Fountain Preps for Tower Work

For two years, the city of Fountain has known issues exist with its water tower. However, until this year, there weren’t funds available for the work. At the April 3 meeting, the Fountain Council unanimously approved two bids for the planned reconditioning. Mayor Pro Tem David Gudmundson filled in for Mayor Tammy Danielson, who was absent from the meeting.

The city constructed the 100,000-gallon single pedestal tower on Pine Street in 1993. Projected work on the interior includes blasting and coating work in the drywell tube, dry bowl, riser landings, and some additional areas. Photo documentation shows significant rust and staining. Reconditioning also includes hand cleaning stained areas and installation of a steel screen on the overflow discharge upstream from the existing screen. KLM will remove all surface contaminants and do blast cleaning per materials protection and performance standards.

KLM Engineering, a Woodbury firm specializing in water towers, provided the council with an updated bid of $36,286 for the 1,000 square feet of work. $3,500 covers the scope of work and bidding services, while $26,000 is contractor costs and $6,786 for construction management and observation. This latter portion includes project administration, on-site review, and inspection review.

“Ohh! It jumped,” remarked Councilor Ron Riesner upon reviewing the bid.

The project is estimated to take two weeks and will take place this fall. Gudmundson questioned whether the city would need to shut down tower one and hook up to the other. Public Works Director John Hanson stated that by placing a relief valve on the fire hydrant, they can relieve pressure off the lines. If contractors must drain the tower due to condensation, the city will already be pumping extra water because of the relief valve.

As the contractor, KLM received two additional contractor quotes for surface painting. One, from Slack Painting LLC, was $26,000, and the second was from Hartung Coatings for $27,500. The council approved the lower quote.

The council also reviewed two removal quotes for 10 trees on city property. “They are in really bad shape,” said City Clerk Mary Tjepkes.

The first bid was from Norby’s Tree Service for $6,950. The second was from local company Timber Tree for $8,100. The council unanimously opted to approve the lower bid.

Also discussed and approved was a Joint Powers Agreement with the city on behalf of its city attorney. Tjepkes discussed the agreement with attorney Brett Corson. It’s a standard agreement renewed every four years with the State of Minnesota, Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It allows legal representatives to access the state’s criminal justice data systems and tools.

The council praised Director Hanson for passing his recent Class B wastewater operator certification. Hanson has one more test for type four biosolid land application permitting. When completed, Hanson will take over wastewater plant management fully. The council voted to give Hanson a wage increase once everything was in order.

“Eighty percent of people do not pass that one the first time around,” said Tjepkes of the Class B certification. “I really have kudos for that guy. He studied and studied and studied. I’m pretty proud of him.”

Lastly, the council reviewed a request from Beaver Bottoms Saloon owner Jodi Wiza to extend the Noise Ordinance time to 10:30 p.m. for a Thursday, June 6 concert. The event must draw to a close by 10 p.m. per the ordinance.

“I have qualms about it because if we let Jodi do this, we’re going to end up having to let everyone do this. You guys have ordinances,” cautioned Tjepkes. “If we let her, there’s a precedence.”

“I’m with Mary on this. No,” said Reisner. “We’ve already had enough complaints with the noise ordinance.”

“We definitely have had our fair share of complaints on a regular basis,” added Councilor Jordan Kearns.

“You can’t continually break an ordinance and ask for an exception,” noted Spratte.

The next meeting is Wednesday, May 1, at 7 p.m. at city hall. The public is encouraged to attend.