Albany City Council met in a special session last Tuesday, April 28, at city hall with all members, as well as department heads, on hand.

The meeting was the first council session held since early March and, like other public meetings being held at this point, was streamed live on the city’s recently set up Facebook page.

Council members first reviewed and approved a Municipal Order pertaining to the federally mandated Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which deals with sick leave pay to employees who may be affected by or have families affected by, the COVID-19. (A separate article on that order appears elsewhere this week.)

The council spent the vast majority of the over one-hour long meeting discussing issues related to the water and sewer departments and plants, primarily the need for equipment and funding.

Although all council members agreed the departments needed help in both areas, there were some disagreements on how to handle the problem and the time line in doing so.

The cost of water department calls and supplies was first discussed by the council.

There was a question of whether, if a meter burst that is not on city property, should there be a fee charged, with councilman Reed Sloan advocating at least a $50 service fee, plus the $69.50 cost of the meter box.

It was estimated there were up to 40 such broken boxes the city had to deal with. “We would still be helping people but taking care of ourselves,” stated Sloan.

Water department distribution supervisor Kenneth Delk suggested that when customers call city hall, they could be advised of the fee. He also stated that Albany supplies regulators, which is not mandatory for water systems to do, but has been a common practice.

Delk said most other cities did not supply the regulators. Councilman Tony Delk questioned why other cities didn’t, with Kenneth Delk noting many regulators in some areas are included on the water lines.

Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher also questioned if there would be an issue charging people for the cost of the meter boxes if they were owned by the city.

Most council members agreed that a box damaged by the homeowner themselves should be paid for by the homeowner.

Councilman Delk also suggested the council should make a list of costs and needs the water department incurs to enable them (council) to know what can be done. Thrasher agreed, suggesting that a price sheet of some type be put together and presented to the council.

The lengthy discussion on that particular item ended when Kenneth Delk noted there would not be any new meter boxes set over the next week.

Eric Smith, supervisor at the sewer plant, then briefly addressed the governing body with concerns primarily regarding the need for updated equipment to operate the plant safely and effectively.

Smith told the council that maintaining the treatment plant was very expensive and even the newest equipment currently at the facility is about 13 years old.

He said equipment costs were in the thousands of dollars and they have spent over $20,000 in just the last week and a-half alone, saying it was hard to find people who could work on the sewer plant equipment.

“I am asking for higher water and sewer rates (to maintain the upkeep of the plant) or we are going to run into compliance problems,” Smith said.

Even with the current financial condition of the nation and state, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic going on, councilwoman Thrasher again suggested all department heads put in writing everything they need and maybe the city could find the right people (in Frankfort) to help with some funding.

Jeff Conner, water department supervisor, said it was a major cost to the city to operate the water and sewer departments. He noted his department was trying to find ways to cut costs, including working with a new chemical company that supplies chemicals to treat water at a lower rate.

Conner went on to note the water plant had an estimated $2.7 million in equipment cost needs and said the lagoons were also a pressing problem. “It is very labor intensive,” he said.

Mayor Lyle Pierce said the city was working on a grant to help with problems at the water plant, but there are no guarantees of funding at this point.

The water plant has three new pumps. The plant is capable of producing five million gallons of water per day, but Conner said it is already pumping between 4.5 and 4.7 million average per day.

The total discussion on the water and sewer department issues lasted about 50 minutes, with the council then dealing with some other issues.

Thrasher said, “There is a lot of things that need to be taken care of, the audit report, and other problems. We’re barely scraping by.”

City Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Smith had also presented council members with a listing of the city’s major expenses that have to be paid monthly, such as electricity, employee retirement and health insurance, the latter which is expected to increase in the coming year.

It was also noted that last year’s audit report still had not been presented to the city, despite numerous communications with their new auditors, which concerns council members.

Councilman Delk also stated, “We can’t ask department heads to do something without the equipment they need to do it with. There is a lot of things broken in every department that needs to be fixed.”

In other notes:

Mayor Pierce also pointed out the need for a guardrail to be installed in an area on Allen Street; the credit and debit card machine for drop-off bill paying is now up and running; and the city has created its own Facebook page.

The council verbally agreed to ask department heads to submit a list of equipment needs and cost estimates, hopefully by early May.

City council held its regular monthly meeting this past Tuesday, May 5, at city hall (too late for press deadline) with details on that session to be published next week.