The Grant City Council decided to pursue a CDBG grant that would replace the 11-mile water line from Grant City to the Middlefork Water Plant, which supplies the city with water. In order to qualify, the city has to do an income survey to determine if 51% of their residents are low to middle income. An 80% response rate is required on the survey. The city has been experiencing breaks along the line, leading to interruptions in water service. One such break led to students missing a day of school. The city got a rough estimate of $1,000,000 for the project, meaning that the city might have to pass a bond issue to help finance the project.
The council voted to accept the revised contract with agent Bill Dierenfeldt for carrying the city's health insurance for $2,325 per month.
Code Enforcement Officer Patsy Worthington was not present at the meeting but submitted a written report showing that six first notices were mailed along with six second notices. Two notices were placed on the door while she reported eight verbal conversations with residents. The notices involved weeds, trash, vehicles, houses, and brush. Seven abandoned homes were in the process of coming down while three and possibly five other houses were planning to come down. Mayor Debbie Roach added that students from the school were doing a lot of work around the city painting things and beautifying the city under the Jump Start program.
Public Works Director Carl Staton reported that the city worked on two tubes, repaired the dump truck, is in the process of removing abandoned gas lines, fixed two water leaks, is in the process of blading streets, and helping with the pool. Staton will attend extensive training sessions for the month of August in Stanberry. He reported that the liner in the pool was not leaking and that it was holding up well. The city will not drain the pool like they have in the past; they will leave the water in as part of the guarantee against leaks. There is a leak in the pipes; the city will inspect it after the pool closes for the year; Staton estimated that it was leaking one gallon a minute.
The city looked into getting a track paver and using it as matching funds for the Nature Trail Project but decided against it after they could not find money in the budget to pay for it. There is currently $157,000 left in the grant fund for the project; the city could have allocated money on an hourly basis for every hour that the paver was used for the project. One possible way to make it pay for itself might have been to rent it out to other entities, but that would have required having a city employee take time off from other tasks to operate it.
The main printer that the city uses to print out bills and do other tasks is about to go out; council members told Clerk Ayvonne Morin to get a new printer.
The city has awarded Midland Surveying the contract to mark out the trail for the project; the city is currently waiting on that to finish. The city will try to get it done before softball season starts. Midland will mark out the middle of the trail; once it is marked out, the dirt will begin to move on the project.
The council decided to prosecute those people who refused to mow lawns; they had a choice between mowing the property and sending the bill to the owner and referring it for prosecution. The council decided that it would involve too many time constraints on city employees.
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