New volunteers approved (07/14/06)

Three new volunteer members of the Portland Fire Department have been chosen.

Portland residents Todd Nichols, Donald Corn and Richard Scott were approved Thursday by the Portland Board of Works to serve as volunteers.

The trio will replace two volunteers who recently resigned from the fire department, said chief Mike Thomas.

Nichols, Corn and Scott all passed the written exam and agility test needed to be firefighters, Thomas said. The three are the best candidates for the job, he said.

Before the board voted, Nichols, Corn and Scott introduced themselves.

Nichols said he currently works for the Portland Street Department. He previously volunteered for the fire department for five years.

Corn said he works for Limestone Products Inc. Paving, Excavating and Concrete, is the father of two and is married.

Scott said he has worked for Jay Emergency Medical Service for 10 years.

Although only two volunteers have left the department, Thomas said he thought it best to go ahead and get three new volunteers in case another leaves the department this year.

Volunteers are paid on a per-run basis. They are paid $10.28 per hour for the first hour. After that, the pay is split up into 15 minute increments which amounts to about $2.57 per 15 minutes.

The three were approved by board of works members Mayor Bruce Hosier and Bob McCreery. Board member Dolphus Stephens did not attend the meeting.

Also Thursday, wastewater treatment plant superintendent Bob Brelsford gave an update on the Gerber gravity sewer project.

Brelsford said crews are now working along Park Street, heading north.

But crews will soon move to the site of a strip mall under construction on West Votaw Street to re-route a sewer line.

A sewer line will be run north across this lot to the Gerber lift station. This work will probably begin Monday, he said.

This work needs to be completed so Preferred can pave its parking lot, Brelsford said.

After the work on the Preferred lot is complete, work will resume on Park Street. A line will be built from there to connect to the one in the strip mall’s lot.

The Gerber project is designed to reduce the amount of sewage handled by the north lift station located along Industrial Park Drive. Capacity at that lift station is sometimes exceeded during heavy rains, causing raw sewage to be diverted into the Wehrly Ditch.

LPI is doing the construction work for the Gerber sewer project at a cost of $620,879.

Work is expected to be completed by July 31, Brelsford said.[[In-content Ad]]