The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Sept. 19, 2018

WAITSBURG-In attendance at the meeting of the City Council was Mayor Marty Dunn, as well as councilmembers Terry Jacoy, Kevin House, Jim Romine and Kate Hockersmith. Councilmember KC Kuykendall asked to be excused from the meeting.

Public Comment included mention of recent Commercial Club successes both at the Columbia County Fair and Pioneer Fall Festival.

Danielle Carpenter, representing the Parks & Recreation Dept. was on hand to share that the board is full of active members. Upcoming events was to include a Movie Night in the Park on Sept. 29. The first movie will be Monsters, Inc. and the event will be free to all. The Parks & Rec. Dept. will also hold public meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. This month's meeting was held at the Lions Club, but the venue is not permanent.

The wastewater treatment plant discussion continued, as the council was presented with packets containing three quotes for replacement belt presses, each well over $200,000, not including installation or engineering costs.

Options include BDP Industries, Inc. quote for $259,000. Bid includes a three-belt filter press with a wall mount, power unit, flow meter, eight-foot discharge belt, a one-year warranty. The bid also includes eight days of on-site services spread over two trips, for startup, mechanical checkout and operator training, Freight to the jobsite is also included.

Option two is a Tritan 500 Series Belt Filter Press Polymer Dilution and Activation Cake Discharge System by Aero-Mod. The bid is $252,800 plus tax and installation. The quote includes the system, control panel, liquid feed polymer system, high pressure air compressor, auger system, freight to job site, and one day's training with a representative.

The third option presented was for PumpTech's Tefsa Belt Press, control panel, including freight to jobsite, for $224,357.03

Of the three, city administrator Randy Hinchliffe and Public Works staff recommend the Council approve the purchase of the Aero-Mod system utilizing the City's remaining line of credit with Community Bank to cover the cost of equipment, installation and other related expenses as yet uncalculated.

City staff said they selected the Aero-Mod system because it has a smaller footprint than the others, with a bigger capacity and local representatives to back it up. The new system would pump 120 gallons per minute, versus the aging system's 40 gallons per minute.

"For our rate of growth, we would never outgrow this press," said Jake Adams. Aero-mod also has a portable press they are offering to help emergency needs, which they will deliver by mid-October for free.

The Council voted 3-1 to approve purchase of the Aero-Mod system, not to exceed $350,000. Terry Jacoy voted no.

The Council discussed the City Planning Commission's membership. Only three active members remain on the seven-member board: Ryan Rodgers, Karen Greggutt-Stanton and KC Kuykendall.

Mayor Dunn entertained a motion to change to board structure from seven to five members, which passed unanimously. The council then unanimously approved the appointment of Norm Bloom and Lynn Carpenter to the Planning Commission.

In other new business, the council discussed the TIB Fuel Tax Grant Agreement, which covers the replacement of 150 incandescent street lights with LED. The change is projected to save a minimum of $7,000 per year.

Dunn reported that the levy work is completed. He also wanted to thank the firefighters who responded in the recent Main Street fire.

It is Dunn's opinion that City Manager Randy Hinchliffe should be commended for his water treatment response published in The Times.

Councilmember Kate Hockersmith reported that the Emergency Preparedness Committee will be working on improving fire safety. The recent Main Street fire had an impressive turnout, with 22 of 27 volunteers on the scene within the hour. Distrit 2 Fire Chief Neil Henze mentioned that there was a problem with one of our fire hydrants. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters were unable to turn the water off due to gravel in the line. City officials thought the gravel might have been there from a previous incident.

City administrator Randy Hinchliffe estimated the replacement hydrant would cost $7,000. He requested any remaining money be allocated for an emergency generator at the well head. That would assure that in the event of a power failure, water pumps will still flow if there were a fire or general drought.