ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

July, 2018

 

UTILITY COMMITTEE MET ON TALL GRASS ORDINANCE:

 

The Utility Committee met on June 26, 2018 to discuss raising the cost of mowing lots inside the village.  Currently the village charges property owners who do not mow their properties after being notified to do so, $50.00 for a lot under a half an acre and $75.00 for lots over a half an acre.  The committee felt these prices were too low and didn’t encourage the owners to either mow the lots themselves or contact with someone who could.  This writer said that most of the properties that the village ends of mowing are properties that have been abandoned or have went through foreclosure.  The committee didn’t feel it was the village’s responsibility to have to maintain these properties and that the utility department had more important duties in the village.  They felt that raising the cost of mowing lots should be a deterrent and force the owners to take care of the properties themselves.  It was with this consensus that the committee is recommending that lots under a half an acre be charged $100.00 and lots over a half an acre be charged $200.00.  It should be noted that it takes several hours for the village to mow one 2 acre lot in town and that this would cover the cost of this mowing.   If the owners do not pay the cost of the mowing and/or cannot be located to bill for the mowing, the costs can ultimately be placed on the real property taxes of the owner.  An ordinance is enclosed for council’s review, with the first reading set for Monday night.

 

FAILURE OF THE STONE STREET LIFT STATION AND UPDATE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW LIFT STATION:

 

On Thursday, June 28, 2018 the Stone Street Lift station suffered an irreparable failure due to a backup inside the wet well.  This backup cause the electrical panel, located inside of the well to burn up and the well and all electrical circuits to fill up with sewage.

This resulted in an overflow of our sewer system and the requirement of renting a bypass pump to ensure sewage can be pumped to the sewer plant.  It is anticipated that this rental will need to continue until the new lift station is operational.  An approximate cost of this rental is estimated to be around $6,700.00, which includes diesel fuel to run the pump.  As this old lift station will be filled in and not used, there was no reason to expend even more money to try to re-wire the electrical since construction had already started on the new lift station.

 

The construction of the new lift station has started and it is anticipated it will take approximately 30 days, based on weather and any unforeseen slow ups, before the station will be active.

 

Once this Stone Street lift station is completed, the contractor will move on to the N. Main Street lift station for its replacement.  As a reminder, the new lift station will have all controls above ground and will not require any employee or contractor to have to go down inside the wet well and they will be equipped with natural gas generators on-site and will automatically kick on should we lose power at the lift station.

 

LETTER SENT TO EHRHART PROPERTIES CONCERNING CONDITION OF MERVIN STREET PROPERTIES:

 

A letter was sent to Fritz Ehrhart on July 6, 2018 concerning the condition of two of his properties located at 104 and 105 Mervin Street.  Police Chief George Clemens inspected the outside of the properties and lots and determined that they were both in total disrepair.  Pictures of both sites were taken.   A copy of the letter sent to Ehrhart is enclosed.  If Mr. Ehrhart does not respond to this notification, the village will need to decide whether or not to proceed with the process outlined in Ordinance No.  2009-27, also included for your review.

 

TALL GRASS/LITTER LETTERS:

 

Numerous letters have been sent to residents on tall grass and litter violations.  Most have complied once they receive the letters.  I follow up with secondary notices if they do not comply.