Staff writer
Hillsboro city council looked to the future and past dollar signs Tuesday to consider a major overhaul of sections of the city’s water distribution system.
City administrator Larry Paine said that he is looking for possible grant relief and loans for the $4.2 million project, which will focus on replacing water lines throughout the city.
Areas proposed to be part of the project include Wilson St. from First to C Sts., Kennedy St. from A to C Sts., an alley between W. A St. and W B Sts. from Floral to Hickory Sts., Grand Ave. from Main to Hickory Sts., Adobe Museum from west side of Ash St. to south side of south pond, Industrial Park, Floral St. from W. B to Grand Ave., replacement of AC line at the south water tower, and automatic meter reads.
Existing pipe would be replaced with more resilient C-900 piping, Paine said.
“C-900 pipe has a wall that’s 3/8 inch thick so it’s less likely to have a problem with it,” Paine said.
Council member Bob Watson asked Paine about proposed replacement of electric conduit that had been used as water pipe, asking why that was used.
“That was not supposed to be that way,” Paine said.
“That was one of those projects that the city elected to save money by not using an engineer,” Mayor Delores Dalke added. “They thought they could just do it on their own.”
“I think also someone said, ‘Well, we got this pipe, let’s use it, it’s the right size’,” Paine said.
“That was also during a time when we didn’t have professional inspectors,” Dalke said. “That’s why we use all those kinds of people now.”
In other business:
- Council approved a peddlers, solicitors, and transient merchant ordinance to include updated terms and definitions, license fees, application form and what needs to be included, duration of each class of license, denial and revocation of the license, an appeal process, and exemptions from the license process.
- Council authorized Dalke to sign deeds that will transfer two small irregular land tracts on Adams St. from Russell Groves to the city, and one from the city to Groves, to correct plat aberrations related to a curve on Adams St. near the water treatment plant.