading; they are available for the public's review at the clerk's office.
Ahead of the regular meeting, council held a public hearing for the 2026 budget and heard questions from residents Bob Sklar and Valerie Clarkson. Sklar asked for details on various line items from the budget since he said no copy of the budget was provided for him.
Clerk-Treasurer Carrie Mugford reminded the public that the budget is available to view on Gateway. Gateway is the online platform for local units of government to submit financial data and is accessible to the public.
Clarkson protested the water rate increases, citing the rising costs of other essentials like groceries and medications, and asked if the town had a water improvement fund that could be used to pay for the project.
Town Manager Adam Penrod said the water improvement fund has $750,000 in it, and would not come close to covering the $9 million project to replace water mains. Penrod explained the history behind the plan to begin improvements on the system, which contains 30 miles of water main, some of which dates back to 1965 or earlier.
The current $9 million project will replace two of those 30 miles of water main, and the town is going through the SRF (state revolving funds) loan program to lessen the burden on the residents as the town funds the project, though Penrod said rate increases are unavoidable. Commercial and higher-use customers of the water utility are going from a six-tier to a three-tier pricing system to try and "level the playing field" between businesses and residents, Penrod said.
The utility ordinances will be re-introduced for second and third readings in October and November.
In other business, council:
• Approved contracts for the Manchester Mile and Eel River Commons projects, to be paid out of the Lilly grant funds shared with Manchester University.
• Approved the 2026 budget on first reading following the public hearing.
• Approved a sewer enforcement response plan, which outlines procedures in case of noncompliance or user violations.
There was a town docket of $1,022,377.09 and a utilities docket of $1,141,156.72.
In additional visitor comments, Clarkson and Sklar spoke again to council. Clarkson asked if the town could pursue a TNR (trap, neuter, release) program for feral cats. Sklar asked about the number of police officers currently employed in the department and questioned North Manchester's contract with Parkview, citing issues with the local clinic.
Council will next meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 1.
