Meeting Minutes for March 3, 2008

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Harbor Beach was held on Monday, March 3, 2008 at City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Swartz.

Present: Burkhard, Goniewicha, Kleinknecht, Wood and Mayor Swartz
Finance Officer Youatt

Absent: None

It was moved by Burkhard, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve the minutes of the February 19, 2008 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Bills for February 2008 in the amount of $ 218,974.60 were presented to Council. It was moved by Burkhard, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve payment of the bills as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Burkhard, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve payment of a bill for $ 28,146.00 to Wade Trim for Water Plant operation for February 2008. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve payment of bills to Wade Trim for $ 33,401.24 for construction engineering for the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin and for $ 1,590.06 for IPP management assistance. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve payment of Pay Certificate # 8 to RCL Construction for the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin project in the amount of $ 88,241.72. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Citizen Comment: Dennis Essenmacher, VFW Post Commander, presented flags to the City to be used as needed along City streets or at City facilities. Council thanked Dennis for the donation.

Bob Jackson asked how much time a citizen has to complete a construction project in the City. Youatt stated he thought the site permits were valid for one year, but could be extended. Youatt suggested Mr. Jackson contact Zoning Administrator Lermont to find out for certain.

John Fitzgibbon inquired about notification procedures used with the recent water pressure problem and suggested sirens be used. Youatt stated the City put out a public advisory to boil water until further notice over WLEW radio. A subsequent meeting with DEQ and the water operators on the system resulted in suggestions that WMIC also be utilized along with any other possible media. Youatt also discussed the Community Alert Network system, which is jointly funded by Dow AgroSciences, Sensient Flavors and the City. Youatt explained this high speed telephone notification system should have been used in this situation and will be in future incidents.

Jack Kriete inquired about the remaining utility bills that were outstanding. Youatt stated that the City would be filing a claim in Small Claims Court to collect the remaining debt.

Lee Elliott asked Councilmember Wood why he wasn’t at the Water Plant during the water pressure incident since he was on the Water Committee. Mr. Wood replied that any questions or concerns he has are discussed with Finance Officer Youatt.

Bill Duerr suggested that not many people listen to the radio station and we should find a better notification system in the event of an emergency.

Lee Elliott asked why J.P. Lermont was being paid to camp at North Park Campground. Recreation Director Wruble was present and stated Mr. Lermont provides a service to campers who have problems overnight and that he is given a campsite to use in exchange for his work.

Mayor Swartz recognized Tim Truax and Ken Rutkowski from Wade Trim and asked them to review the recent water pressure issue at the Water Plant. Mr. Truax indicated that on Saturday, February 23rd at the end of his shift, Water Plant Operator Neil Harder failed to turn on the switch to have the pumps operate automatically to fill the water system overnight. This resulted in a loss of water pressure, which sent off an alarm at Dow AgroSciences. Dow staff immediately contacted Fire Chief Lermont who contacted Water Operator Jeff Balhoff, who arrived at the Plant and manually turned on the high service pump which brought pressure back to the system immediately.

Mr. Truax stated Mr. Harder has been suspended for three days and steps are being taken to prevent this incident from happening again. Finance Officer Youatt reported on a meeting with DEQ staff to review the incident and to review equipment which needs to be replaced, including a new dialer system and repair or replacement of a pump motor.

OLD BUSINESS: It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to remove from the table bids for Assessing Services. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Mayor Swartz stated the City advertised for bids for Assessing Services in the “Huron Daily Tribune” and the “Harbor Beach Times.” No bids were received. Youatt stated that if the City does not have Assessing Services in place by April 15th, the State would take over the property assessment records. It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to advertise for proposals statewide through the MML, with proposals due no later than 4:00 p.m. on March 28th. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Burkhard to remove from the table proposals from DTE for electrical service at the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin site. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Wood, seconded by Kleinknecht to approve a proposal from DTE to remove 2 poles and equipment at the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin site at a cost of $ 1,008.75. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Goniewicha to approve a proposal from DTE to install underground electric service for the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin at a cost of $ 2,970.50 and to approve a utility easement to DTE for same. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

NEW BUSINESS: Resolution # 2008-06, “Support For County Health and Recreation Center,” was presented to Council. The Resolution provides support for the concept of building a Health and Recreation Center for Huron County and supports the effort of the Health and Recreation Center Coalition. It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Wood to adopt Resolution # 2008-05 as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Bids for an auto dialer system for the Water Treatment Plant were presented to Council. Bids received were from UIS Programmable Services for $ 2,810 and from Wade Trim for $ 3,038. It was moved by Kleinknecht, seconded by Burkhard to approve the bid from UIS Programmable as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Bids for repair and replacement of a high service pump motor for the Water Treatment Plant were presented to Council. Bids for repair of the motor were from Bay United Motors for $ 2,695.00 (without removal and installation) and from Layne Northern for $ 4,970.00. Bids for replacement of the motor were from Bay United Motors for $ 7,128.00 (without removal and installation),Layne Northern for $ 6,723.00 for standard motor, $ 7,207.00 for standard and high thrust and $ 8,397 for premium and high thrust with $ 1,750.00 for installation, Kennedy Pump for $ 5,991.00 for standard efficiency and high thrust and $ 6,959.00 for high efficiency and high thrust with $ 5,000 installation, and from Hydro Dynamics for $ 6,360.00 for standard efficiency and downthrust, freight for $ 353.06, and installation of a minimum of $ 2,400.00.

Tim Truax, Wade Trim, recommended going with the highest efficiency motor as it will be most efficient and save costs over the long run. It was moved by Burkhard, seconded by Wood to approve the bid from Layne Northern for the premium efficient, high thrust motor for $ 8,937.00 with installation for $ 1,750.00 as presented. Motion carried. 5 yeas.

Engineer Report: No report. Youatt informed Council of the next construction progress meeting with RCL Construction, which is this Wednesday, March 5th at 3:30 p.m.

Finance Officer Report: The City received copy of a letter from the Corps of Engineers to the General Services Administration recommending transfer of the Harbor Beach Lighthouse to the City. Reported on progress of the Committee working on landscape plans for the Sanitary Sewer Retention Basin and referred to the article in the “Huron Daily Tribune.” A Negotiating Committee meeting needs to be scheduled. The annual MML Legislative Conference is April 1st and 2nd if anyone is interested in attending.

Council Reports: The monthly water report will soon be available on the City’s web-site. The fire alarm system is being installed at the Water and Wastewater Plants and at City Hall.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Tom Youatt, City Clerk