City Water Project Plans Progressing
The meeting began with Andrew Kimmel talking about the city water project. He said that around 15,000’ of main water lines are going to be replaced along with 150 water meters in order to bring everything up to current standards. The old concrete tank up on the hill will also be replaced with a brand new water storage tank and booster station. The new booster station will evenly pressurize the entire city. Back up power will also be added to the booster system to ensure the system will continue working in the case of a power outage. Also, the booster system will be set up to accommodate possible future water demands as the city grows.
The Department of Environmental Quality has already given the city funding for the water project. 55% of the money received is a grant and the other 45% is a low interest loan. A $500,000 grant has been applied for and that money will go towards paying down the loan. The city should hear back within 45 days on whether they will receive the money. Construction on the project will not likely start until September or October of this year. Some of the equipment needed for the project takes a long time to receive. A generator takes 45 weeks to get delivered and a storage tank takes 9 months to get delivered. Taking a break in the winter will allow time for needed equipment to arrive before starting up construction again in the spring.
Hans Sween with JUB Engineering gave an update on the airport rehabilitation project. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated the grants for the project might be pushed out to September. The airport has advertised for bids and hosted a well attended pre-bid meeting on March 5 at the City Hall. The bid opening was supposed to start on April 1st but that is being extended to a future date that will be announced once the FAA knows for sure when the grant money will be sent out. The reason for extending the bid opening is because a contractor has to honor their bid 120 days after it opens. It’s important to know when the grant money will be received in order to pay for the bid during that time frame. If the grant money will not be received before August, the project will not start until next year. It’s a big project and if it had to be shut down during winter then it would leave the city without a useable airport, because of all the pavement being torn up.
To add to that, the airport manager Kathy Hughes gave the airport commissioner report. The runway lights are still not working and pilots are being notified about this. A draft grant to fix the runway lights has been submitted to the city clerk and JUB engineering. On a fun note, a short take off and landing clinic is proposed for this summer. The clinic was well attended last year and the date will be determined by the end of March.
Ashley Clark gave the city clerks report. The highlights were, City Hall will be closed March 17th through March 20th for training, The Record Reporter will be doing a story on the water project, one logo has been received so far for the logo contest and an airport lease workshop will be happening on April 8th at 5:30 p.m..
Caleb Shumway with public works reported that there is a tree in the downtown city park next to the bathrooms that is hanging over a private building and the city is getting quotes on having the tree removed.
Jordan Zwygart with Zwygart John and Associates gave a report on the city audit. He said that the city accurately reflected all financial statements. Everything requested was provided and everything was properly in the system. Jordan said it was a clean audit and it was approved by the city council.
Katie Church, the president of the Chamber of Commerce requested permission to use the downtown city park on July 4th and possibly July 5th for a street dance to promote the 4th of July. Church also mentioned that a new entity is taking over the annual saw contest. They are called Council Loggers Jubilee. Under the umbrella of the Chamber, the Council Loggers Jubilee requested to block off the street differently than has been done in the past for the saw contest. All the above requests were approved.
The Council Mountain Farmers Market requested the use of the downtown city park and electric hook ups for the summer designated market days. The request was approved.
Lastly, Charles Little made an offer to the city to purchase his airport hangar for $100,000. The request was denied.
