By Clark Natalie

With Mother Nature being more amicable this week, the Harris City Council met Monday, Aug. 20, to finish those items left from the Aug. 13 meeting which was cut short due to storm warnings.

One of the items on the agenda was to review the damage report from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust which had done an analysis of the damage caused by the last storm.

There were a number of the items on the list, which the representatives thought shouldn't be replaced, that the council decided they wanted an independent review of. It was the council's opinion that some roofs, which were deemed satisfactory, did not get an adequate inspection, according to the report.

For instance, the lights at the ball field. From the ground, it was possible to see that some were broken. Rather than hire someone to bring a bucket truck to inspect the rest, the League's representative will allow the city to have the broken lights and lenses replaced, and when those are done, the hired contractor can also replace any others they find are broken and inform the League of the additional cost. This will be covered.

The new water treatment plant siding was also damaged. The building has not been turned over to the city yet, so is not under the insurance policy. This damage will have to be worked out with the builder, prior to the building being turned over to the city.

The council also set the grand opening for the new water treatment plant for Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. before the council meeting. This will give those interested a chance to view the treatment plant and see how it will work.

The council also reviewed the contract for the radio read meters (for water usage) which are to be installed. The original bid was to have the meters on the exterior of the houses. The bid which was originally accepted did not meet this requirement. It was decided that the contract could be canceled because it did not uphold the bid specifications. The contract will be awarded to the next highest bidder, Minnesota Pipe who has agreed to start installing the meters within 10 days after getting the bid.

The radio read water meters are meant to improve the billing system. There will no longer be cards for the homeowners to complete and return; all readings will be done electronically. There will be no more estimating for those who do not return the cards in time and the readings that are received can be transferred directly into the billing system.

Mike Kriz, the maintenance supervisor, also pointed out an additional advantage. When homeowners are gone over the winter, should the pipes freeze and break, Kriz will be able to identify this problem and isolate which house has the problem.

In other business:

• Fire Chief Will Lacina reported that the Zodiac type boat used for water rescue, which the department acquired for the cost of delivery only, is costing the department more in maintenance than the department wants to spend. Lacina said lack of use causes the seals and other items to fail. He was granted permission to donate the boat to the Lindstrom Fire Department. This will keep the boat in the area and will still provide service to the residents of Harris and Chisago County. Lacina will also have the department purchase a flat bottom boat to be used for rescue; primarily to provide rescue on early ice and late ice situations.

There will be an extrication demonstration Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

• Lakes and Pines CAC, Inc has asked the city to apply for a housing rehabilitation grant. This is the same grant that Bill Grasavage had applied for but was denied on a technicality as the application did not indicate how the proposal would fit into the Comprehensive Plan. Lezlie Ball of Lakes and Plans said the fee for the pre-application would be $250. After that, the application would not be time consuming, as most of it had already been done. There is also a chance that another community that Ball is working with may apply at the same time. The application would be combined and the cost cut in half.