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NB asks school board for easement for utilitiesBy Barbara Brown City Engineer Julie Dresel, accompanied by Water and Light Commission Superintendent Bruce Walters and WSB engineer Jay Kennedy asked the North Branch School Board to consider giving an easement to the cityís Water and Light Commission for water and sewer trunk lines that would cut through school board property where a future school could be built. The line would cut from Grand Avenue at about 378th Street to Hemingway Avenue and allow for access to water and sewer for a new development on the southeast side of the city. A benefit to installing the water main would be that water pressure and fire protection flow in the area would improve, Kennedy said. Also requested by the city was an easement for a new water tower site. The tower would provide water for daily demands in that part of the city, Kennedy said. He also said the developer building on the east edge of the city could have access to the water. The city currently has two water towers, one that holds 200,000 gallons and another that holds 300,000. The proposed water tank would hold 500,000 gallons. Kennedy said engineers would need access to the site to do soil tests to see if the location scouted out for the tank would support such a structure. School board member Kirby Ekstrom wanted to know, in exchange for the easements, if the city would reduce or eliminate fees to tap into the water lines if the school board would build a school on that land. Dresel said that point could be negotiated. The Board decided to put off a decision until more information was available. The city is asking for a 40-foot wide easement across the property to cover the pipe corridor and a 30-foot wide easement across the water main connection to the water tower. The Board also decided at its Jan. 10 meeting to buy six new school buses for the coming school year. Three current buses will be replaced by three new 84-passenger buses from North Central. A fourth bus also will be purchased to help deal with the expanded routes and growing number of students in the school system. Those four buses are expected to cost $296,773. Two current handicap buses will be replaced by two new 26-passenger buses, also from North Central. Total for the handicap buses is $122,940. They will come with air conditioning and integrated child safety seats. The Board also bought a new handicap bus late last year to address an immediate need. ©ECM Post Review |