By Mari Radtke
The regular meeting of the Primghar City Council on Wednesday November 8 opened with Kiana Johnson, Director of O’Brien County Economic Development providing an update of the activities of the county-wide organization through the past year.
Tanner Hedburg spoke to council about this year’s startup for the year. He did talk about a few upcoming projects he feels would be in the best interest of the rink. Those include an AC unit and replacing the rink flooring. He shared the pros and cons for both wood and concrete floor replacement. Hedburg also noted that neither project needs immediate attention. Councilman Steve Wittrock did ask about the physical condition of the floor with Hedburg informing Council that there is some cracking beginning.
The free skate Sunday to raise funds for new pairs of skates was successful with Hedburg reporting that the rink is not in need of any new pairs of skates. He was open to the idea of continuing the once monthly event for either of the mentioned projects.
Mike Carr and Miriam Martens of DGR Engineering reported to council the progress at the sewer lagoon. They also brought a request for payment that included required documentation. Boring for a new 2” PVC pipe reached 200’ at the time of the meeting. The pay request was approved by resolution.
The loan agreement with Iowa Finance Authority was also approved by resolution.
Sludge removal from the ponds was part of the overall project to help increase capacity. Sludge removal from Cells #1 and #2 began. It was quickly discovered that there is more sludge in cells #1 and #2 than originally estimated. The additional work and disposal costs drove the change order. The change order is for an additional $300,000. The amount is only an estimate.
Carr brought several samples from the lagoons to the council meeting. They showed that debris such as wood chips have made its way into the lagoons.
Carr noted that they contingency budgeted for the project covers this request. The concern is that this size change order comes so early in the project.
Lynch Livestock in Primghar is the largest single user of the sewer system. Carr said he would investigate further into sources for the debris and large quantities of sludge.
Dan Schnell, Golf Course Superintendent made a request for a credit account at New Century in Hartley. He would be able to purchased chemicals for the golf course without using the reimbursement process.
In other golf board business, a request to approve half the sanitation cost at the golf course be assigned to Mike Konz. Konz runs the restaurant. The issue is to be discussed with the Golf Board.
The rate to clean the Community Building and other details was a topic of discussion for the council. They do have a candidate at $20 per hour with council expressing support for that wage, but they want the hours capped for each cleaning.
A work session and special meeting were both called for Wednesday November 15. Discussion of more detailed measurements at the lagoons and other sewer system concerns came to council in the form of a letter to the council members.
Because of the volume of usage by Lynch Livestock, council members will be opening discussions with management. No specifics were set.
Office staffing was also part of the work session. An interested party for the Assistant position willing to do the EMT work had been identified, but it was reported that she withdrew her interest in the job.
Wages were discussed. Since the applicant withdrew the discussion centered on Jessica Whitney’s, currently the only regular, full time office person, wages.
Council opened their special meeting. Discussion went to Whitney’s wages. She is performing much more work and fulfilling many more duties than she was hired to do. Until a fulltime Clerk is hired and working full time, council decided to pay Whitney $22.50 per hour until the position if filled. The wage increase will begin with the next pay period.
A person to serve as Clerk has been hired and will start in July. The name has not been released.