Tuesday, October 20, 2009 9:57 PM CDT
Mattoon OKs more than $153,000
for replacement meter equipment
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — The city faces a dearth of dead water meter transponders and a bill of $153,860 to fix the problem, officials said Tuesday.
City council members, at their regular meeting, unanimously approved a purchase of 1,960 Badger Orion radio-read transponders to replace current devices used in electronic reading of water meters throughout the community. After three years, the city has lost 2,110 transponders under the brand name Ramar and Blu Tower and there is no explanation why this is happening at such a high rate, leaders said.
The city switched to a radio-read system to save on personnel costs on meter monitoring. But the combination of the Ramar company going bankrupt a few years ago and the problems with Blu Tower forced the switch to Badger products through Midwest Meter, Inc., officials said.
The city did budget for retrofitting, so this will not sink the water and sewer funds unless the problem continues with the use of extra personnel to make up for the transponder failures, the council learned Tuesday.
In other business, Mayor Dave Cline acknowledged during the presentations and communications session that a first draft of the Northern Illinois University governmental study arrived at Mattoon City Hall last week. Council members and city staff are proofing the draft before sending it back to the NIU analysis team contracted this year to complete the study on streamlining city operations.
Also, Gina Lockhart was promoted to Mattoon Fire Department shift captain, effective Friday with the retirement of Shift Captain Mitch Strader this week. Jason Root was promoted to the rank of MFD driver/engineer effective Friday.
The council also accepted the recommendation for a Mattoon midtown tax increment financing (TIF) incentive of $80,000 paid out over the next 10 years to Keith Summers for a façade and interior remodeling at 1610-12 Broadway Ave. for the new Bidwell’s location.
Based on recommendations of the TIF incentive committee, requests for assistance were turned down for Thomas and Barbara Rogers, 1408 Broadway, and Mindy and Brad Cordes, 1612 Charleston Ave., due to rulings that their projects amount to routine maintenance or cosmetic repairs, respectively.
Commissioner Randy Ervin supported the vote but complained prior to it that the owners of Common Grounds seemed to be short-changed on their request. He noted Sanders Real Estate received support for awnings through its past TIF project in the 1400 block of Broadway.
The Cordeses were asking for assistance for only awnings, while the real estate project included major renovations of an old building as well as awnings, Cline said.
Interim City Administrator John Kolata, who heads the TIF committee, explained TIF assistance should be based on project criteria and whether the work will create a property tax increment. The resulting increase in property valuation is what generates new revenue or increments for TIF assistance. Ervin still insisted the decisions should be equitable, but he did vote for the motion because it also included action on the new business creation in the 1600 block of Broadway.
In other business, the council approved a $5,710 demolition contract with T.Q Demolition of Mattoon for a decaying structure at 612 Wabash Ave. Another motion approved a $5,930 contact with GEOCON Environmental for removal of an old fuel storage tank located in the right-of-way area at 1301 Broadway Ave. This is next to the new Midas building, which is approaching completion.
Some questioned how a fuel tank ended up buried there, but Commissioner Tim Gover recalled there was business with a fuel pump there years ago. In the past, many old gasoline stations were right next to the curbing of public streets, which were much narrower.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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yeah right wrote on Oct 21, 2009 4:30 PM: