The Grant City Council met with Brock Pfost of White Cloud Engineering to discuss issues related to the ice storm as well as future plans. The contract between the City of Grant City and White Cloud and Stanberry will be up for renewal in four years. White Cloud, Grant City, and Stanberry officials will meet on a quarterly basis so that they can discuss plans for the future and be on the same page in the event of an emergency.
Pfost said that the biggest challenge White Cloud had was to keep up with the rule changes that the EPA had been mandating. "The rules are getting more and more strict," he said. It used to be, for instance, that there was no limit on THM’s; now, there are. As a result, they had to change the chemicals that they were using to treat the lake. He forecast rate increases down the pipe as it was getting more and more expensive to treat water systems in the future.
Another problem was with old pipes discoloring the water. For instance, old pipes could create "a hell of a mess;" in one instance, the city had to flush out a 6" line that they did not even know was there. Pfost said that they were doing all they could to keep magnese, taste, and odor out of the water and that people should call if they had complaints. The plant number is (660) 448-2111 while the office number is (660) 582-4111. He said that would help them know where the problems within the system were and they could fix them.
Turning to the ice storm, Pfost said that they had planned for outages of two hours, not one of several days. "Mid-America Power was supposed to get us a generator within a few hours, but it turned out all their generators were in Tulsa," he said. As a result, they had to get one from Chicago trucked into Grant City. In addition, Pfost was out of town on vacation at the time the storm hit. As a result, Grant City had a precautionary boil order; however, they did not run out of water.
Discussing plans for the future, Pfost said that while drilling for test wells during the 2004 drought when the lake was down to 11 ½ feet, they found a really good site for a reserve well that could help turn the company into a regional supplier as well. One of the main goals for the Northwest Missouri Water Partnership was for there to be interconnected water systems so that if there were an emergency, all someone had to do was to flip a switch so that there would not be a water outage. "For instance, if there was a tornado, all we would have to do is flip a few switches, and people would have water," said Pfost.
The area would be one of the first to benefit from the plan, as Middlefork is one of seven hubs that can produce a lot more water than they are producing now. For this area, all that could mean that the Sheridan, Grant City, and Northeast Independence Township water systems would be interconnected in the event of an emergency. Sheridan would still be able to operate their own well-based water system.
Currently, Middlefork can produce one million gallons per day at the plant; currently, it is producing one third of that. He said that the first priority of the company would still be to give Grant City and Stanberry their water first and supply the rest of the region second.
Pfost was questioned by City Attorney David B. Parman as to why there was nobody there during the Ice Storm. Pfost said that he would not defend that but that he would look into it; "it would be difficult for the place not to be staffed," he said. Pfost explained that they were required to test the water every two hours.
Dick VanVactor of the 12-county Northwest Missouri Regional Council, said that "People should realize that they pay some of the lowest rates of the area," he said. And he said that in order for the partnership to deliver enough water to grow the area, "Someone has to pay." He suggested that the city, rather than hit customers with a $10/month raise all at once, raise the rates gradually over a period of time so that they could pay their share for changes coming down the pipe.
Councilman Bruce Downing said that he had heard a lot of concerns from people about water quality. "We’re not going to dodge responsibility for that," answered Pfost. He said part of the reason was that they had changed their chemicals; he said that he should have notified the public when they changed the chemicals in response to new EPA regulations. He encouraged people to call, saying that they logged calls so that they could work with the city to pinpoint problem areas.
In another matter, the city discussed with Pfost the progress of the sewer project for the east side of town. Pfost met with MODOT, who agreed to put up some money for the project; part of the problem was how to bore under Highway 46 so that they could get there.
Mayor Debbie Roach appointed Bruce Downing and Greg Miller to the regional board that would meet with White Cloud to discuss plans for the future.
Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported that the city had been notified that they would get $39,000 in disaster relief money from FEMA. The state will pay 10% of the rest, or around $1,300; the city will pay slightly under $12,000 for the ice storm. There will be no reimbursement for the generators that they purchased. She said that the city would need a contract with Porter Trash for trash removal in the event of another disaster so that they could get reimbursed.
The city awarded a bid for the rental of a bucket truck for debris removal purposes to Anthony Steinhauser for $29.20 per hour. City crews will operate the truck. FEMA will cover $900 per week for the city to do brush removal work.
The city discussed issues with hooking up the new generators. Carl Staton has drawn up new specs for the generators, both of which will need to work in either place. The water system would be the first one to get priority in the event of an outage; in the event of one generator failing, the city could hook up the other one. The city would have to set up their own pole as Aquila would not let them use their pole. The council voted to rebid the generator installation with more detailed specifications; the city got two bids, but they were returned unopened.
The council voted to extend the deadline for cleaning up brush to April 18th due to the weather. Staton reported that FEMA will not reimburse money for the streets. The yellow truck needed $1,000 worth of repair work done on it. He said that they were still looking for a new truck to replace the one that was totaled in the ice storm. He said that they were 30th on a MODOT waiting list for a surplus truck.
Councilwoman Linda Phipps reported that she met with Gina McNeese and drew up a set of pool rules. They suggested a rule with no floaters; however, other council members did not like that idea, saying that it was better than nothing. Among rule changes that were approved, all children under 7 must be accompanied by someone over 12; children 7 or over will now be allowed to swim alone. All children must have at least two contact numbers for parents in the event of an emergency or discipline situation; lifeguards would fill out forms in the event of a discipline situation. Phipps said that the thinking was that anyone second grade or over could do their own dressing or undressing.
Consequences for rules violations would be a warning, then sitting on the bench for 10 minutes, and then expulsion for at least a day. The city will cut the number of lifeguards from 4 to 3 unless the pool is at full capacity. There would have to be one manager on duty at all time; there will be a manager, assistant, and head lifeguard. Family passes were cut down to $90; individual passes remain at $40. Adults that accompany children but who are not swimming will not have to pay. Specials were discussed, such as having free swims or lower admission. There will be a drawing for a season pass.
The council approved building permits for Travis Troutwine for an addition to his home and Pat West to move a fence.
The council discussed possible automated billing, which would allow them to prorate accounts as well as help in the event of a water leak.
The council discussed delinquent taxes, which went down to $7,000 this month from $9,000 last month. But Phipps said that "something needs to be done" about the taxes. She proposed tying in the property taxes with the city sticker; Parman suggested that the city could work without a city officer by simply handing in the clerk’s records to the judge in the event of a delinquent tax. Mayor Debbie Roach said that there was no money in the budget for a full-time city police officer; the council voted to advertise for a city code enforcement officer who would be responsible for enforcement of city ordinances only. The biggest delinquent tax is $994. Parman said that some people would still be delinquent even if the city tied the sticker in with property taxes because a lot of people didn’t have utilities, such as Sunny Slope or Crestview residents. But Parman suggested that customers who don’t pay taxes be ineligible for utilities.
Parman said that the advantage of a Code Enforcement Officer would be that they could bypass police training. The other possibility was to wait until the backhoe was paid off and then see if they had money in the budget for a full-time officer; however, Carl Staton objected, saying that the money would be needed for contingencies.
The council voted to advertise for a code enforcement officer and see what the response would be. The duties of the officer would be limited to writing tickets, taking pictures of violations, and attending city court.
Councilman Doug Pickering reported that the Fire Department was looking for a grant for a new firehouse. The council voted to deed the property south of the basketball courts to the Grant City Fire Department contingent on grant approval. The city would move into the old fire building.
Pickering asked why the city was not charging rent for the place downstairs, currently occupied by Economic Developer Charity Austin. He said that he thought that the city could collect "quite a bit of rent" for the place; however, other members disagreed, saying that Austin had been valuable for the city and the area.
Councilwoman Cathy James said that the new license office was doing well; they collected $4381.31, which they put back in the General Fund to cover salaries.