Trenton Utility Committee meets with full agenda

Trenton Utility Committee
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Several topics were addressed Tuesday evening during a meeting of the Trenton Utility Committee. It also included details from an engineering company on the design-build project for improvements to the sewer plant as well as an update on the issue of lead in the water supply.

City Hall’s 20-plus-year-old analog telephone system is scheduled to be replaced by an updated and less expensive technology known as Voice over Internet Protocol. City Administrator Ron Urton told the committee about a price quote of $4,200 for installation of VOIP. That’s less than a third of what standard replacement of the phone system would cost. The monthly fee for Voice Over the Internet Protocol is $759 which is less than half of the current phone charges. The committee also is recommending associated wiring at city hall at a projected one time cost of $4,200.

The Utility committee agreed to sell a dozen surplus transformers as surplus property. It’s to be advertised with utility organizations and publications.

A policy that has been verbal in the past, is to be put into writing, regarding the abandonment of sewer taps. The policy states if there is a new connection to an existing structure, then the owner needs to abandon the old sewer tap.

Representatives of the Burns and McDonnell engineering firm met with the committee to discuss the issue of lead in the water found in three residential locations. It also held a workshop on the design-build project for sewer plant improvements. Rachel Drain of the engineering firm explained a review of all treatment procedures at the water plant verifies what local officials have said – that all water leaving the plant complies with state and federal regulations on quality and testing.

Additional treatment options have been evaluated and it was recommended to the committee that a specific chemical be added to the water supply to lessen the possibility of higher than allowable levels of lead showing up in future testing. Urton said there’s only minimal expense to have equipment installed and the chemical purchased.

Information on the city’s “plan of action” is to be submitted to the Department of Natural Resources for approval. It was the DNR that required Trenton to publicize recent results showing three out of 20 testing locations had too much lead. Each of those locations, officials say, have lead service water lines to the residential properties.

Jeff Barnard of the engineering company detailed the design-build process for improvements being planned at the sewer plant. Urton said the design-build concept allows projects to be completed in less time. The city faces a July 2019 deadline, according to a settlement agreement with the Department of Natural Resources, to complete all of the project.

The scope of work and estimated costs have been outlined at previous meetings and reported on our local newscasts. Urton indicated there’s been no change in the order of the projects to be done.


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