Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Public Works Committee met Sept. 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Aldermen Cahoe, Barragree, Marcier, Miller, Anderson, Muench, Alderwoman Delahr and Mayor Allhands

ABSENT: Alderwoman Rohlfs

GUESTS: Public Works Supervisor Loren Grosvenor, and Keith Mulholland with Robinson Engineering

Alderman Cahoe opened the meeting at 6:59 pm. There was no public comment. Public Works Supervisor Loren Grosvenor reported on the following projects:

New Well #11: Still waiting on EPA approval

Well 6: Loren stated after talking to the EPA he is thinking even after an air stripper is obtained it will be a costly fix and the city might be better off capping that well and using that money for a new well on the south side of town. This will be discussed more in the coming months Meter Reading Improvements: 758 radios installed as of 9/19/23

Fire Hydrants: 165 hydrants painted out of 330 total hydrants. 2 hydrants (Brown & Park, North & Chicago) scheduled for rebuild 9/22/23. A new hydrant was installed in front of Knapp Funeral home and a new hydrant scheduled for 9/25/23 to be installed by IPC storage on Rt 24. Hydrant flushing will be done in October, with Loren asking if the committee prefers flushing during the day or night. Committee is ok with flushing during daylight hours. Permit for North St Watermain Extension under Railroad: Robinson is working with IPC to get track management starting around October 9th and lasting for about a month. North St and Kay St will be closed during this time and Keith will let Police and Fire know about the closure.

Grant for Watermain Extension on Elm St: no funding granted

Wastewater Treatment Plant: West tower lift station pump 2 starter motor failed; B&D Electric replaced it on 9/15/23.

Sanitary & Storm Sewers: draining along Walnut St delayed due to TPW right of way entry permitting, and Locust/Brown St manhole project is also delayed for the same reason. The sanitary and Storm sewer separation project on Park and Yount Ave is completed. Road drain structures, pipe, concrete retaining wall, flap gate and curb and sidewalk are all done. Some minor yard restoration needs to be completed.

Kay Street Storm & Sanitary Separation Project: The city has been approved for the 2.2 million low interest loan at 2%. This project will start at the muffler shop on Walnut St down to Kay St. The EPA needs to know if the city wants to move forward, after some discussion it was decided to put this on full council agenda.

West Side Fire Station: Loren stated 120’ of 8” pipe was installed to improve drainage away from the building and IPC will be donation the asphalt for the parking lot

GIS Mapping: GPS unit is functioning and collecting data as time allows

West Side Park: Playground equipment was vandalized on 6/1/23, $7,000 worth of parts have been ordered and an insurance claim was filed and money has been received. Kay Park: bathroom was vandalized 8/25/23

Peters Park: Loren will be getting a quote from IPC for the new parking spots and roads Forest Park: Alderman Cahoe asked about getting some lights at Forest Park as it’s rather dark there

Kingdon Drainage: Keith from Robinson presented to proposals. Option 1 keep the 48-inch storm sewer for a cost of $94,885 or option 2, remove part of the 48-inch storm sewer for a cost of $143,855.00. There was a lengthy discussion and the committee finally decided to go with option 1 for a cost of $94,885 and this will now go out for bids. Loren stated they would

like for the city to consider purchasing some larger equipment and then public works could do projects like these instead of putting them out for bids and saving the city some money. Loren stated he has 2 excavators of the same size, and he would like to see about trading one in and getting something larger and then a larger trailer would be needed also. This larger trailer could also be used for the lift instead of driving it to locations across town.

8th St STU Road Project: project has started with curbing and aprons. There was discussion about the center line joint seal and should this be added to the project. This cost was not added in, and it will cost an additional $15,000. The state is paying 80% of this project but they may not pay for this. The committee is ok with doing this center line joint seal. MFT & RBI Road Projects: Mulberry St has been started, curbs, driveway aprons and sidewalk repairs have been completed.

Road Salt: Loren has 100 tons of salt left from last year and has just reserved another 300 tons.

Staffing: One employee has quit

Miscellaneous: 26 tons of asphalt purchased to date for patching and potholing, 32 yards of concrete purchased to date for replacement, street sweeper operation the week of September 18th including nightly downtown street cleaning, one eyewash station installed at the WWTP and 3 left to install, 100’ of sidewalk to be replaced in front of T&D Metal.

Equipment: Loren has a quote from McCullough’s to upgrade the Kubota BX2680 compact tractor to B260 Sub compact with a front loader for a cost of $11,270.00 with the trade in of $12,000. Alderman Marcier makes a motion to recommend to the Council to purchase a Kubota B2601 sub compact tractor with front loader for a cost of $11,270.00 from McCullough’s and Alderman Cahoe seconded. Roll call carried 8-0. This will be paid for from parks, water and streets and alleys. Loren also would like to purchase a log splitter for $2646 to use at the yardwaste facility to split wood for the residents. The committee is ok with this purchase.

Keith gave a quick update on the following grants that the city has received: DCEO grant for $65,000 for the backup generator, Lead Service line Grant for $40,000 and the Martin Ave Road Extension.

Mayor Allhands stated the committee has before them information from the Historical District that shows the depot was added to the map.

Alderman Cahoe makes a motion to adjourn at 8:24 pm and Alderman Barragree seconded. Roll call carried 8-0.

https://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/public-works-wastewater-9-19-23.pdf