💧 Water and Power · St. Croix, VI
WAPA board approved water-system projects at September meeting
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s governing board approved several water-system items at its regular monthly meeting on Sept. 26, 2019, including projects tied to potable water service on St. Croix.
The board approved an extension of WAPA’s contract with CDR Maguire to complete a Water System Master Plan, which the authority said was delayed by late payment to the contractor. WAPA said the plan would serve as a 20-year blueprint for water-system upgrades and expansion.
The board also extended a contract and approved a change order for the Pressure Management Phase II project. WAPA said the project followed Phase I and was intended to regulate system pressure while reducing line loss and maintenance costs. The change order extended the project by 140 calendar days, setting a new completion date of Feb. 17, 2020.
Board members also authorized the purchase of Advanced Metering Infrastructure water meters for both districts using federal grant funds. WAPA said the meters would replace full-time manual meter reading in the water division and improve billing-cycle reading times and accuracy.
In a separate action, the board approved a contract extension with rate consultant Raftelis, formerly PRMG, through April 30, 2020, for consulting services related to WAPA’s electric system rate case. The contract total was $215,000.
Executive Director Lawrence J. Kupfer told the board that post-storm restoration work during the 2019 hurricane season had been completed without injury or incident, according to WAPA.