Huntingburg Council notes from August 28, 2015

The Huntingburg Common Council’s second meeting for August was brief and only required one action.

Before beginning the regular reports from the power and water departments, the council and Mayor Denny Spinner took a moment to recognize Angie MacDonald and Carolyn Bartelt for their years of service as at-home on call emergency utility dispatch.

The two answered the phones after hours for utility emergencies and problems.

The City of Huntingburg recently contracted with the Evansville firm Koester Call Center for the after hours utility call services, eliminating the need for the part-time positions with the city.

Carolyn has served in the position for 20 years; Angie for 11 years.

Mayor Denny Spinner presented both with a certificate of appreciation for their years of service.

The council also took the following actions:

-Approved a resolution to approve the Americans with Disabilities Act Title 6 plan for the city’s transit services that has to be submitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation. This is required as part of the funding the city receives through INDOT to provide the transit van services in the city. City Officer Manager/ADA Coordinator Sue Tooley explained the Americans With Disabilities Act Title 6 plan was required to sent in every three years and this year it required an approval from the council prior to submission.

-Heard from Energy Superintendent John Reutepohler that the department had delivered an old spare transformer  to Greendale, Ind. The electric department sold the transformer to Greendale for $12,000. It was obsolete for use with the city’s electrical system.

-Reutepohler also reported that two utility poles were replaced recently due to their age.

-Transformers will be set up for service to The Lofts at St. Joseph’s senior housing.

-Reutepohler reported the Ireland West Gas extension was up and going. Three large customers have already connected to the service and the department is connecting 10 new customers. The gas department has also received 20 new applicants for the gas services from the new line.

-Heard that eight of the wells from the gas storage field still need to be removed and after farmers harvest their crops, the process of removing those wells – weather pending – will continue.

-Heard that an open house and dedication ceremony for the new ambulance service station in the old gas service garage is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 4, from 2 to 4 p.m.

-Water Utility foreman Gary Meyerholtz gave the water report in Superintendent Todd Williams absence. Williams is attending a water conference this week. Meyerholtz a new main was added to the Ninth Street and Monkhaus Drive project.

-The utility was in the process of replacing a water main at Sixth and Cherry streets. All the customers on this main have been transferred to another 14-inch line for service.

-Heard the Huntingburg Water Plant had been running 24-hours a day for the past four days. Meyerholtz reported that the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewer District was dealing with two water leaks and to preclude the need for the city to issue a boil order for the whole city, they decided to make the water at the plant until the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewer was back on line.

-Heard that Water Utility employee Luke Rasche graduated from the Dubois County Leadership Academy. Rasche was part of the team that created #ChalkTalk.

-Heard that all the fire hydrants in the city had been added to the GIS mapping service with Global Positioning coordinates.