Fountain prepares for Relay for Life

Council member Colleen Fohrenbacher discussed last minute details of the upcoming Relay for Life at the regular City of Fountain Council meeting July 6. The Relay for Life will be held in Fountain August 19 from 4 p.m. to about midnight. Most activities will take place at the city park; a dinner will be held at the community center.

Fohrenbacher asked if the silent auction could be held in the fire hall since she expects a large amount of items. Council members will contact the fire chief about the possibility. Donated auction items will be arriving August 8; the items will be stored at the community center and the city office until the event. City Clerk Mary Tjepkes volunteered to help with the silent auction.

The route for the walk was discussed; with several highways running through the city, the council was unsure where they could close streets for the walk. Tjepkes will set up a meeting with Preston Police Chief Blaise Sass to plan the route; the county will most likely need to be consulted as well. Colleen emphasized that the committee wants to have the walk begin at the park.

A source for portable sound equipment at the park is needed as well as a flatbed trailer to be used as a stage in the park. Council members will be contacting citizens for help with the items.

Colleen also checked to see if groups will need permits to set up tents and sell items along the route of the walk that evening. She expects around 400 people to attend the event. She asked for volunteers to help at the event. If you can help in any capacity, contact Fohrenbacher!

Water tower inspection

Dewey Prinzing of KLM Engineering presented the results of a recent inspection of the water tower. An evaluation was completed of the tower by two men and a 16-page report was generated. The tower showed 1% visible corrosion on both the interior and exterior of the tower. The outside of the tower had just been over-coated and the inside had been done in 2017. (This was only the water compartment.) The interior dry coating has some issues.

KLM’s recommendation was that either ⅔ of the drywall tube could be done at this time or the entire project could be put off until 2027.

Prinzing detailed some of the new procedures used by KLM in a reconditioning project: a new, much thicker coating for the interior is expected to last 40 years or more; the outer tower four layer polymers stay shiny years later; weld seams are ground off; ladder rungs are seal welded all around; valves are replaced; insulation and jacketing are removed to blast and paint under them; a mixer can be added to prevent stagnant water; aviation lights are replaced and moved for better visibility.

Councilman Ron Reisner felt they should be proactive and do the smaller coating project at a cost of $25,000 to $30,000 to prevent it from becoming worse. He felt this could delay the necessity to do an entire reconditioning project. The council decided to wait until the fall of 2023 before doing any work on the tower. Fohrenbacher asked that KLM prioritize what should be done first.

Prinzing presented the option of an evaluation service agreement. Under this agreement, KLM would evaluate the tower every five years or so using either a robot or by doing a dry tank clean out and flushing the tower afterwards. Using the evaluations, comparisons could be made of current conditions and previous ones so decisions could be made on upkeep. The council agreed to the service agreement with a cost of $2,800 in 2027 and $3,300 in 2032. The agreement can be canceled at any time.

Other business

In other business the council;

•Learned that Colleen Mulvihill had donated a bench in memory of her husband; it will be placed near the gazebo;

•Heard the complaint that people were not tying bags of aluminum cans when placing them in the recycling area; citizens are urged to tie bags shut and not place any garbage in the area — signage will be added requesting compliance;

•Heard Mayor Jim Schott thank everyone involved in putting out the flowers to beautify the town for their efforts;

•Learned a drone had been found in a yard in town; the owner can bring in the remote to identify and collect the drone at the city office;

•Issued the first chicken permit for Fountain; the $20 permit is for four hens and is non-transferable to other locations or people. The council reserves the right to amend the ordinance at which time the permit could become void. A physical inspection of the coop will be conducted.

The next meeting of the Fountain City Council will be August 3 at 7 p.m. at the city office. The public is welcome to attend.