Cashmere council examines utility OT as 2027 contract budget awaits approval

CASHMERE — Cashmere officials are taking a closer look at the cost of operating the city’s water and wastewater systems, including overtime for weekend checks, alarms and after-hours calls, as the City Council considers the contractor’s proposed 2027 budget.

Woodard & Curran, which operates the systems for the city, has proposed a $1,727,662 budget for 2027. That is an increase of $40,127, or 2.4%, over the 2026 budget, according to minutes from the council’s Oct. 12 meeting.

The company cited labor and certification progression, residuals management contracts, fuel, regulatory fees and inflation among the factors driving the increase. Reduced maintenance allocations, energy optimization and the elimination of transition costs partly offset those increases.

Council members tabled approval Oct. 12 while seeking additional information about capital expenditures. At their Oct. 26 meeting, they reviewed more figures but postponed a vote to give themselves time to examine them.

City Clerk-Treasurer Elizabeth Martinez said overtime has accounted for roughly 11% to 15% of utility operations labor costs. Some of that time is scheduled for required weekend checks at the water and wastewater facilities, while other overtime comes from unpredictable calls and alarms.

The contractor’s employees must check alarms outside normal working hours, Martinez said. Depending on the situation, they may be able to assess an alarm remotely or may need to respond in person.

Woodard & Curran representative Chris McMahon told the council via Zoom that calls can come when residents discover problems early in the morning or return home in the evening. Water main breaks, sewer backups and alarms can also require an after-hours response.

“Our team works routinely to manage the calls and reduce them,” McMahon said. “They don’t like getting them either.”

Martinez said she and McMahon have discussed tracking scheduled overtime separately from call-out overtime to give the city a better understanding of where the costs come from. She said she hopes to receive that information monthly.

The city is also looking at whether calls can be routed more efficiently. Martinez said an after-hours call sometimes goes first to city public works staff before it is determined to be a water or wastewater issue requiring a response from Woodard & Curran.

Director of Operations Steve Croci said those instances are rare, and officials acknowledged that residents may not know who is responsible when they encounter a problem.

Mayor Jim Fletcher said the additional detail should help the city understand its overtime costs before deciding what, if anything, can be changed.

“In the past, it’s always been this big lump sum, so we’ve never known,” Fletcher said. “We’re just complaining, OK, our overtime is way too high, we’ve got to do something about that. We don’t know why it’s over. And that’s what we’re trying to get a better handle on.”

The council did not set a new approval date during the discussion.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media