Albany City Council, meeting in the absence of Mayor Nicky Smith and Council Member Mary Faye Stockton, both out due to illness, held a lengthy session of discussions about water line breaks, the annual audit report and other issues. Four council members were present for the one hour and 35-minute meeting last Tuesday, December 6.

The council first discussed a rash of water line breaks that occurred the first weekend of this month. The first major break was apparently caused by construction work going on at the new Dollar General Market store location in the heavily congested area near the Hwy. 1590 and U.S. 127 intersection stop light.

Following that break, several others occurred in different areas, causing water outages in several communities and low water pressure in others. The problems with the breaks also forced a boil water advisory for several days while the water was being tested.

Kenneth Delk, an employee of the water department, talked about the water line breaks with council members, answering questions about the leaks and the water department’s response in making repairs to the broken lines.

Delk said there were about six total breaks, not counting some residential ones that weekend and city water department employees worked round-the-clock, most almost two days solid, finding and repairing the broken lines.

Delk told the council that he “dreaded winter,” a time when more breaks usually occur due to frozen lines and said breaks will probably be more frequent unless regulators are put back on.

Council members commended the water department employees for their tireless work in finding and repairing the broken lines, although noting it was an inconvenience to all citizens affected.

Councilman Tony Delk also said that he was at the scene on one occasion with the employees while the work was being done and noted they didn’t have the best equipment to work with when it comes to repairing breaks. “Maybe with better equipment, the lines could have been repaired faster and cut down half the time residents would have had to be without water.”

Councilman Delk, who chaired last week’s meeting in the absence of the mayor, also suggested that someone from the city should be appointed to oversee the work being done at the Dollar General construction area, partially due to the amount of water lines in the area and city streets that run near the site.

Councilman James “Smitty” Smith said he felt the council members had been left out on some issues, including water lines and roads.

The issue of how many older water lines still existed in some locations, which is part of the problem with leaks and breaks, was also discussed and some members suggested engineers possibly come up with a blue print showing where older lines are.

Most of the meeting dealt with the city’s annual audit report, presented by Auditor Sammy Lee of Lexington.

Lee once again gave the city a clean report, but also discussed some minor financial issues that will need to be addressed in the upcoming year to keep the city financially sound, although there are some shortfalls in revenue already.

Lee noted that the tight financial conditions the city of Albany is dealing with is not just a localized problem, but due to the economy, a nationwide problem with many cities and counties.

Because the water department, over a period of years, has had to borrow from the city, it has put a burden on the general fund, the auditor noted. He did suggest that more revenue the city receives on an annual basis from the Municipal Aid Road Fund and LGEA (Local Government Economic Assistance) funds should be used to help offset some expenses to the city’s general budget. He said the funds could be used for streets (repairs, etc.) and safety, such as the police and fire departments.

Lee also told the members that another area that is hurting the city financially is that there was less revenue from insurance premiums, that were down during the 2010-11 fiscal year–the year in which the audit report was for. “The public isn’t buying the insurance like they used to,” he noted, because of the overall economic climate.

Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher asked Lee what suggestions he had for cutting city expenses, or raising revenue. The only specific recommendation was some type of cuts in personnel. However, all council members agreed the city is already to the ‘bare bones’ in personnel in every department and health insurance and retirement is mandatory for employees under a state contract.

The council did discuss some scenarios for cutting expenses and raising revenues, other than having to raise taxes or keep raising water rates.

Recently, the city increased water rates to offset the costs of supplying city water to its customers, but the effect financially on how much that will help revenues overall may not be known for a few more months.

Another cost to the city in the long run is the amount of water loss through the local system. Lee said that on paper, the city had about a 27 percent loss in all the water it treats, compared to most areas whose loss is under 20 percent. However, Lee estimated actual water loss for the city would be closer to a little over 30 percent.

Lee and the council members agreed it would be more beneficial to the city to cut costs rather than raising any rates and “conserve everything they can.”

The auditor again told the council “you guys are not alone” in having to operate on a tight budget. However, he did warn that “you have a growing concern that needs to be addressed.”

Councilman Smith said there could have been some things done different (over the past years) to prevent the problems with the water situation.

In other business, the council received its monthly Albany Project Status report from Monarch Engineers. Most projects are complete, with the exception of relocation of utilities for the second and third phases of the U.S. 127 Bypass project, from around the radio station southward, eventually to the Tennessee state line.

The council also voted unanimously to declare four vehicles as surplus and sell via sealed bids, as is. They include a 1997 Ford Ranger pick-up, two 1998 Ford F-150 pick-ups and a dump truck. Bids will be opened at the council’s next regular meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, January 3 at 5 p.m. at city hall and is open to the general public.