Water main breaks
CLOVERDALE --Cloverdale residents were without water for the majority of Tuesday evening as reported at the town council meeting.
Cloverdale Town Council President Don Sublett began the meeting by letting the people present know that a 10-inch section of water main had broken. This break occurred down by the feed mill on Burma Road. "This should be up and working soon," Sublett said.
Following the announcement, the meeting began with claims. Council member Dennis Padgett showed gumption in standing up for the taxpayers by not accepting two claims. The reason for this denial of money was that Utilities Manager Mike Gray reportedly has overstepped his $500 budget allowance several times without consulting the board. The monies in question were from a sewage backup in Stardust Hills that caused sewage to enter a residence. Gray reportedly contracted Spiker Excavation to help fix the problem.
Padgett said that the town has a utility department that needs to be responsible for these matters. "We have paid over $50,000 to Spiker already this year. If the utility department isn't doing their job we should just hire Spiker ourselves."
Padgett continued by telling Clerk-Treasurer Patti Truax that she needs to try to get the claims sheets to the council members sooner than the day before a meeting. Town Attorney Alan Yackey intervened by telling Padgett he shouldn't let another elected official make him feel rushed and if he isn't satisfied with the knowledge he has about something when it was time to vote, to vote against it until more knowledge is acquired. Truax retorted that it would be impossible to get the claims sheets to them a week in advance.
The Council also heard from Shannon McCloud from Priority Project Resources regarding the town's grants. McCloud gave a half hour presentation on what she could do for the town as far as obtaining grant money. She believed she would need to be on the project for 18-24 months. The other grant company, West Central Grants' Terry Jones did not show for the meeting.
There was also a verbose discourse on water claims. Every month people file claims stating they were overcharged on the water/sewage bill due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control. For 15-minutes, the board discussed how lucrative it is for them to hear these claims individually since it is only a matter of time before a leaky toilet turns into a hose that was left on and consumed 20,000-gallons of water.
Lastly, the board approved for the demolition of the water tower that stands on the north side of Interstate 70. The tower is ripe with lead paint and needs to be demolished. The project price for the demolition alone is $11,700 and will be taken down sometime between the second week of Sept. and the second week of Oct.
The Cloverdale Town Council meets regularly the second Tuesday of every month in Town Hall at 7 p.m. A special meeting will take place Aug. 19 to discuss the budget. It too will take place at 7 p.m.