Hickman Summer events may be explored

Hickman City Commissioners Alicia Esters, John Wiley Gannon, Robert Griggs, Rob Hitesman, and Mayor Heath Carlton convened for regular bi-monthly session March 8 at Hickman City Hall.

Alliance Water Resources (AWR) representative Michael Apperson reported the company is still interested in working with the City to clean up the cemetery, with a meeting to be planned between himself and City Manager David Gallagher to arrange a start date.

“The Water Treatment Plant treated a total of 17,616,109 gallons of water with an average of 629,147 gallons per day during February. Due to the storms, there were a lot of leaks. AWR repaired five leaks and jetted two sewers. We have received training in excavation and hydrant repair and will work on the hydrant at the Courthouse, which is losing five gallons of water per minute. We were also able to clear the roads, keep the plant running, even on days where we were operating 24 hours a day, and repair all leaks quickly after the storm passed,” Apperson said.

“John Rudolph will be here the week of March 20 to convert to the liquid fluoride system. Everything is here and he will assist with the set up and set it to the liquid instead of the powdered system we currently use,” he said, adding Bob Pickerill will start work on March 16 at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

He reported Fab Tech Wastewater Solutions of Warrenton, Mo., will be contacted to see about filters and baffles, at a cost of $84,783 for both filters including the equipment, removing the media, and replacing the media.

Gallagher stated the city had looked at baffle curtains since he came on board.

“The design, everyone has looked at it, and we still are not functioning correctly,” Gallagher said.

Commissioner Hitesman asked if the baffles were added, and the filter media changed, would the issue be corrected?

“If we do that, are we going to be here next year having the same conversation? We need some answers,” he said.

Following discussion, the Commissioners decided to obtain prices and then prioritize measures to properly repair the filters.

“If we can cut our water loss of 40% – 50%+, month-to-month, that will reduce the amount of volume pushing through the filter media, and wearing everything out,” Mayor Carlton said.

“We are producing twice the water than we are selling and that is not good,” Gallagher said.

Discussion took place regarding the appointment of a member of the Commission to the Franchise Agreement Committee to work on the contract with Zito Media for internet service, possibly a short term contract.

The appointment was tabled and will be revisited at the next meeting.

During the City Manager’s report, Gallagher asked the Department heads to work on their wish list as to what they want so that work may begin on the budget for the next fiscal year.

Gallagher reported Roger’s Hydrant was scheduled to be in Hickman March 9, with the city in its second year contract with the company.

“ I think they want to talk about repairs and proposals they may have to address some of the hydrants,” Gallagher said.

A bill for updating the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) at the Water Plant, from Vaughn Electric, was submitted directly to Harshaw Trane and was paid, Gallagher said, noting the SCADA now works manually and automatically.

Work is scheduled to begin March 16 at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“Wave Ag Day is scheduled to be in downtown Hickman July 23. We will need to work on cleaning up the area and getting it ready for businesses to set up. Sounds like it would be a good event for any industry in the area,” Commissioner Griggs said.

Donna Haney, City Clerk, said there are minor things to pull together closer to July to get the downtown area in order, including electrical updates, on the north end, and some of the benches will need to be pulled temporarily to accommodate events planned.

“This has been a well-attended event when held in other counties and this will be good for the City,” Gallagher said.

“I’ve haven’t heard anything new on Meatworks lately. I have heard they are buying real estate. The Distillery should be up and running soon. Tokai should be running by the end of April,” Gallagher said.

“ We have to have a labor force soon. There are mowing issues and the cemetery will not take care of itself. I have talked to our Congressmen and Representatives about why in the world would you pay all these people extra money not to work, when jobs are available all around. We need people working. Small businesses will be hit unbelievably hard,” Gallagher said.

Commissioner Gannon reported he had heard concerns from people about King Street.

“It is in really, really bad shape and needs to be paved,” Gannon said.

“We need to add it to the list of streets to be paved to be prioritized. We know we won’t have enough money to pave them all, but we will address as we can,” Gallagher said.

Gannon also expressed his concerns regarding the fire fighting equipment.

“It has been since 2008 or 2009, since we got a new fire truck. I noticed in our fire apparatus fund, we are at the point where we can replace our dated equipment and we need a new tanker. Our department covers a large area of the county. We need to look at what needs to be replaced,” Gannon said.

“The last thing is the fireworks for the Fourth of July, a city sponsored event. Who is funding the event this year? Is it the City or Hickman Recreation Tourism Committee? Is there anything in the budget for fireworks for us to even put on the show?” Gannon asked.

Haney said “If you will allow me time to get information together, we can discuss it in more detail. The last couple of years we have worked with Pyrotechnitions, who have taken care of the permits. We did not budget for it this year. We did not budget any contingencies. Most of the costs have to be paid for before July.”

Commissioners went into Executive Session to discuss KRS 61.810(1)(f) & KRS 61.810(1)(c), and upon return to open session, stated there had been no votes or decisions made as a result of executive session.

The Commission voted to fill a payroll clerk position in the Clerk’s Office.