Hi again neighbors,
I went to the first council meeting in October this evening. Proceedings began at 5:30pm with all the councilors, city clerk, mayor, and city attorney present. The usual pledge of Allegiance, roll call and approval of the previous minutes were dealt with swiftly.
There were a couple of water bill disputes that were adjusted. One because of a dramatic spike in water usage for one month. Plumbers found no leaks, so it was decided it was probably a faulty reading by one of the automatic meters that are read remotely. That's a whole story by itself. The other bill was adjusted because of a broken pipe, so sewage charges were removed, etc;.
There was an invoice paid to the new engineer for work on the water treatment plant. The other engineering company that worked for the city the last few years submitted a bill for work on the waste treatment plant. Their bill included May, June, July and August 2011. It was over $10,000. I thought it was a bit pricey. Somebody else did too, because it was tabled waiting for a corrected bill per the Mayor.
Costs for parts on the water treatment plant were discussed and the council okayed the purchase of parts to begin the work on Trane #3 at the water plant. $51,473.40 was the total price of parts and the lead time is 4-6 weeks on delivery. Barring any problems when the trane is opened I believe this to be a bargain. Of course there will be costs associated with the engineer's expertise, but I'm certain most of the labor will be in house. If this trane is successful, then the city could be looking to spend a little over $200,000.00 for parts for all four tranes, not including incidentals or major problems. This refurbishment will save the city millions of dollars and upgrade our water treatment plant to bring it into compliance per ODEQ requirements. This will also get the city by another 30 years with regular maintenance. Yipee!
The concerned citizens committee is a group of citizens looking out for the welfare of Vinita government and they have fought a long battle to get to this point. Relief is a word that comes to mind because if a new plant had been built, the cost of water, sewer and trash services would have been raised dramatically. Keep the fingers crossed that the tranes are capable of being refurbished.
Various other small things were discussed and then the council, mayor and city attorney retreated to executive session to discuss the AMR system. This is an automatic water meter system purchased a few years ago and it's been a headache and failure from the get go. It would take pages to explain it all, but when the council reconvened the regular session they gave the green light to the city attorney to proceed with a lawsuit to more than likely seek damages from this fiasco. If you live in Vinita you know what I'm talking about. If you're hearing about this for the first time, take my word for it, it's been another issue the committee has been investigating for over 3 years. The city of Vinita pays $12, 575.00 each month for the lease/purchase of the meters and the term is a total of 15 years, so about 12 years is left with no opportunity to payoff early.
A request to annex a property being developed was brought before the council with the recommendation from the planning commission being positive. This annexation will not cost the city per the information they received from the owner. He's willing to assume the financial burden for the rest of the improvements for roads, etc;.
St. John's Episcopal Church requested to use the park on October 21st to have a cookout for the residents of Vinita that are less fortunate and need an afternoon of fellowship and food. This is called discipleship and I say Hooray for St. John's Episcopal Church in Vinita, Ok.
One councilor asked the Mayor if there were any street projects planned and he said the budget was too tight right now to plan them. He also said after the water treatment plant was brought up to day and the waste treatment plant's needs for repair are met, then possibly some money could be free for other projects. So folks we just have to grin and drive slower over the rough spots until our little town comes back to life financially. I do see such a degree of difference since the last election in April 2011 that I'm amazed at the progress being made and we're not burning money needlessly.
The council went into executive session again about the railroad crossings and I left, so I'll let you know later if there was any action taken on this problem.
Till later,
Okie Girl @ Home
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