Jasper Utilities meeting notes July 18, 2016
The Jasper Utility Service Board met for their regular meeting Monday evening and took the following actions:
-Approved the appointment of Adam Auffart to the board to replace Derek Smith who resigned due to work commitments. He was promptly appointed secretary of the board. His term will end Dec. 31, 2016.
-Approved the low bid from Uebelhor & Sons for a Chevrolet Colorado for $22,939 (total includes a $4,000 trade-in) to replace a truck in the Wastewater Department.
-Heard a Mylar balloon took out power to a large portion of the city Monday afternoon. (Story here.)
-Heard Gas & Water repaired a leak near Jasper Rubber Products that forced the company to shut down production.
-Heard an update on the Afterhours Utility Emergency Number, which is 812-482-9131. The issue came up after Councilman Dave Hurst was unable to locate the afterhours emergency number when a water main break happened on a recent Sunday. Hurst said he was unable to locate the number on the city website or in the phone book. Utilities Office Manager Ashley Kieffer explained she had learned the number was listed in the Frontier phone book but not the PSC one. She contacted PSC to make the correction. She also explained the emergency number is now prominently displayed on the city’s website. Customers can also find it on their utility bills and when new customers sign up for utilities, they are issued stickers and materials explaining how to get in touch with the utilities in the case of an emergency after hours. She told the board she was also researching the cost to have magnets made for customers to put on their refrigerators but added the magnets would not be able to be mailed with the utility bills due to the envelope stuffer.
-Approved a wastewater rate study to be completed by Umbaugh Associates for an amount not to exceed $11,750. The study must be completed every two years. The last time it was completed, Umbaugh charged the city $10,500.
-Heard from Utilities Manager Bud Hauersperger that he is working with Lisa Gehlhausen of Region 15 to explore options for grants to replace the aging water main under U.S. 231.
-Approved the creation of an incident and emergency action plan for Beaver Creek Dam Lake to be completed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering for an amount not to exceed $15,900. Since the dam is considered a high-risk dam the board approved the plan to assist in determing actions to be taken in case the dam fails. The plan will include maps of the areas that would be impacted if the disaster occurred and could include a tabletop exercise to help the city and emergency responders plan their response. Since the dam falls solely under the auspices of utilities — the parks department operates the lake — the cost for the plan will not be shared with the parks department.
