The Board of Public Works of Trenton Municipal Utilities held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening at city hall and discussed several items.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Board members approved a contract with the Larkin Group for engineering services for sewer improvements in the area of Mable Street, Industrial Drive and Pleasant Plain. The contract for services is not to exceed $55,000 and includes design and survey work as well as any submittals which need to be made to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. TMU Director Chad Davis said this and other future projects will allow the utility to abandon two underground sewer crossings underneath the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that are in bad condition.
Also approved was a $6,903 payment to Burns and McDonnell for continued work at the site of an abandoned underground fuel storage tank at the power plant on Crowder Road. The utility has spent considerable time and money over the last few years removing contaminated soil and cleaning up the site where fuel leaked from the tank. A part of the process included the installation of monitoring wells. Davis said DNR had requested two more water samples to be taken from the wells, but agreed to the utility’s request than only one more set of tests would be sufficient. The approved fee will allow Burns and McDonnell to take the samples and provide the analysis to DNR. Davis noted one of the four wells located at the site has been struck and damaged and it is hoped it will still be usable without additional repair work and expense.
Davis said the contractor working on water line replacement in the Scott and Haddox area is nearly finished with the bulk of the main water line replacement and would begin work on service lines soon. Davis noted a property owner in the area expressed some concerns about work on their property and he said the contractor stepped up and took care of the concerns to the property owner’s satisfaction. The board approved a pay request from the contractor, Decker Construction, in the amount of $61,101, which includes 10 percent withheld for retainage until satisfactory completion of the project.
The board also discussed planned utility needs in conjunction with the construction of a new allied health building at North Central Missouri College. Davis said approximately $140,000 in utility work will need to be done and discussions are continuing with college officials on the specific cost/share arrangement for the proposed work.
The design report from Burns and McDonnell for the wastewater improvement project has been received by TMU and should be submitted to the DNR this week. Davis noted this is the start of the construction permit process and public hearings will be scheduled for June as part of a rate analysis which will be incorporated to pay for the improvements at the wastewater plant. He said for the financing from the State Revolving Fund to close in November, the construction permit from DNR would have to be received by Sept. 1.
In other business, the board approved writing off a total of $45,153.25 in bad accounts. The amount includes $29,796.23 in the electric department, $5,548.62 in the water department, $4,833.66 in the wastewater department, $3,127.94 in the trash department and $1,846.80 in franchise fees. Attempts will continue to continue on the accounts, which accumulated the ’05-’06 and ’06-’07 fiscal years.
It was noted persons owing back amounts are required to pay the past due balance before having their utilities reconnected again. The board also discussed ways to improve collections by using improved billing software as well as changing the deposit policy. No action was taken.
Davis shared with board members letters from the Environmen-tal Protection Agency, outlining new rules for disinfection at the water treatment plant. Davis said the new rules are in effect now with monitoring and sampling required by next spring and compliance slated to begin in 2012. He said the utility will need to study its options on disinfection treatment, including whether to continue with chlorine or switch to some other treatment option. He noted the utility will be dealing with the EPA on this issue instead of the DNR.
TMU Comptroller Rosetta Marsh said a copy of the draft audit of the utility is scheduled to be available on May 1.
The next meeting of the board is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29.