MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING
MENNO CITY COUNCIL
The
primary purpose of this meeting was to begin figuring the 2007 Budget and
address the condition of the city sewer.
Mayor
Larry Tolzin called the meeting to order at
Guthmiller
made a motion to approve the agenda with the following additions: Room Rent and
Fence. Huber seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.
Morna
Anderson, representing the
Jerome
Hoff, representing the American Legion, thanked the council for supporting
Junior Legion Baseball and asked for their continued support of $1000 for next
year. If all the money is not used, it will be returned to the city as in the
past.
Jerry
Hemeyer has been the wastewater person for the South Dakota Association of
Rural Water Systems for 16 years; prior to that, he installed or repaired sewer
lines. He addressed the council concerning our sewer lines. When we receive a
hard rain, our lift station can’t keep up, which tells him there is inflow and
infiltration of our sewer system. The more water that infiltrates the sewer,
the more the pumps have to work and the more it is
going to cost. An “I & I” (inflow and infiltration) study
is cleaning, televising, and discovering the problems and doing smoke testing
to check for sewer gas. He showed the council a report containing
pictures of the condition of the sewer at two different locations. The pipe is
cracked, broken, has pieces missing and tree roots are growing into them. When
they repair Highway 18, he strongly suggests we put in a new sewer line. He
talked about relining the existing pipe versus digging as an alternative. No
dig technology has improved a lot in the past 10 years and is less expensive
than it was. Gregory just accepted a bid to do one block for $18,000; the next
block for $12,000. (It is possible to “piggy back” off a bid for another city
within 100 miles of you to get a better cost.) By using this type of repair,
you don’t tear up your streets and have the expense of fixing them.
We
had an ammonia problem at the ponds this spring and couldn’t discharge.
Maintenance alleviated the problem by aerating the water. This is an indication
of sediment build up in the ponds. The EPA is pushing ammonia limits on
discharge, especially if the discharge is into a creek. If we continue to have
problems with this, they could make us add a wetlands
onto our lagoon; possible cost, half a million. The cost of installing two
pumps to aerate the water and induce oxygen is $45,000. The pumps run for five
months out of the year; the cost of running them is approximately $500 per
month. Solar power mixers to stir the water run $18,000 each, but they induce
no oxygen. In wastewater treatment, oxygen is the key; the more oxygen the
better the bugs work; the better the bugs work, the cleaner the water.
Hemeyer
urged us to hire someone to clean the sewers in a section of town yearly. Our
lines are half full of dirt and sand; using our jetter
moves it from one place to the other, but doesn’t rid us of the problem. Sump
pumps pumping into the sewer is another big problem and according to state
plumbing code, is illegal. They bring a lot of dirt and sand from basements
into the system.
If
we apply for a loan or grant, we will have to do a vulnerability assessment;
SDARWS can help us with this at no charge. Hemeyer urged us to do a 5-10 year
outlook plan to figure out how we would pay for repairs. To do a block of sewer
main is approximately $35 a foot, a block is about 300 foot and would cost
$10,500. Our sewer rates need to be $17 for 5000 gallons of sewage before we
would qualify for any state grants or loans.
Smoke
testing allows you to find where rainwater gets into the sewer and tests
homeowner’s sewers. If homeowners have smoke in their house, they have sewer
gas in the house. You need good communication between city hall and the
homeowner because if they have smoke in their home, we want to know about it.
The best time to do smoke testing is in the fall of the year when the ground is
dry and the dirt is cracked and loose.
Kathy
Wollman entered the meeting at
Rural
Development and EPA may require boards to have training before they get loans
or grants. If this happens, Rural Water will hold training sessions for boards.
The EPA may also require us to do a Capacity Management and Operation
Maintenance of Wastewater Report similar to the Consumer Confidence Report we do
for water. The information we would gather from cleaning and televising our
sewers is what they want in the report. Hemeyer left the meeting at
Kathy
Wollman, representing the Athletic Club, thanked the council for their support
of the summer programs and asked for their continued support of $4000 in the
coming year. She gave a report on how the money is spent: $6600 on coaches,
$500 on umpires, $1043 on supplies, for a total of $8143. They raise money for
the program by sponsoring the road race, selling fireworks and charging
participants a $25 registration fee (they had 72 participants this year). They
plan to sell raffle tickets for balloon rides and have a girls’ basketball
tournament as fundraisers. Wollman left the meeting at
Discussion
was had on purchasing tires for the maintainer. It was suggested we wait until
closer to the end of the year. No action was taken at this time.
Discussion
was had on having a high school student enter utility account information into
the utility software or hiring an Experience Works worker. Thranum was told to
advertise for an Experience Works worker.
Money
will be set aside in the funds and several departments for capital
outlay-future improvements or repairs.
Aisenbrey
made a motion to raise the minimum sewer rate $1 to $11 for 6500
gallons. Huber seconded, all present in favor; motion carried. Water and
garbage rates remain the same.
Huber
made a motion to give a 3% raise increase to the four full-time
employees and the following part-time employees: Relief Police, Street-Parks
Maintenance, Cemetery Sexton, Library, and Restricted Use Site. He moved to pay
Adella Auch $125 per month to clean city hall, including the finance office.
Kotalik seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.
The
east walls in the upstairs room of the city hall are crumbling. Someone will be
consulted on how to fix these.
Golden
West will be contacted to see if we can put the fire hall and city hall on the
same phone line and DSL line.
The
pool committee will check into what it would cost to pour new walls for the
bathhouses at the pool.
Quotes
will be sought for lower insurance rates.
Mary
Rook has asked to use the old fire hall meeting room to continue Jack Knutson’s
therapy this winter. This will be discussed at the regular council meeting.
Sorlien
requested he be allowed to put up a fence like the other welding business in
town. The council said after he cleans up his property, this may be
taken under consideration.
Establishing
an equipment replacement fund was discussed. This will be checked into further.
Aisenbrey
made a motion to adjourn at
ATTEST:
_____________________________ __________________________
Peggy Thranum, Finance Officer Larry
Tolzin, Mayor