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PRESTON – Preston maintains a strong financial position according to a recent audit and plans upcoming improvements to sewer infrastructure and public playgrounds.
Roy Geiser of the Salisbury-based certified public accounting firm UHY provided a summary of the detailed annual audit report on the town's finances for fiscal year 2024, saying the town’s finances are “in a healthy position.” Geiser presented the findings to the Town Commissioners during the Feb. 3 meeting.
Geiser noted that the only improvement for the Commissioners to consider are the water and sewer fund. He explained to the commission that “you have just enough fees to cover just the normal operations, but not quite enough to cover the using up of the system.”
The estimated depreciation of Preston’s wastewater treatment infrastructure over the 2024 fiscal year was $351,000. “Everything is getting more expensive,” Geiser said. “It’s just the nature of the beast. If you want to have water and sewer service, you got to pay for it.”
Geiser’s presentation took up the bulk of the half-hour meeting. Afterward, Commission President Savannah Winston noted that “health was the word of the evening” and she was happy to hear that Preston’s finances are on an “even keel.”
The report from James Shahan, Department of Public Works, centered around winter-weather operations: preparing equipment and removing snow from roadways during the early January snowstorm. Other necessary tasks included the repair of vehicles and equipment, repairing a broken water main in front of 107 Main Street, and keeping the public park safe for use by removing tree branches, replacing lightbulbs, and replacing a leaky bathroom sink.
Town Manager Amber Korell updated the Commissioners on the Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) sewer lining project. Phases 1 and 2 have been completed. The Commissioners took up the question to fund Phase 3, which “would finish the remaining issue areas in town” — a total of 1,484 linear feet left to be re-lined. The Commissioners voted to fund this last step of the sewer re-lining project.
Preston residents can look forward to improved public parks as the town secured securing grant funding for a shade canopy, a tot lot, and a sand lot, Korell said.
