Council moves forward on Well No. 7

LIND — The Town Council approved a work order to provide an analysis of Well No. 7 during its meeting Tuesday, July 11.

Work order No. 4 allocates $9,493 for labor toward the total $44.250 cost of the well project.

The town has already approved funding for most of the rest of the project, officials said, noting it is also a qualifier for a future USDA grant to cover refurbishment of the well.

Previously, the Department of Agriculture had advised the town that it was not under emergency status yet and needed to prove an existing emergency before it would qualify for a grant.

Councilman Robert Dew opposed the work order, wondering where the funding for it came from.

Mayor Paula Bell assured the council the money is unrelated to the loan that was recently taken out and that a majority of the funds were already budgeted for in the city’s Water Works fund.

The council then called Century West Engineer Dan Remmick to resolve conflict over the USDA grant and subsequent work order.

“It’s not as simple as putting our name down,” Remmick said, referring to why the town had not yet applied for the grant. “USDA’s threshold for emergency is much higher than where we are.”

But the recent low-level alarms could be enough for the town to qualify for emergency privilege when applying, he said.

After heated discussion between the council, Councilwoman Laura Dew moved to accept the order, which was seconded by Jim Dworshak.

It passed with a 4-1, with Councilman Robert Dew dissenting.