Inflation affects Pine Haven contract cost

Water Guy, a company out of Gillette that serves approximately 90 entities, providing licensed water and lagoon testing and treatment as well as call out services for leaks and other flow problems, discussed with Pine Haven's council the necessity of raising prices on Tuesday.

"I have several operators on staff and the specialized equipment we use on many systems," said owner Duane Fawcett as he began to explain the price increase. "We're running into some problems, one is inflation [and] the other thing is [that] I'm losing people to other jobs – I lost a guy to the hospital for more money and benefits. The only way I can make this thing work is to keep enough people on staff."

He went on to say that leaks are a 24/7 situation, citing the town's own recent issues with several valves on Pendleton that blew because of compromised bolts as well as an uncapped dead end line within the C Bar Subdivision on the town's water line, both of which his crew handled.

He will be raising the hourly rate for service calls as well as for equipment used, effective as soon as they decide the future amount. While actual prices have not been determined yet, Fawcett said, "We want to give you a heads up."

A letter of this intended price raise was received by the clerk's office earlier, too. The company will also be raising the monthly service fee to begin with the new fiscal year.

After listening to the contractor state his case, Mayor Karla Brandenburg told him, "Obviously, your service is something we can't live without so that's something we're going to have to plan on. It's going to be a little bit tougher this time of year."

With some further discussion on the need to map out the water lines under certain areas of town, the council is planning for this cost increase.