Wayland council celebrates before getting to nitty-gritty of discussing sewer repairs

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? In some respects, the Wayland City Council meeting felt more like a party than a meeting Wednesday night as the council swore in its new members, celebrated the two outgoing councilmen and sang ?Happy Birthday? to the city?s treasurer.

However, between the song, snacks and laughter, the council did breeze through its agenda, which included authorizing the TV inspection of sanitary sewers for the Cummings Street project.

Jim Warner, of Warner Engineering in Mt. Pleasant, told the council that before any roadwork can be done on Cummings Street, the utilities need to be evaluated. The Cummings Street Project is part of the city?s five-year capital project plan.

?I think before you put new pavement on there you should TV those sewers just to be sure there?s nothing wrong with them,? explained Warner.

The TV inspection will allow Warner to see a video feed of the inside of the sewer lines.

Mayor Brad Roth asked what would happen if the TV inspections showed damage to a sewer line 20 foot below the surface.

?There?s things you can do,? said Warner. He explained that a line in disrepair would have to be dug up and reset, but if the test showed the sewer was just cracked, the pipe could just be lined. ?I won?t know until I see a TV movie of (the lines) just what condition it?s in,? he added.

Gas Superintendent Barry Leichty said he was in favor of doing a TV inspection of the sewer lines because if there were to be a problem, they would know exactly where the issue was. ?We?ll know exactly how many feet from the manhole the problem is,? he said.

Warner said he would be using a firm out of Keosauqua to do the TV inspection. He said the inspection could take place within the next few weeks and would cost less than $4,000. ?It?s pretty cheap insurance,? he added.

Warner also stated there was about 1,100 foot of water line under Cummings Street that has asbestos. Warner said there were locations on Washington and Jefferson Streets that also had asbestos. ?You?re looking at about $115,000 for the construction costs,? he said. ?That was estimated to be replaced with six inch PVC pipe, currently it?s four inch.?

City Clerk Beverly Conrad said the waterlines under the city were installed in the early 1950s, so every time the city does a streets project they look at the infrastructure to see if any repairs need to be done. ?We don?t want to pave a new road just to have to tear it all up again,? she commented.

At the end of November, Warner Engineering did a smoke test of the sanitary sewer. Warner reported the smoke testing went fairly well. ?I don?t think we noted any particular problems,? he said.

Leichty agreed saying the sewers near Cummings Street did fine, but other portions of town had some issues.

?The biggest thing on the smoke testing was the excitement on Main Street because all of the intakes on Main Street smoked,? commented Warner.

The council also approved payment for the fire truck chassis. ?This is the fire truck that we?ve already pledged the $30,000 for,? said Conrad. ?The way the casino grant is put together, they reimburse the City of Wayland, so we have to pay the whole thing and wait for the reimbursement.?

Conrad emphasized that at the end, the city will not have paid more than the $30,000 it had pledged. The motion was moved unanimously. Conrad said the city hopes to have the new fire truck by summer or fall 2016.

The council also rejected a 28E agreement with the school district to provide snow removal. Roth said the agreement specified the city would have to provide eight hours a week of city labor and that wouldn?t work with the city?s staff. Roth added the city would still help the school push snow back during storms.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Brad Roth swore in Chet Fort and Aaron Barnhart, who will begin their first term on the council in January, as well as Greg Rich, who is currently on the council.

Councilman Scott Shumaker was presented a plaque and the council approved a resolution of appreciation for his time on the council.

Councilman Kevin Fort also received a resolution and plaque as well as a few words from the mayor thanking him for his 12 years of service to the City of Wayland. Fort promised not to go too far and already offered his services to help push snow this winter.

In other business, the council:

? Approved a blanket work agreement with Alliant Energy and authorized the mayor to sign.

? Approved Barry Leichty and Randy Morrow to attend the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities three-year operator qualification program workshop Jan. 14-15, 2016, in Ankeny.

? Approved certifying a nuisance lean against real estate on Pearl Street. Conrad said the property needs to be mowed.

? Approved tax abatement application for Don and Kathleen Yoder for a new 80?X61? frame house at 707 North Kennedy Street.

? Approved tax abatement application for Agri-Way Partners for a new 100?X45?X10? frame office building and a 12?X80? grain scale at 312 East Highway 78.

? Approved building permit for Jim and Ellie Brooks to re-roof their home/garage at 204 South Brooks Street.

The next meeting of the Wayland City Council will be Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at City Hall.