Redkey hunting bargains (07/27/06)

REDKEY - The financial news was a little brighter this week.

Council members met for a short session Wednesday and were pleasantly surprised to learn that work to repair and paint the interior and exterior of the Redkey water tower and tank would be less expensive than originally anticipated.

At last week's regular town council meeting two bids on the project were reviewed with one totaling more than $40,000 and the other one showing a price of $17,900 for the painting work but lacking a firm figure on the water tank repairs.

Currently the town's 75,000-gallon elevated tank is leaking from several spots. The low bidder, Leary Construction Company of Greenfield, initially submitted an open-ended bid on the repair work, depending on how much welding would be required.

However, at Wednesday morning's special meeting Redkey council members reviewed a contract proposal from Leary, stating that their $17,900 price would cover the cost of fixing existing leaks as well as painting the tank's interior and exterior sections.

Council member and town employee Violet Erlenbush said that since the previous meeting, a representative from Leary had visited Redkey, inspecting the tank and recommending a price of $17,900 for the whole job.

She added that the Leary representative also agreed to start the project within the next week. She said he told her that if the repairs are not made soon, the tank may not be fixable.

A motion to approve the contract with Leary was unanimously approved. Also Erlenbush said the firm agreed to paint the tower blue in recognition of the former Redkey High School's colors, but perhaps a darker shade of blue than the present color. Downtown area Redkey resident Terri Taylor, whose house is located in the area immediately below the leaking water tank, told council members: "I don't care if they paint it purple. I just want the leaks fixed."

Also on the subject of saving money, Erlenbush said that since the last council meeting she had learned that dehumidifiers for the sewer and water plants could be purchased for approximately $179 each from Menards, as compared to $249 each from Sears for comparable units. In addition she pointed out that the town already had a Menards credit card.

Furthermore since news about the town needing two large air-conditioning units was printed in last Friday's issue of The Commercial Review, Redkey resident Monty Missicano had come forward to offer to sell the town a used air-conditioner for $50. The price of a comparable new one would have been more than $500, Erlenbush said.

Also town officials pointed out there was a possibility that a second used air-conditioner could be purchased form a different Redkey resident for $75.

With these types of savings, Erlenbush said that her original spending requests had dropped from about $1,000 to $500. She was then directed to see if the used air-conditioners would be satisfactory to meet the needs at the sewer and water plants.

Also at Wednesday's meeting, Redkey clerk-treasurer Sandy Kirby reported that the town attorney had mailed out letters about past-due water bill accounts, as previously announced, with Aug. 15 as the scheduled shut-off date.

"I'm real surprised the phones haven't been ringing off the wall since we sent out the letters," Kirby said, pointing out that there had been some calls, but not many.

Town officials said the letters went out to about 30 property owners.

In part the letters state: "Service to your property will be shut off after Aug. 15, if your utility account is not paid in full. The town board also voted to pursue collection of delinquent accounts in small claims court if payment is not received in full on/or before Aug. 15."[[In-content Ad]]