Emergency Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2023
Those Present: DeLoy Kunz, Greg Kunz, Trenton Morrell, Tee Steadman, Mayor Stephan Waechtler, Maintenance Supervisor Shane Clark, City Clerk Lynette Smith, City Maintenance Alan Howell, Mike Carr, Nicole Price, Tim Neuman, Stacy & Charlie Christensen, Joe DeClark, Layne DeClark, Brice DeClark, Jeff & Deanna Franzen, Chris Shepherd, Kevin Martin and Addison Ochsenbein of Sunrise Engineering
Meeting called to order: 6:00 pm Invocation: Mayor Stephan Waechtler
The Council entertained a motion from councilor Tee Steadman to approve the published agenda and was seconded by councilor Greg Kunz. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
The council has had to call this emergency meeting to declare a state of emergency in the City because of the water issues going on in town. There have been some frozen lines, broken lines and now seven homes on the lower end of Stringtown and above East Street are currently without water. Shane explained the issues that have been going on and where it all started at Rusty Dimick’s and the church without water. On Wednesday, April 12th, they got a call that the water was bubbling in front of the church so they dug that up and capped the line and finally got water back to the town and the school by 4 am on the 13th. The next day the seven homes were suddenly without water and they capped it at East street and still no water to the homes so they have ran hoses to homes as a temporary fix for the evening and then the hoses froze. They got those thawed on Sunday but they are still living off the hoses for now. There is still a water leak in front of the church that needs to be taken care of and the fire hydrant by the school is also out of service. We issued a boil order notice from the water being off the first time fixing in front of the church and those samples came back good so the boil order was removed on Friday.
There was lots of discussion on where the lines are and where it ties in. The plans say those lines their being fed from were supposed to be abandoned. They are still connected somewhere with PVC pipe and so it’s hard to locate. The citizens at the seven homes said they have had significantly less water and pressure since the new PRV’s were installed a couple years back. Discussion about a band aid fix to get them water back for now and then will give us time for the snow to melt more and make a plan to get it fixed right. Shane has been working diligently and nothing has worked that he and Alan have tried thus far.
Sunrise Engineering said there should be some funding options for emergency situations up to $150,000. DEQ has already allocated all of their funds for the year but the State may have some money available and USDA. They will pursue and get back to us.
Clerk Smith and Shane have reached out to a few different contractors to get bids. As per State Statute in an emergency situation and if it is less than $50,000 we can hire anyone. If it is over the $50,000 but less than $200,000 then we are required to get at least 3 bids or contact 3 contractors and must go with the lowest bid. Bids were solicited to A+ Contractors, JAG Enterprises, BE Excavating and Bethers Excavating. JAG is 4+ weeks out to do any work for boring, BE Excavating is too busy and Bethers is getting back to us, A+ can come by the end of the week to get working.
The council and citizens in attendance want to get a band aid in place and get DigLine called in the morning to get the line exposed by Wednesday. The Mayor told everyone this is a great way to get to know your neighbors and help each other out. The community has been great to stop by and offer help and pitch in and all have been willing to help and he and Shane have been very appreciative.
It was agreed that the homes without water are in priority and there are two separate issues with the homes and the church without water. The council wants to bore to the homes if at all possible and get more bids from Vaughn Smith, Lutz Construction and Bills Construction but we need someone with a crew that knows what they’re doing to fix both projects. They will reassess as things go to come up with the best way possible to get water to these homes throughout the week and Shane can solicit the help that he needs to get it fixed.
The chair entertained a motion from Councilor Greg Kunz that council adjourns from the emergency council meeting at 7:50 pm. Councilor DeLoy Kunz seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried the council.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Smith, City Clerk-Treasurer