Durham City Council: City buys rock, addresses vandalism issue
Contributing writer
Mayor Glennon Crowther suggested to Durham City Council July 7 that rock needed to be put on the street next to G & R Implement. Gary Unruh asked if millings would work better. "The county has some of that," said Crowther, "but the last time I talked to them, they didn't want to sell any."
Tom Harmon moved to have Dalke haul a load of rock to put on the street. On a second from Mike Sorenson, the motion carried.
There was some discussion of the proposed sidewalk project for which no bids have been received. "I'll try to find someone to bid on it before the next meeting," the mayor said. The council talked about what to do with the posts holding up the roof over the sidewalk and agreed on the need to outline definite specifications for the job before soliciting bids. They decided some council members would meet Wednesday evening to look at the project and put together specifications.
There was some discussion of incidents of vandalism around the city, particularly graffiti on the former high school building. "The sheriff says they know who did it, and they will pursue it," said Crowther. Other incidents were the explosion of firecrackers in the post office on the Fourth of July and pulling up flowers in some of the flower pots. Perpetrators of these acts were thought to be local juveniles.
The mayor read a letter from Linda Ogden thanking the city for its contribution to Communities in Schools. She also solicited any suggestions or recommendations for CIS to be doing in the community.
Crowther had consulted a plumber about the excessive amount of water on the meter at the former bank building. He thought the black plastic line to the meter had probably sprung one or more leaks and needed to be replaced. "I suppose it would take $200 or $300 to replace the line," Crowther remarked.
"The water loss is only about $2 a month," said Verlin Sommerfield, water supervisor. "I don't think it is worth messing with." The council concurred with his view and dropped the matter.
Sommerfield reported that the meter at the pumps showed 371,200 gallons of water pumped in June. This was 7,140 gallons less than was sold. He had consulted someone from the Kansas Rural Water Association, who checked the meter and found it to be faulty. He will come back and help to install a new meter. "I'll have to send out about six letters to people who haven't paid their water bills," Sommerfield said. A letter had been sent to Sommerfield from Steven Thompson Consulting Firm about an effort to draw up accurate maps of cities in Marion County. Maps of Durham were enclosed for checking. The consensus was that the city limits of Durham do not extend as far to the north as the maps showed, and there were one or two other small discrepancies. Sommerfield will redraw them and submit them to Thompson.
Bills approved for payment included $100 for cutting down a tree on West Third Street and $55 for water testing, along with other routine bills.
