During the Ostrander City Council meeting on February 4, the council heard details on issues related to the city’s wells. Brian Malm, Chief Engineer at Bolton & Menk, informed the council that, “We had a couple issues on the well and well house project… During operation, we’re having some issues with fluoride… In the investigation, we discovered there was sand building up on the injectors.” He went on to explain that the problem involves Well #2, and that there is a build-up of accumulated sand at the bottom of that well. He said the cause of the sand accumulation is unknown, but may simply be caused by the gradual loosening of the surrounding rock as the well ages.
Malm said his suggestion is to hire someone to “basically go in and clean that well out.” He explained that Traut Companies has submitted a price quote of $65,915 to do that job, although the quote shows that the cost would be nearly $14,000 lower of Traut finds that they do not need to do an “overshot” (to fix a potential problem that may or may not be discovered when the work is being done). The council voted to approve the work to be done, up to a cost of $70,000.
Malm went on to explain another issue that has arisen. He stated, “Basically, in doing all of the work out here, somebody noticed that there may be some old buried fuel tanks behind the City Hall building. They happen to be inside the setback for both of the wells, so we want to get those removed.” Malm suggested the city submit a change order for $5,300, which is the estimated cost of removal the fuel tanks. But he cautioned the council that the cost may rise when the removal process begins, due to a number of unknown factors that may arise. The council approved the $5,300 change order.
Tom Schmidt, representing Croell Redi Mix, addressed the council regarding this year’s scheduled county road project. He asked if Croell would be allowed to purchase water from the city, since a large water supply is needed for the work to be done. He estimated that Croell may need to use around 40,000 to 50,000 gallons of water per day during the project, which is planned for early to mid May. Malm replied that this is roughly the same daily amount as the city’s maximum usage, and he stated, “It makes me nervous…that would be tough to support.” Council member DJ Start agreed, saying, “That’s a lot of water.” The council, Malm and Schmidt discussed other options, such as Croell getting some of the needed water from area farmers, and/or bringing in tanks that could be filled overnight. Malm pointed out that overnight is when Ostrander’s water tower undergoes a “slow fill” so that could still cause problems. Malm asked, “Can we think about it? I’d want to run some numbers.” Schmidt said he would allow the city time to consider whether or not to supply water for the project and how much per day that could be.
The council considered reducing commercial water rates, but there was a consensus that this would set a precedent which could cause problems for the city. Council member Vernon Thompson said his suggestion is, “Leave it as is,” and the council unanimously voted to make no change. The city will also review water usage by CHS, and will consider adjusting their rate based on the usage review.
The council approved City Maintenance Director Jeremy Runkle’s request that he be allowed to participate in the upcoming Waterworks Operator School training, to be held in Rochester March 11-13. A written report of service and patrol activity showed that Fillmore County Sheriff’s Department responded to five calls for service in January. There were no fire calls in January.
The council set the dates for the annual Uff Da Days, to be held July 11 and 12 this summer. Due to the Minnesota Presidential Primary election on March 3, the next regular meeting of the city council will be Tuesday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m., in the community center. The public is welcome.
Leave a Reply