Board Of Public Works Hears Report

Jan 22, 2003 | Headline News

The Board of Public Works heard updates on several ongoing projects Tuesday at city hall.

Trenton Municipal Utilities Director Chad Davis reported that the USDA grant portion of the Tinsman Sewer Project funding should be now be active. A meeting was held with representatives of the Department of Natural Resources on Jan. 13 and pursuant to discussions, the city developed a detailed timeline, including procurement, design and construction for the project. The timeline was sent in a letter to the DNR regional office on Jan. 15.

Davis also reported on the status of the Water Main Replacement Project. Lines at Eighth and Kitty streets have been installed and some houses have been connected. The remaining houses and cleanup will be completed this week.

Following the completion of work on Eighth and Kitty streets, White Cloud Engineering plans to begin work on the South Payne Lift Station. This project should be completed within one to two weeks.

City Administrator Kerry Sampson announced that the progress report from the Electric System Study by Blakely and Associates Consulting Engineering, Inc. will soon be completed and returned to the board with recommendations. Sampson stated that the study has produced interesting results so far and will be very useful in deciding what type of units will be needed at which locations.

Sampson also reported on the status of the ground water sampling results performed on four monitoring wells located on Crowder Road. The report from Burns & McDonnell concluded that the combination of source removal and natural attenuation of the remaining contamination has had a very positive effect in reducing the levels of dissolved contamination in groundwater beneath the site. Monitoring well 1 experienced a 95 percent reduction in TEH-deisal concentration. Since the dissolved TPH concentrations are now below applicable cleanup levels, the city is requesting that a No Further Action letter be issued for the site from DNR. The city has not yet received a response from DNR.

Davis reported on the completion of the contracted tree trimming. He also discussed a replacement program to eliminate future trimmings. The program, if developed, would require property owner participation and cost sharing and the city would have to set a yearly budget and limit the program accordingly.

Sampson addressed a proposal from Shafer, Kline and Warren, Inc. regarding aerial photography and mapping of the city. The initial proposal was an estimate based on surveying two locations at once, however, the other location has since been completed and the cost, which would include photo control survey, aerial photography, lab and scans, DTM map data collection and digital ortho imagery, was much greater than anticipated. Sampson explained that there are no funds currently budgeted for this project and there is no urgency in having the updated mapping. The city would consider pursuing the project in cooperation with the county, which would also benefit from the resulting data. Due to the cost, Sampson stated that the city would probably bid out the project and would share the costs with the county. The digital mapping could be used for approximate locations, 911 calls, maintenance records, utility locations, water and sewer lines, easements and assessment records.

The board held an executive session following the meeting, during which members approved the hiring of Dennis Robb as a wastewater treatment plant operator. He will begin employment on Thursday, working with supervisor Bob Hutchinson, Rolo Heuett and Gary Randolph. Robb was chosen from the 15 applications received for this position. He currently owns and operates Service Electric.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m., followed by a budget session.