Sewer lining starts this week

As a part of the sewer work update before the City of California Board of Aldermen regular monthly meeting Monday, Oct. 4, the Council was informed that the sewer lining starts this week.

Before the lining of the 28,000 linear feet of sewer could begin, seven "point repairs" had to be completed. The repairs included replacement of broken lines and repair and replacement in other locations in which the lines either didn't line up, were crushed or broken or other problems which would have prevented a good seal when the new lining is applied.

The lining begins in the Marshall subdivision of the city. Residents are being contacted prior to the work being done, since sewer usage must be limited during the process.

In the sewer work update by Bob Gilbert, representing Bartlett and West Engineers, the council was informed of the completion of most of the work on the pressure line to take the sewage from the north part of the city to the south treatment plant. Most of the work yet to be done involves the lift station.

Other business brought before the Council included paving to be done, the audit report, the letter sent out which reported the possibility of bacterial contamination of the city water supply, bids for several project and department reports.

According to Street Supervisor Vic Maurer, the street paving, at various places all over the city, was set to begin Tuesday (yesterday) and may take a week to complete. Some of the paving is an asphalt overlay from the Street Department budget and some of it is due to the sewer work, from a different fund. All of it is being completed by the same contractor, Jefferson Asphalt.

Travis Hunley, representing Gerding, Korte and Chitwood, C.P.A.s, presented a review of the annual audit of the city government.

According to Hunley, the audit resulted in a "clean opinion" with everything in order including bonds paid according to schedule.

Revenue was down slightly -- about $42,000 -- due to economic conditions. There have been 97.8 percent of current taxes collected, which is good. The auditors would prefer 100 percent, but there are "always some delinquent taxpayers." The value of city properties has increased, much of it due to pool repairs and work on utilities.

Questions arose regarding the letter received by city residents and the water district warning of the possibility of bacterial contamination.

According to Utilities Superintendent Gary Wells, it appears to have been a problem at the point from which the samples were normally taken. Sterilization of the spigot was done, but was ineffective due to the setup of the spigot. All other samples indicated no problem.

A new testing station capable of being effectively sterilized has been installed for the purpose of drawing water samples for tests.

It is not considered that there was actually a problem with water quality.

The Board of Aldermen approved bids for the walking trail repair at Proctor Park and seal coating of the California City Cemetery road. In separate bids, the walking trail repair and cemetery road seal were both awarded to the lowest bidder, Show-Me Asphalt. The walking trail bid awarded was in the amount of $8,100 and the cemetery road seal was $3,278.61.

Also awarded was a bid of $13,090 for replacing the pump in Well Number Five by Flynn Drilling Company.

Police Chief Fred Kirchoff reported the Police Department has purchased another car. The 1998 car will be put out for bid. He also reported 28 tickets, eight charges filed, 99 incidents and 10 accidents.

Utilities Superintendent Wells reported the annual hydrant flushing is set for the fire hydrants Oct. 26 and 27.

Electric Supervisor Rick Graham reported the Ham and Turkey Festival went well, but some of the electric power sources were overloaded.

Fire Chief Allen Smith reported 43 calls in September. There were six fire calls, three rescue calls and 34 medical. A total of 436 for the year. He mentioned three accidents at the Highway 50 - West Business 50 intersection and the installation of a blinking light.

City Clerk Brian Scrivner reported the swimming pool will remain open with the school using it until Nov. 19. They will start again in March. There are several swimming and water exercise classes using the pool. There were 31 swimmers last weekend.