Lights, Smoke, and Sludge: Lanark City Council

By Mick Parsons For The Prairie Advocate News

LANARK – In spite of missing a meeting due to not having a quorum – and in spite of the October 4th meeting of the Lanark City Council being cut noticeably short by yet another impromptu executive session – the council did manage to discuss some issues they considered important for public consumption. While the general consensus of the council was that the new lights on the shelters at the city park are good, there were some questions about the cost. Nick Wagner from MSA announced that the smoke test for the Blair Parkway sewage line would be happening sooner rather than later, the celebration for the 150th anniversary was discussed, and city attorney Ed Mitchell highlighted changes in state law that will impact FOIA requirements for aldermen as well as some confusion regarding whether or not Lanark residents can buy flood insurance.

Alderman Ed Fehlhafer (Ward 3) questioned the amount paid to install new lights on the park shelters, saying the amount listed in the Finance Reports seemed too high. According to City Clerk Jackie Hawbecker, the four new light fixtures cost $306.16 each. Adding in the cost of labor, which was $312, the total cost to the city was around $1,536. But the issue quickly fell to assessing blame prior to finding out exactly what kind of lights they are and whether the amount was at all justified. And while everyone more or less played nice, it became clear where the blame would be laid. When Fehlhafer asked who authorized the payment, Alderman Ron Strohecker (Ward 2) answered, “I’m sure that was your maintenance manager.”

Strohecker admitted that he hadn’t yet looked at the lights and didn’t know if they were vandal proof.

Fehlhafer said he thought the work still looked incomplete and that he’d like to see “the gentleman” who installed the bulbs at the next council meeting in order to explain “how his operation works.”

“I don’t mind spending the money,” Fehlhafer added. “I just want to get my money’s worth.”

The new light fixtures in the park shelter are fluorescent, and supposedly vandal and vapor proof; and the general consensus of the council was that the lights were a good thing.

Residents living on Blair Parkway should expect smoke testing to begin soon on problematic sewage lines. According to Nick Wagner of MSA, the smoke test is the first step in determining why sewage has backed up into some residences along Blair Parkway the past two years during heavy rainfall. The problem was first brought to the city’s attention by Blair Parkway residents Scott and Jaime Woodley and Dave Sloan (Sewage Infrastructure Causing Problems on Blair Parkway, 8/10/11).

Alderman Anne Lindsay (Ward 1) wanted to know why MSA wasn’t testing the line all the way up to the new subdivision, since that area drains into the same lines as the homes along Blair Parkway. Wagner answered that the testing will focus on the area where the problem is. The issue isn’t so much about the amount of sewage in the system as it is some potential problems in the Blair Parkway part of the line. Wagner said the problem might have to do with elevation of the pipe in that section, which is likely too flat and would cause the back ups.

Wagner added that testing will most likely begin the week of October 17th.

The council approved the purchase of new Radar equipment for the police department. Police Chief Matt Magill also made the council aware of a free public awareness website www.nixle.com. Magill said that residents can sign up for community, advisory, and alert messages about the city of Lanark. These messages would be sent to residents’ cell phones, as emails, as a list on the website, or any combination. Magill said there are currently 50 people signed up for the service and that any community, advisory or emergency alerts happening in the city of Lanark can be posted, announced, and distributed through the program. The Chief added that it’s a more immediate way for information important to residents to be transmitted more quickly. “It’s there,” he said. “And it’s free.”

Alderman Fehlhafer mentioned that he’s currently looking into whether the city needs a sludge permit in order to take care of the sand removed from the city’s sewage sand filters. He said that to get a permit could take as long as 9 months to process and that it will cost the city $2,500 annually. It’s still unclear as to whether the city needs a sludge permit, however. According to Fehlhafer, the city only needs a permit if it plans on moving the sand from the acreage where the sand filters are located to an off site location, and that it might be possible to pay a contractor (who would already hold a permit) to come in and move the sand – which might be cheaper for the city than going through the hassle and expense of getting a permit.

Lanark’s city attorney, Ed Mitchell, reported to the council that as of January 1st, 2012, all publicly elected as well as appointed officials will be required to take a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Training Course on an annual basis. Currently, each municipal body has a FOIA officer who is required to take the training course once.

Mitchell and council also set the date to open farm bids and discussed how the process was going to work. Last year, the city accepted open bids and then allowed the top three bidders to raise their bids auction style. After some discussion as to whether or not the auction format negated the purpose of calling for bids, the council decided to go ahead with the same format this year. Bids will be opened at the November 1st regular meeting.

Mitchell also told the council that he is looking into why Lanark residents who want to buy flood insurance are still unable to. According to the city attorney, he thought Lanark was already on the list of cities that qualify for flood insurance because of a resolution and an ordinance passed by the city in 2010. Mitchell pointed out that the city was told at that time by either FEMA or DNR that it needed to pass both the ordinance and the resolution, and he assumed that was all that was necessary. It was unclear, however, whether a certified copy of either the resolution of the ordinance was ever sent to anyone for the purposes of verification.

“I was under the impression that we already qualified,” Mitchell added, “until I head about this a few days ago.”

In other city news, Alderman Tom Kocal (Ward 2) announced that the fireworks for the 150th anniversary celebration after the Friday night (Oct. 7) Homecoming football game will be paid for by various businesses and community residents, so there’s no need for the city to kick in any funds. He added, however, that there will be other events that the city may want to consider contributing to.

Kocal then asked to enter into closed session regarding potential litigation, and Alderman Mark Macomber added another closed session to discuss a personnel issue. After exiting from the closed session, council took no further action.