Kathy Parker
“We need access to where our water meters are,” Adair Trustee Johnny Terry said at Monday’s meeting.
Utility worker Scott Martin told the trustees there are at least five meters the reader must climb a fence to access. An accident which resulted in a worker’s compensation claim was due to these climbs. The discussion also included the fact that some water meters are inside houses and difficult to read. Town Clerk Melissa Crawford said some inside meters are supposed to be read by the homeowners but “they don’t do it.”
“All our meters need to be at the road,” Terry said.
Martin will begin the process of relocating meters or finding access through gates.
Martin said he counted the gallons of water on unbilled meters and found there is no water loss. Unbilled meters are placed at the police department, fire department, town hall, county barn, Adair Municipal Authority building and community building.
Trustees made plans to ensure proper safety and medical equipment is in place at all town locations. They voted to call Merrimack company to get fire extinguishers and hazard placards up to date. They also approved contacting Zee Medical for first aid kits.
Mayor Steve Hall asked all departments to make a list of equipment and consumable supplies for insurance purposes.
Paul Caskey had asked the trustees to fix the fence adjoining the water plant and his property. He said about 600 feet of the fence was down.
“There is limbs down, but I don’t see the 600 feet he’s talking about,” Martin said. “It may be pushed down in some places but the fence is not down.”
Trustee Trent Peper made a motion to clean the brush off the fence to assess the condition. Caskey said he intends to put cows on the property in February.
Department procedures were approved for purchase orders. All purchases must have purchase orders. Purchases up to $250 must be approved by the department supervisor. Purchases from $250 to $500 must be approved by the supervisor and Mayor Hall. Purchases over $500 must be approved by the council. This procedure does not include recurring fixed expenses such as payroll.
Engineer Dwayne Henderson said
the Planning and Environmental Document has been sent to the Water Resources Board for approval. This is part of the process to get construction underway on the mandated sewer plant expansion. WRB engineers must review the document and approve it or advise what changes are needed.
“You may need a flood plain study,” Henderson said. He said the Corps of Engineers has been doing some of these studies.
“That’s the only thing in this environmental report that concerns me. Normally, you would go through this process before the design was complete,” Henderson said. “But we were in a crunch here.”
The advertised public hearing has been completed and no one attended to object to the project.
