Lamar City Council Revises Water & Sewer Fee Schedule

The scheduled rehabilitation of Lamar's 6 million gallon water tank has been postponed until November.

Traversing curtailed, or, 'You can't get here from there'

The 2011 fee schedule adopted by the city in 2010 inadvertently combined both water and sewer fees instead of separating them according to customer usage. Some water customers who don’t use city sewer facilities were being charged sewer fees. Deputy city administrator Bill Pfeilsticker explained the error to the Lamar city council which voted to initiate separate billing for each of the two services, and the overcharges will be refunded, retroactive to January 1, 2011 forward, when deemed appropriate by the city treasurer.

In other water matters, the city approved the annual $50,000 fee for Earl Simon Pipe Cleaning for the annual cleaning of the city’s wastewater collection lines. Simon has been employed by the city for this service for over 30 years, providing quality service and competitive rates to the city. The fees have been budgeted each year.

The city’s water engineering firm, TEC recommended a change order which will end the association the city has had with K.R. Swerdfeger construction company for water infrastructure improvements. A subcontractor is unable to meet the city’s deadline to rehabilitate the 6 million gallon water tank south of town. As the city is entering an annual heavy water use period, it was decided by council to delay the project until November and set the task out for bid to a different contractor. As the remainder of the project under Swerdfeger has been met, the city decided to delete the tank work from the comprehensive contract. The net adjustment of removing the rehabilitation project from the change order is $964,964.60. The city will not be penalized in funding for the delay, as the money will be placed in a contingency fund for later use once the project has been rebid.

The council approved the $5,742.99 purchase of a new sound system for the Sports Complex. Peak Media had the low bid for the project which will replace the two speaker horns which have been in use since the first world series games were played. It was determined that the current setup was not appropriate for the amount of use that would be required to run the audio needs of the fourplex project. The purchase will include an iPod/MP3 player, CD player, wireless microphones, waterproof speakers and deliver a high quality sound. A similar system is currently being used by the Lamar Community College sports department. The fourplex will see another future upgrade this year. The council approved the purchase of a chain link fence from low bidder, Guihen’s Lumber and Landscape for $7,662. The fence will be installed this spring around field number three and the fourth field will be completed this fall. Funding will be provided from the city’s Conservation Trust Fund.

The council recognized the on-going work of the Lamar Tree Board during Monday night’s meeting with a proclamation for Arbor Day/Week, running April 10 through 16. Jane Felter of the tree board said city crews will assist Lincoln school students on April 14th, planting a series of trees for the city. A windbreak planting project will be conducted April 9, southwest of the ball fields with the help of city crews.

Heather Burkhart addressed the city council on the annual Relay for Life event, set for June 4 and 5th at Savage Stadium in Lamar. A waiver for the curfew and noise ordinance was granted by the council for the event, and a proclamation was read in recognition and support of the American Cancer Society, the beneficiary of the funds raised each year by Relay member teams.

The council made a paperwork correction to the nine-year old description of a resolution naming that part of Woodland Drive that runs from the east bank of Willow Creek to Memorial Drive, perpendicular to the north end of Country Village Road as Lion’s Way. That street was incorrectly identified as the ‘roadway traversing Willow Creek Park’, in actuality it stops at the east bank of Willow Creek and does not traverse the park. The correct language was approved by the council to be added into the resolution.

The council approved a contract correction, adopting a resolution approving a five-year lease agreement between the city and Southeast Networks & Support, LLC for the land under a communications tower located in the array of towers south of Lamar, near the 6 million gallon tank. No lease agreements could be found for the land in question after September 1986. The new lease agreement was approved by council.