City Will Replace Problematic Lights At City Auditorium

The City Board had the room to themselves last Friday as they voted to purchase aerators for the wastewater treatment facility.

By Jack Gurner
Reporter

WATER VALLEY – Aldermen voted to replace problematic stage lights at the City Auditorium at their regular “first Tuesday” meeting, March 2.

“We’ve had trouble with lighting at the auditorium on the stage for many years,” Mayor Larry Hart told the Board.

The Mayor said that he had Electric Department Manager Joe Newman examine the lighting system. “He and I believe it is a fire hazard.”

“We can get a complete lighting system for that stage and Joe and his crew can install it and the cost of the equipment is $3900,” Hart said. “We’re in a position financially to do that.”

“I would strongly recommend we replace those lights up there while we’ve got somewhere to put them.”

Among other actions, the Board of Aldermen:

• Accepted a bid for asphalt. “We always get the one bid from Lehman-Roberts Hart said.

Their price for hauling and placing mix purchased by the city is $28 per ton from their facility in Oxford. The price for cold mix FOB at Batesville is $116.50 per ton. “That’s the reason we don’t like to buy cold mix any more than we have to,” Hart added.

• Rejected a $30,057.36 bid from Coastal Process of Denham Springs, La., for four aerators for the wastewater treatment facility.

“Im going to recommend to the board – and I have talked to John (City Attorney John Crow) – that we reject that bid and go back to our earlier approach where we had gotten two quotes when we purchased the first aerator,” Hart told Aldermen before the vote.

• Adopted the County/City Fire Protection Agreement for the next year.

• Heard a report from the Mayor on the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system. Hart told the Board that he and Water and Sewer Department Superintendent Morris Surrette “had gotten comfortable with the low bid” but, they wanted to do a little more research.

“We’ll probably come to you at the next meeting with that recommendation,” the Mayor said. “I’m happy that it looks like we are going to be able to take the low bid because he was significantly lower.”

• Were informed that Friday, April 2, would be a holiday for the City. The Good Friday holiday will be taken instead of Confederate Memorial Day.

• Entered executive session at 6:46 and met for 9 minutes to discuss personnel matters. At the end of the session Hart reported that the board voted to terminate an employee of the Water and Sewer Department.

The Aldermen also voted to hire James Hilliard as a full-time employee in the Water and Sewer Department and to employ Donna Moore as a full-time employee in the Library.

• Adjourned. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 6.

Special Called Meeting

Last Friday, Mayor Hart called a special meeting of the Board. He told Aldermen that they needed to get moving on the purchase of three more aerators for the wastewater treatment facility.

“We were reminded by Mr. Steve Pond, our environmentalist, we’re facing a ticking clock in November. Here it is March already.”

 Hart was referring to a Nov. 30, 2010, deadline by which the City has to bring the wastewater treatment facility into compliance with the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) five-day and the ammonia-nitrogen limitation in the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit.

The City will pay a $10,000 fine if the limits aren’t met. Additionally, the City would be fined $500 per month of non-compliance after Feb. 28, 2011.

Hart told the Board that Environmental Equipment Engineering, Inc. has agreed to provide three more aerators at $7500 each. He added that they would probably arrive in the next couple of weeks.

The Aldermen voted to purchase the aerators and then voted to adjourn after a total meeting time of one minute and 39 seconds.