Pfost Gives Progress Report for Middlefork Water Company

Brock Pfost of Middlefork Water Company met with the Grant City Council last Wednesday and gave a progress report. Middlefork currently supplies Grant City's water. He said that he wanted to form a committee consisting of officials from Grant City and Stanberry who would meet with Middlefork personnel on a regular basis in a move that Pfost said would improve communication. Councilman Bruce Downing, Public Works Director Carl Staton, and Water Superintendent Greg Miller were appointed to the committee, which would meet quarterly. Grant City has joined the Northwest Missouri Wholesale Water Commission and Pfost said that he would be working with the Commission on doing interconnections between various entities; Middlefork is one of eight major water hubs that will be used by the Commission. Pfost reported that the 20-year bonds that set up the company were about to be paid off in 2011.

Public Works Director Carl Staton reported that the salt for the city has been delivered and that the equipment has been winterized. He said that the city has removed some abandoned gas lines and that they had gotten a new pickup.

Clerk Ayvonne Morin reported that the city had started collecting around $700 to $900 per month from the telephone tax that voters had authorized.

The council voted to set aside 2% of their budget for capital improvements for the pool. The money would not pay for operating expenses for the pool, but would be used as an emergency fund; members said that would prevent the city from being caught flat-footed down the road if the pool were to deteriorate again. The council voted to have Warner Brothers Electric do the underground wiring for the pool for a cost of around $550.

Councilwoman Linda Phipps suggested taking the old lights around the square and putting them on the Nature Trail, saying that it would be lit all the time; Staton said that it would deter vandalism. The current lights around the square are owned by the city and will be replaced under the Downtown Renovation Project funded by a federal appropriation through the Missouri Department of Transportation; the city will have to decide what to do with the old lights once they are taken down. The downside would be that it might possibly broaden the scope of the Nature Trail Project; Clerk Ayvonne Morin said that she would check into that.

The city reported that 129 of the income surveys out of the 284 that were sent out for the $1 million 11 mile water line project have been returned. The city must get a response rate of around 80% in order to be able to apply for a CDBG Grant for the project.