Pump house and well topic at council meeting

GLENWOOD CITY — The City’s number two well and pump house were again the topic of discussion at the regular Council meeting on January 18th. Over the past several months the City Council has sought input on how to bring the well and pump house up to code. The city had received a DNR report last July about the deficiencies in the facility, which is located near the Community Center.

Last month the Council approved spending $10,520 to have a new pump and well piping updated, but the question remained on what do with the well house and needed equipment to allow the pump to furnish water to the community.

At the January 18th meeting the discussion at the Council table centered on whether to do those improvements on well number two or abandon the site. City Public Works director, Doug Doornink discussed the matter with the Council and stated that the cheapest option was to abandon the site and purchase a generator that would operate the pump at well number three at Hinman Park. He estimated that the cost of a generator large enough to run the pump would cost about $100,000. He gave no figure on what the cost would be to abandon the old site.

But council members seemed to favor having two wells just in case one of them was taken out of service. Doornink reported that if the city had a bad water sample from a well, that well could not be used until it had achieved three clean samples. So without a back up city residents would either have to boil the drinking water or the city would have to furnish bottled water.

Also discussed was because the pump on well number two is the smaller of the two, the city currently has a generator that can operate that pump, if power is lost. If the city decides to keep that facility, it will need to improve the building. Doornink also informed the council that Cedar Corporation had finished doing some elevation work at the site to determine if the building’s floor and wellhead is above the 100-year floor. He noted that both needed to be raised a couple of feet to get them out of the floodplain. But another item that faces the city is that according to the DNR the building also must be above the floodplain so the building can be approached above the water line during a flood.

Another option the city has is to abandon that site and drill a new well and construct a new well house, but that estimated cost is a million dollars. Doornink informed the Council that they needed to have a plan submitted to the DNR within 90 days.

In other action the Council discussed the raze order that has been issued against the apartment building at 107 Maple Street. City Attorney, Autumn Lindquist informed the Council that the property was in foreclosure and a sheriff’s sale is scheduled for next month. Last month the Council accepted a bid from a Minnesota firm to raze the structure. But the city would pay for the work of demolishing the building and put that amount against the property tax bill on the property. But if taxes are not paid and the county takes over the property the city would be out all the funds that they spend to clean up the lot. Mayor John Larson suggested that the city bid on the property in an attempt to recover some of the money they would spend on razing the building.

In her report about the City Library, Crystal Booth mentioned that the Library will be having a Valentine Celebration with a book and bake sale on February 12 and 13th. She also noted that the library will have a Tech Time and the first is scheduled for Thursday, February 18th from 5 to 7. Two Saturdays have also been scheduled in April and August.

The council was informed about a water leak, Sunday along First Street, and that the city crew was able to shut off the water to a home and that stopped the leak, but the street was covered with ice and the crew took care of that.

The council approved a $100 donation for the Post Prom party, and approved operator’s licenses to Cheri L. Peterson and Lauren E. Cassellius.