By Clark Natalie

The cost of the Water and Sewer Plants were again major items on the agenda of the Harris City Council Aug. 14.

One of the first items before the council was approval of $141,514 for the first payment on the new Water Treatment plant (WTP). The money is coming from the Public Facilities Authority Loan and is not money not already discussed.

The council also approved $6,000 in engineering fees to support the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Grant application to be done in conjunction with the Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF). The engineering is needed to prepare the grant that Bill Grasavage is working on. This grant will fund the replacement of lift stations two, three and four which the city has had problems with. Part of the grant will also fund rehabilitation of homes in the area in conjunction with the new lift stations. Charles Schwartz, the city engineer, indicated that Grasavage has been wanting to get the engineering study done so Harris will be first on the list for grant applications. Council member Kathy Olson said DEED will have personnel visiting Harris to inspect houses that may qualify for this grant. Olson said DEED has been to Harris many times, and they have taken a personal interest in the city.

Schwartz then requested the council approve funding the engineering costs associated with changing the WWTF to help bring the costs into an amount manageable by the citizens of Harris. This would be done by changing the design to a phased construction approach. A calibration of the lift station that services the present WWTF was done. It was higher than projected. Also, with the economic trend, the design was increased to a 15 year design rather than a 10 year design. Fewer people are projected to sign on. Growth will be slower. Both of these will qualify Harris for more WIF dollars. These are funds that will not have to be paid or accrue interest for the first 20 years, while the main PFA loan is being paid off. The cost of these engineering fees is $40,000. Changes will be made to the WWTF but the quality will not diminish.

The pretreatment process will be done manually instead of automatically. This removes the pretreatment building. Also, two tanks will be built. Both are designed to process, but one will be used as storage for the solids taken out. When expansion of the plant is needed, a sludge storage area can be built and the tank converted to its original use. This is a less costly method, as opposed to building only one tank now. All of the changes require re-engineering to make sure that it works as expected and the original design can be added later when more users are supporting the system.

While the council was trying to cut costs, a resolution was passed to authorize Fire Chief Will Lacina to repair the Harris tractor. Lacina will do most of the work himself and charge the city only for parts and contract labor of his employees when their work is required. The cost was estimated at $4,000 and the resolution specifically said no more than $5,000. The purpose of the repairs is not to keep the tractor in use by the city, but to increase its value to sell. The city is looking at a new tractor. The trade-in value, in the present condition, is $2,500. Both Lacina and city Maintenance Supervisor Mike Kriz said the repairs will substantially increase the value of the tractor to sell, using the proceeds to fund part of the cost of a new tractor. When asked by council member Doug Chafee how much the value will increase, Kriz said when they were looking at similar tractors, they did not see any less than $20,000.

During the public comment portion of the agenda, the dirt track run by Gordon Stai came up. Mayor Rick Smisson also used his Mayorís report to bring everyone up to date. A meeting between the track owner and the neighbors was set up at city hall. An agreement was reached between all parties about the continued use. Noise, dust and hours of operation were addressed. The actual use of the track will be greatly reduced. This agreement is not in writing and the city has no part of it.

There was also an agenda item, not by subject, but how the council handled it. An approval for payment of unemployment compensation claim, with reservations that the city could file for reimbursement at a future date was presented. The motion was made and a second made. During the discussion, councilman Wayne Buisman asked who this pertained to. Smissonís response was, ìThis is the item we have been dealing with.î No mention of
who it was was made. The council then approved the item, without letting the public in attendance know who it was for.

In other city business:

ï The council approved the posting of the clerkís position. It will list the qualifications and skills needed. The salary for the position will range between $18 to $25 per hour. Also the job will be either 32 to 40 hours per week, to be determined later.

ï Chafee said Gander Mountain had donated a GPS unit to be used in the fire departments rescue boat. With software and hardware, the value is approximately $1,000. Gander Mountain will visit and may make other donations in the future.