Water filters now on tap (04/04/08)

After 17 years, it's time for a change.

A local board has voted to upgrade equipment at the Portland Water Department. The equipment is 17 years old and is not working very well, a city official said this morning.

The Portland Board of Works voted Thursday to approve the purchase of filtration equipment. Total cost will be $43,743.

Doug Jackson, superintendent of the water department, said the equipment controls the flow of water through filters. Three sets of equipment are needed because there are three filters, he said this morning.

The equipment will be purchased from B.L. Anderson Co. Inc., West Lafayette. Among the items included in the control packages are meters, tubes and valves.

In other business, board members decided to table making a decision on a one-year recycling contract with Rumpke.

The current contract ended March 31. The new contract reflects an 11 percent increase for services to collect recycling at homes in the city. The city currently pays $7,800 per month for collection services. The new fee would be $8,736 per month.

Board members decided to further review the contract before making a decision.

Also Thursday, board members:

•Learned that the process to expand Lafayette Street west to Industrial Park Drive has begun.

Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, told the board that the Indiana Department of Transportation, which is partially funding the project, has assigned it a project number for identification purposes.

A $740,000 grant from INDOT will help fund the project, which is expected to cost more than $900,000.

•Voted to purchase two 55-gallon drums of mosquito spray at a cost of $14,850.

The spray will be purchased from Clarke Mosquito Control.

•Voted to adjust the sewage portion of a Portland man's high water/sewer bill, caused by a leak.

The bill for the home of Darel Wendel, 518 W. Arch St., will be adjusted down to a three-month average prior to the leak.[[In-content Ad]]