Jasper Utility Service Board meeting; Beaver Lake Dam Project, VUJC Advanced Manufacturing facility, and other items addressed last night
Jasper Utility Service Board Meeting The Jasper Utility Service Board met in session last night for their regular monthly meeting.
Nathan Wagner of Cash Wagner and Associates requested that the City of Jasper vacate College Avenue and a utility easement that runs parallel to that street in order to prepare the new building site for the Advanced Manufacturing and Technology facility on the campus of VUJC.
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The new building will be built right on top of where College Avenue now traverses the campus towards the west and intersects with Meridian Road. Wagner said that the vacating of the street and utility easement is necessary for the construction of the new building, but that College Avenue will then be used again after the construction is completed and will be routed around the north side of the new building.
The project costs will be absorbed by Vincennes University as part of the construction project. The Utility Service Board voted to vacate the street and utility easement and forward their recommendation to the Jasper City Council for their monthly meeting on Wednesday night.
Wagner said that groundbreaking for the new facility could take place about November 1st.
Gas and Water Utility Manager Mike Oeding reports that Beaver Lake is being lowered and is currently half way to where it needs to be for construction to begin on the new dam.
Utility General Manager Bud Hauersperger reports that they are waiting for the approval signatures on the OCRA additional grant amount of $180,000 – in addition to the $760,000 already committed to get the Dam project moving ahead. Lisa Gehlhausen, Region 15 Planning Director, told WITZ news Monday that she is awaiting the return of the grant modification with signatures from Indianapolis. Then, the EDA in Chicago must give their approval, then the construction process can begin.
Oeding also reported to the Board that the natural gas Odorizer unit on the Texas Eastern Gas line on the north side of Jasper is failing. The unit was installed in 1997 and the company that makes the unit is no longer in business and parts cannot be found to affect a repair. What this means is that there is more odor going into the gas lines at times than there should be. Some citizens have been complaining about that fact, too.
Oeding says that the unit needs to be replaced with a new one at a cost of $36,826 and that this is an emergency situation so he asked the board to suspend the bidding process to allow getting the unit as soon as possible. After much discussion on making sure that they are getting the right unit at the right price, the board passed a motion that allows Oeding to purchase the unit. Installation will not take place until after January 1st.
Several other actions took place in Monday night’s Jasper Utility Service Board meeting. Two quote openings were held. The first was for relay panels for the Electric Distribution Department. Four bids were opened. The first was from Electrical Power Products of Des Moines, Iowa in the amount of $88,361. The second was from Keystone Electric Manufacturing Equipment, also of Des Moines, for $85,330.10. The third was from A D D Public Power of Daleville for $132,145. And the fourth was from TEQ Solutions of Indianapolis for $92,000. All bids were taken under advisement for further study.
The second quote opening was for a Heavy Duty Pickup Truck for the Wastewater Department. Wastewater Department Manager Ed Hollinden reports that they are trading in a 1999 pickup for the new unit. There were five bids submitted with trade-in allowance figured into the bid. The first was from Sternberg Dodge for a 2012 Dodge 2500 4×4 Club Cab in the amount of $28,967.00. The second was from Sternberg Ford in Dale for a 2012 F250 4×4 with a Service Body in the amount of $30,642.00. Third was from Uebelhor & Sons for a 2012 Chevy K2500 Extended Cab in the amount of $24,637.00. Fourth came from Bob Luegers for a 2012 GMC Sierra in the amount of $26,534.00. The final bid was from Ruxer Ford for a 2012 F250 Extended Cab 4×4 in the amount of $28,615.00. Hollinden took all bids under advisement.
In a Wastewater committee report, Alex Emmons reports on a September 14th meeting in which the committee decided to proceed with the East Terrace sewer project and made the decision to notify all residents in the area that now would be a good time to inspect and replace lateral sewer lines from houses. Emmons says that the costs to do so would be lower due to them already being in the area to perform the other work.
Finally, Utility General Manager Bud Hauersperger reports that the construction of the new Beaver Lake Dam will produce a LOT of excess sand stone rock. He says that if the city can find a place nearby that can use the rock it will save money by not having to have the contractor move it to a disposal site.
Bud Hauersperger on rock disposal from Beaver Creek Lake.
Oeding also reported that the Water Department is continuing the Fall Hydrant Flushing program. It should be completed this week. Oeding says that they flush between 1,000 to 1,100 hydrants, not including several owned by businesses in the area.
