Photo by Kirsten Zoellner
A portion of Rushford Village, along the Highway 43 corridor, went unexpectedly dark last week. It extends south of the Root River Bridge, near Brown Tire & Battery, towards south rushford, roughly a half mile, to where Highways 43 and 16 intersect. According to City Councilor Mike Ebner, the outage resulted from poor underground wiring. Approximately a half dozen poles are affected. The village is working with NES (Norman’s Electric Service) to determine the full details of the problem.
“We could talk to the city of Rushford, but it’s way too far, and then there’s the issue of buying from the city,” said Ebner. “The second option is to put a pole and run temporary wiring.”
The village estimates the wiring is 30 years old and not protected by conduit. The city has no cost estimates for any option to address the issue, but is working on it.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a couple grand unless you have another idea. I’m open to suggestions for what you want to do,” added Ebner. “It’s really dark.”
New Councilor Travis Link questioned whether or not the village could pinpoint the exact area causing problems by working with MiEnergy and a secondary fault finder. He also suggested it might work to set up a winter work site with a tent and heater to get it addressed immediately. The village would wait until spring to install conduit.
Councilor Rick Ruberg asked whether or not the problem runs along other sections of the area’s underground electrical.
“The issue from there is when they open these poles up they’re full of mice and debris. We need to clean them out and seal up underneath,” added Ebner. He noted that NES indicated they’d mentioned the problems, but Ebner insisted the council hadn’t heard about it.
Mayor Dennis Overland suggested the city check first to see if there are other ways around the issue other than digging. The city will contact MiEnergy for further assistance.
Another issue plaguing the city’s residents is plowing snow into city roadways, leaving ridges that are a safety concern. The council reminds village residents and businesses that this is not allowed. If the problem persists, non-compliant properties will be alerted via official letter.
After much discussion over the last few months, the village consolidated several CDs (certificates of deposit) for financial clarity, bringing 36 CDs to just nine. These require one signature to purchase and two to sell, but they will never sell via cash. Instead, the sale amount is transferred directly into the village checking account.
New digital water meters are due to arrive March 1. The village is proposing an April installation of the meters. This is typically when annual in-person reading is done. Once the last read is completed, the village can go live with the digital meters.
There are a few hiccups in the plans, however. According to Ebner, a call to the state electrical inspector highlighted that there needs to be a ground from the water system to the pipes inside homes and businesses. If there’s no ground currently, the questions compound, as the village needs to determine if one gets installed, whose cost it is; the village or the property owners, and if public works can install it, or if a licensed electrician is needed.
“I talked to Bolton & Menk [city engineers] and there’s state regulation coming out in 2024. “It’s up to the municipal to go into the house and find out if they have copper wires or galvanized. We have to send letters out and get permission to access the house,” explained Ebner. Bolton & Menk are sending a checklist, but the village will wait on the state electrical inspector regarding the grounding issue. “It would add cost.”
Ebner also indicated how crucial it will be to have all the property curb stops identified prior to beginning the meter installation. “Physically we want them located and we want them dug. We don’t want to be paying a plumber to stand there and wait. That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Once more is known, the information will be provided to the council.
In other news, the village unanimously passed Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s AWAIR (A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction) program policy.
“It’s a good program–a good check and balance. It’s a good training tool if we have an incident,” said Ebner.
During Roads/Water/Sewer, the council learned the rock level is getting low. Bruening Rock says they can get it delivered in a day, but Public Works would like to clean out the shed of current rock before getting more delivered.
There was an accident with the new truck during plowing where a tree branch came around and hit the driver’s side windshield and door, cracking the windshield and denting the door. After a $500 deductible the windshield was replaced. The dent will be corrected in the spring.
Ice on gravel roads has been a big issue. “If it’s melting, in areas where trees protect the roads, they kept the roads up pretty good, but gravel has disappeared and it’s pretty icy, especially anywhere there’s trees and the sun can’t hit the road,” added Ruberg.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, February 21, at 6 p.m. at the village hall. The meeting is open to the public.
Leave a Reply