Lind Town Council approves $5,000 budget increase for Storm Water Project

The Lind Town Council approved a $5,000 budget increase for the Storm Water Project in order to continue the vactor truck cleaning by Citizen Collection Station (CCS) during their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The meeting began with Stantec Engineer Alan Gay informing the Council he contacted Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway for an update on the approval on digging test pits for the project.

Due to the fact the locations of the pits are not on the railroad right of way and he has already obtained a permit for the digging, Gay decided to move forward with the project in order to maintain on schedule.

He then informed the Council CCS took two samples of the catch base product to be analyzed one of which reported to have nickel contamination.

Gay explained the contaminated sample did not properly represent the entirety of the town because it had been taken in a location he would expect to be problematic.

When he asked CCS to take additional samples, they required a $5,000 budget increase to move forward due to the fact they will have to change disposal sites to Graham Fill Landfill.

The cost of disposing the material may also increase due to the potential for contamination, he added.

Gay assured the Council if the work does not require the additional $5,000, it would be used for other aspects of the Storm Water Project.

The Council motioned to approve the $5,000 budget increase.

Councilperson Paula Bell asked Gay if he could do some repair work to Sixth Street, which currently contains multiple potholes. Bell presented Gay with photos of one particularly large pothole, which proves to be an inconvenience for residents driving on the street.

Gay said the Storm Water Project is his primary focus but he would contact the Head of the Public Works Department, Todd Marshall, to look at the pothole and brainstorm a temporary solution for the problem.

Mayor Jamie Schmunk informed the Council the Town of Lind public works department purchased a box blade to assist in the maintenance of alleyways and gravel roads.

They also decided to install additional water meters this year, she added.

Schmunk said the town employees assisted residents in the insulation factor of water meters by placing a garbage bag filled with insulation in them.

This will also benefit the town employees by being an easy clean up when it comes time to remove the insulation in the spring.

Deputy Clerk Kim Michaels has completed importing the names of participating residents of the One Call Now System into the computer and Schmunk said they plan to do a test run of the system sometime during the upcoming week.

Councilmember Karissa Labes then stated there were reports of multiple burglaries which occured the week of Nov. 7.

She said the thief broke into multiple homes and businesses before being arrested.