The Marion Board of Aldermen met briefly Tuesday to pay the bimonthly claims docket and approve the purchase of a pipe locator for the town’s water department.

Mayor Larry Gill said the pipe locator will be beneficial for a number of projects throughout the town as the locator makes finding buried water and sewer lines quick and easy. Currently, he said, water department staff are having to manually search for the pipes.

“We need to upgrade for sure,” he said.

The locator will be put to immediate use as the town works to update its maps of water lines as part of an effort to comply with new requirements from the EPA and Mississippi Department of Health.

Gill said the locator would also come in handy marking water and sewer lines for the continuing expansion of the Pleasant Acres subdivision as well as other projects in the future.

The board of aldermen approved the pipe locator purchase unanimously at a cost of $3,095.