Water system occupies Durham council
Contributing writer
Mayor Glennon Crowther reported to the Durham city council at their meeting Tuesday evening, June 4, that he had repaired one of the water hydrants with the help of David Hein. Ben Goertz moved to pay Hein $30.00 for his help and to pay Crowther $100.00 for his mileage and phone calls in relation to the hydrant repair. On a second from Gary Unruh, the motion carried.
Crowther has ordered seven more sets of parts to put the other hydrants in good working order.
The mayor also mentioned he had now been notified that the city will still need to collect water samples from five different locations for testing, not one as reported at the May meeting.
Marvin Rediker, water supervisor, reported 463,680 gallons of water used last month, a considerable increase over the previous month. The lift pumps ran 55 hours. Ben Goertz reported that there had been a leak in the south part of town, which has been repaired. This may have accounted for the increase.
Verlin Sommerfeld reported that he will have to shut off the water meter for one customer, who is in arrears on payment of water fees. He also mentioned that he is working on the annual water report to be sent to customers. He had tested the water at his home and at the Gary Unruh home, and both checked out very well.
Rediker raised the question of whether the water tower needs to be cleaned on the inside. The council discussed the matter, and Rediker will consult Autumn Chisholm to discover what company plans to clean the rural water district's tower in August. Possibly both could be done at the same time.
In other business, requests for funds had been received from Communities in Schools and from the elementary school counselor organizing the summer swimming program. No action was taken on the Communities in Schools request. Reinhold Winter moved to contribute $200 toward the summer swimming program. Manuel Kuchda seconded the motion, which carried.
The mayor reported that he will put up new flags by the fire station. However, the light which illuminates the flag after dark needs to be repaired. He also mentioned that cleanup needs to be done where several new light poles have been installed in the downtown area.
Bills in the amount of $3,640.21 were approved for payment.
