By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The harsh winter months of 2015 caused an exponential increase in water line breaks compared to last year and the troubles may not be over, according to Public Works Superintendent Hassan Fayad.

He said this year, they repaired 78 frozen lateral connections, compared to three last year.

That has cost $114,000, compared to $6,000 the previous year. On top of that, they fixed 21 ruptured water mains, compared to four last year.

All of that has come with $22,000 in overtime payments. Last year’s figure was $14,000.

Those numbers are as of March 7, Fayad said.

“Once we get updated figures, those numbers are going to go up a little bit,” he told the board.

The low temperatures this winter have created frost as far down as seven feet, which accounted for the broken lines.

“It could cause more problems as the temperatures rise,” Fayad said.

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld said the board hasn’t raised water rates in four years. A decrease is probably off the table for the upcoming budget.

“I can’t see a reason why we would want to decrease the rates at this time,” he said.