Public Property Update 37
January 28, 2007
New auto-read water meters are now being installed at all new applications and the downtown Business District. The downtown area will be a priority, because those meters are very difficult to read manually. Training has started for all employees and everyone should be proficient by summer.The City is now locating un-metered water loss and by summer we intend to be able to account for all water pumped and distributed by the City of Oregon. It has been found that “Iron Mike” uses 96,000 gallons of water a month, and that is a known full time water use. Please check your home for running toilets and dripping faucets, because this is a very wasteful of expensive water.Fencing at the wastewater plant and dog park has been completed and we now have easy access to our plant facility and a run for small dogs at the dog park. The wastewater plant entry has been moved so that it is a more direct and the gate rolls out of the way. There will be an Engineers workshop February 1st. and final plans will be completed about the wastewater plant upgrade. We plan to add a laboratory area to our new cannibal process building, eliminating our closet like sample testing area. We had an electrical failure with the rotating bridge on the digester at the wastewater plant. It is a serious problem where things failed from fatigue and we are having difficulty getting it repaired. This bridge is scheduled to be replaced with the wastewater upgrade, but time waits for no one. This is what happens with old infrastructure that was installed in the 1950’s and after the wastewater upgrade, the City will have reliable service for another forty years. The City will be advertising for bids for a mobile generator for emergency use should we have an electrical failure at one of our wells. The new generator will be compatible with the City of Byron and I hope to promote standardization of auxiliary power for the entire County.The City has received an IEPA annual compliance report and it shows the City to be in compliance with excellent grades. The report is posted on the City of Oregon Public Property website.
