IRON MOUNTAIN - The city of Iron Mountain's water tank on East A Street was vandalized on Easter weekend. And since that time, the security of the city's water system has been under review.
At the time of the incident, the city issued a boil advisory as a precaution and chlorinated its water.
At Monday's council meeting, the council approved measures to improve the safety of the tanks. Approval was given to purchase four reservoir hatch intrusion alarms totaling $4,530.
PJ Kortens, which provides the telemetry for the water system, recommended that the city purchase the alarms for the four hatches - two on A Street, one on Millie Hill and one on Pine Mountain.
According to City Manager Jordan Stanchina, if the hatch is opened or tampered with, an alarm will go off. The alarms will fit in with the existing telemetry system, and would alert local law enforcement agencies.
"I'm glad to see the city moving toward more security at the water tank sites. I think it's very important to maximize our security on the water tanks. I'm also in favor of looking at grants to add to this security," said Councilman Collin Jacobetti.
Council members were also interested in Stanchina exploring possible grants for other security features that would improve the safety of the city water system.
At Monday's meeting, the council also approved awarding the bid of $519,749 to Bacco Construction Co. of Iron Mountain for the paving of local streets and the paving in the TIFA district.
Two bids were opened by the council at the meeting with the other bid coming from Northeast Asphalt Inc. for a total of $623,882.40.
The Bacco bid came in lower than what the city had estimated for the paving. The estimate for local paving and curb work was $254,400; the TIFA paving and curb work budget was $300,000 and another $33,000 budgeted for paving on the East A Street project.
Approval of the Bacco bid is contingent on it meeting specifications and review by city staff.
Street paving is planned for Ludington Street from Kimberly to Pine; West C Street from Harding to Spruce; Kent from Merrit to Carpenter; Main from Norway to Vulcan; Main from Stephenson to Norway; East B Street from Stephenson to Iron Mountain Street; Oslo from Park to Michigan; East Fleshiem Street from Stephenson to the end of the road; South Park from Stephenson to the railroad tracks; Quincy from Lake Antoine to North; Iron Mountain from Fleshiem to Hughitt; Carpenter Avenue form Ludington to Brown; Carpenter Avenue from Brown
to Fleshiem; and Fleshiem from Stephenson to the railroad tracks.
Approval was also given at Monday's meeting to award the City Park tennis court resurfacing bid to Fahrner Asphalt Sealers of Kaukauna, Wis. This was the only bid received and totaled $13,458.
The work will be completed by the end of the month.
The council also discussed the bids received for either a coal tar aggregate roofing system or spray-on elastomeric roofing system for the water tanks. The specifications for the bids were developed by Dixon Engineering and it was recommended that the spray-on system be approved.
After much discussion, the council decided to reject all bids and ask Dixon to come up with specifications for a rubber/PVC roof. The council was concerned with the spray on system only having a two year warranty and they were looking for a system that would provide closer to a 25 year warranty and the rubber type roof does.
"I don't think that the city can afford to go with a product that has a two year warranty. We need to rewrite the specs so all the contractors can bid on it," noted Jacobetti.
During public comment time, the council heard from Virginia Feleppa of Iron Mountain on three different issues. First was the need for the city to have a leash law.
She noted that owners must have their dogs on leashes if they leave their own property. She added that she has heard other people comment that the city should have a leash law.
Stanchina noted that in checking with the police chief, the city has always followed the county's leash law, which requires animals to be on a leash or have their dog under direct control.
"Why isn't there a leash law in the city? As a citizen I say it doesn't work. They should have their dogs on a leash once they leave their yards. Direct control doesn't work in many cases," Feleppa said.
Stanchina said that he has a copy of the county leash law and would provide that information to Feleppa to examine.
Another concern, Feleppa said, had to do with the run off of water from the East Side into Crystal Lake. Although the lake is filling with the recent rain, the water is brown. She added that the sediment basins need to be cleaned up as well as the drains. "The city should spend the time to clean up the storm drain areas."
A final issue brought up by Feleppa was the timely notifications for committee meetings.
She noted that they have been arriving by e-mail at the time the meeting is going on rather than before. "It's hard for citizen involvement when they can't get notification before a meeting," she said noting that she missed a recent Parks and Recreation committee meeting.
Linda Lobeck's e-mail address is llobeck@ironmountaindailynews.com.