Albany City Council held its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday, June 2, with all council members on hand for the 25 minute session that was streamed on the city’s Facebook page.

The council first heard from Eric Dicken about a water line and meter situation in the Malone Ridge area, known as Glencreek Cove.

Dicken told the council he was doing work on a building on property that had two water meters, one of which was used by him and another by Doug Smith, the latter he said, that had a three-quarter inch water line running to a couple of homes.

Dicken claimed that an attorney had done research on the issue and there had been no easement granted for the line and that both meters were on his property.

Dicken and his business partner, Greg Talbott, who was also at the meeting, suggested running a three or four inch line down Smith’s road and said they would pay for half of the cost and all the rest of the cost to run the line on past that property, an area where development is apparently being planned.

They also presented a plat of the area and said development was expected to begin once they get water to the area. “People are wanting to get back to areas like Clinton County right now,” Dicken told the mayor and council.

Kenneth Delk, with the water department, said that price estimates for a four inch line are just over $2 per foot and just under $2 per foot for a three inch line. He further said the property was 6,300 feet from the main road to the property in question, and noted the meters had been installed over 30 years ago,
“before my time,” he said.

During the discussion, Talbott said the roadway had a 50 foot right-of-way.

Dicken said that there are about 122 acres of property they planned on developing, with up to 20 meters that would be needed when development is complete.

Delk stressed that the major problem of running a water line to the area would be dealing with rock removal, “that is my biggest concern,” he noted.

Dicken said that the second meter would have to be moved to begin work on the building they are using and again said they would pay for the rest of the line to be run to the intersection.

When asked about a time frame on when they would like to begin developing, Dicken said around late September, but by no more than around six months from now.

Mayor Lyle Pierce told Dicken and Talbott, “We will see what we can do about it, but money is a problem right now.”

Delk said he would set up a meeting with the city’s engineers and asked Dicken and Talbott to also meet with them about the situation, saying they would look at the two meters to the building first.

The mayor added they would try to get the building situation worked out first and take it from there.

In other business:

* Councilman Reed Sloan again questioned about run over, or damaged water meters on property, the cost of set up and who would be responsible for paying. However, no action was taken on the issue.

* Mayor Pierce said the long-awaited audit report should be available sometime this week. The audit is usually completed and presented to the council for review by at least December of the previous year. There was also an unanswered question as to whether or not the same auditor’s would be retained to do this year’s city audit.

* City Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Smith also told the council that the budget wasn’t complete as of last week’s meeting and a special meeting would likely be held soon for a first reading on the 2020-21 year budget, which has to be finalized by June 30.

* The mayor also said the new water pumps should be arriving later this summer and that after the latest discussion with officials, he was 99.9 percent certain the grant for water in the Duvall Valley area would be approved in the near future.

Many residents in that area have experienced being out of water or having low pressure problems already this year.

* Councilman Sloan told fellow council members, for informational purposes only, that he had been contacted by an engineering firm out of Tompkinsville that had expressed interest in making a presentation to the city council.

The next regular meeting of Albany City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, July 7, at 5 p.m. at city hall with a special call meeting pending later this month.

Until further notice, the meetings will be live streamed on the City of Albany’s Facebook page.