Water and Wastewater Department Update.

August 19, 2008

The decision has been made unanimously by the City Council not to renew the management contract with Environmental Management Corporation.  During the last seven years the City of Oregon has had four managers and one and a half years without a manager on site.  The lack of management continuity has made progress with our departments many projects extremely difficult.  This is a no fault discontinuance and the contract will not be renewed November 30th, 2008.

With unanimous Council approval the City has entered into a contract agreement with Municipal Design and Environmental Services Inc. of Rockford Illinois and they will take over our water and wastewater department on or before November 30th.  MDES is a division of ARC Design Resources Inc, an engineering firm that has worked with the City of Oregon Street Department for several years.  The anticipated management will be experience-licensed managers who are familiar with the wastewater upgrade system that Oregon plans, and they will be a better fit to the Cities requirements.  This change should save the City $50,000 annually, and will bring a more comprehensive management style to the City of Oregon. 

The City water and wastewater department has received a $50,000 check from the State of Illinois through the efforts of our Representative Jerry Mitchell.  The money was acquired for the Daysville Road and Route 64 water and wastewater improvements and will be credited to the capital improvement fund. 

The wastewater department had an airline failure in the digester and employees made the necessary repairs.  Age is taking a toll on the Oregon facility and hopefully the upgrade can happen soon.  Financing has been stalled by the IEPA but we should know something soon.

The wastewater department has been doing annual maintenance jetting in the South end of Oregon.

There has been a recall on new auto-read water meters and our inventory has been returned to the factory for replacement. It had to do with circuitry and battery life.

In discussion with Dawn Perkins of IDOT, the state will require additional property around out lift-station at the Fairgrounds subdivision.  I suggested that the State install gravity sewer along Route 2 from Cartwright Lane to our Fairgrounds lift station.  This would help the state with the septic fields they will disrupt when they improve the roadway.  Dawn says that she received a negative response from property owners about any involvement with the City, and it is the fear of annexation that drives this negative attitude.

The City of Oregon does not require annexation for services, but those outside the City limit pay double for water and wastewater.  If something should happen that the State would require that the City provide services, the total cost of the necessary infrastructure to connect to the City will be paid for by the homeowners affected.

The auxiliary generator was put is service during the storm August 4th and it provided electricity to well #3 for 12 hours without a problem.

The wastewater department is experiencing problems with the controls for one of the fan motors in the blower house.  This blower provides air to the digester for the processing of waste.  There are two blowers that provide the necessary air required.  This failure is another problem with 40-year-old equipment that will be replaced with the wastewater upgrade. 

EMC has been preparing the water and wastewater department maintenance building for paint, and it is requiring considerable work to replace rotten siding. 

Wednesday August 6th, Northern Water Works brought a powered valve exerciser to open and close the main valve on Liberty Hill.  Initial operating pressure was 280 lbs and after exercising, it required 160 lbs.  After about five open and closures the necessary 39 revolutions was obtained.  We now believe the valve is operating properly.  The initial solution was to dig and replace the valve at a cost of several thousand dollars.