SALEM–The utilities department is preparing to replace the water main on South Ellsworth.

During its meeting Tuesday, the city council voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the Salem Utilities Commission, through Utilities Superintendent Butch Donnalley, to advertise for bids and enter contracts necessary to replace the water main on South Ellsworth Avenue from Railroad Street to the South of Aetna Street. The project, which was previously discussed in the Utilities Commission’s Nov. 20 meeting, is expected to cost approximately $250,000 and be completed ahead of the upcoming paving work on South Ellsworth in 2026. As the Utilities Department operates as a semi-autonomous entity, the cost of the project will be drawn from its own coffers, rather than the city’s general fund, and the funds for the project have already been designated within the department’s budget.

At the Utilities Commission meeting Commission Chairman Bob Hodgson said that while the department typically has maintained a policy of replacing lines as breaks occur, that in this instance it would be “a prudent expense” to conduct the work in advance. He also noted that as the city has secured grant funding to cover the costs of the upcoming work on South Ellsworth “it seems like a waste to tear it up again” to replace the lines later. At that meeting Donnalley said that the department had spent $30,000 on road repairs in the area after the last two-line breaks, money which he’d prefer to be spent on improving the water infrastructure.

“I’d rather spend that money putting pipe in the ground,” said Donnalley.

Donnalley also said that while the project was initially expected to require approximately 1,400 feet of pipe to be installed, that further research showed the total would be closer to 1,200 feet when accounting for the sections which have already been replaced.

The council also approved a routine ordinance authorizing Donnalley to advertise for bids and enter contracts for the purchase of the department’s necessary water and wastewater chemicals and miscellaneous items used by the Salem utilities department for the period beginning March 15, 2026, through March 14, 2027.

The city council will meet next at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6.