Dunkirk awaits water report (5/10/05)

DUNKIRK — Council members here are continuing to investigate possible solutions to the city’s rusty water problems.

Mayor Sam Hubbard said Commonwealth Engineers Inc. of Indianapolis, a consulting firm hired by the city last month, has begun looking into the situation. The mayor said he anticipates receiving a report in the next few weeks.

Also at Monday evening’s city council session, water department superintendent Dace Mumbower reported on his recent visit to the Kirkland, Ind., water plant which uses an ozone treatment system similar to Dunkirk’s. In addition Kirkland has been treating its water with polyphosphate chemicals for at least three years, Mumbower said.

Mumbower said he was still not sold on polyphosphate treatment as a feasible solution for Dunkirk which has a larger water plant than Kirkland’s.

“It’s just a Band-Aid,” Mumbower said about the use of polyphosphates. Kirkland has to flush its water hydrants once a month, even in the winter months, Mumbower said. Use of polyphosphates is a temporary solution at best, Mumbower said.

He said he would rather see the city’s water plant filtering system upgraded. Mumbower noted that this would be costly, but he thought enlarging and improving the filtering system could result in some real benefits to the city.

Mumbower said that if money was spent now on adding polyphosphate chemicals to the water system, it would just be taking funds away from making improvements to the filtering system at some future date.

Hubbard said he didn’t want to take any action on the issue until Commonwealth’s report was completed.

In other business at Monday night’s meeting, council members:

•Were reminded by Hubbard that a public informational meeting is set for 7 p.m. next Wednesday, May 18, to discuss the pros and cons of withdrawing from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s supervision concerning the setting of water rates. That meeting will be in city hall.

•Agreed to waive utility hook-up fees for the Jay County Habitat for Humanity house which will be built at 243 E. Commerce St., Dunkirk, this summer. Habitat for Humanity representative Jeb Bubp explained that this would help keep costs down for the project. He said this would be a 1,300 square-foot, three bedroom home which was larger than previous Habitat-built homes.

•Approved a contribution of $100 to help fund a Glass Days Festival food booth which will be manned by the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department cadets. They are trying to raise money to purchase individual pagers for the eight cadets. The cadets plan to serve “walking tacos” at the festival, Firefighter Carl Southworth explained.

•Listened to Dunkirk resident Pam Bunch describe several pieces of private property in the city which need to be cleaned up. She said that one of the worst eyesores was on the route to Dunkirk IOOF cemetery.

“Year after year, the same properties present a problem and need to be cleaned up,” Bunch said. She emphasized that enforcement procedures should be pursued against the property owners.

Hubbard said city officials were trying to improve the town’s appearance. “If everyone would clean up their property, it’d be a great thing, but sometimes it’s very difficult,” the mayor said.[[In-content Ad]]