With hopes of heading off a major problem in the city’s sewer system, the  Hines Common Council approved replacing the lift station that services the south end of the city.

At the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, May 8, City Administrator Judy Erwin explained that the existing lift station fails almost on a daily basis, requiring Acting Maintenance Supervisor Jerry Lewellen to go out to the lift station and get it operating again. She added that Lewellen also has to spend every weekend in town because of the frequent servicing required.

“Needless to say, his comp time is building up rapidly, and we don’t know how long we’re going to be able to keep it going,” Erwin said. “The last time they repaired it, they bought parts off of ebay, and we can’t buy parts for it because it’s too old. It could, at any moment, fail completely, and be unrepairable.”

Erwin said if the city loses that lift station, the whole south end of town, including the Dapple Grey area, the trailer park, and the industrial park, would not have sewer service.

The city did submit a proposal for a grant to replace the lift station, but wouldn’t know for several months if the proposal would even be considered, and “it could go out tomorrow,” Erwin said.

In order to proceed, Erwin stated she made some changes to the budget, borrowing funds from the water department and the general fund, and set up a repayment schedule.

“That’s my plan because we don’t have any alternatives right now,” she said. We can apply for a loan, but how are we going to pay for it, because the sewer department is maxed out. They don’t have one extra dime to pay another loan payment unless we raise everybody’s sewer rates, and since we just doubled everybody’s water rates, I don’t think that’s a good option.”

Erwin told the council she is going to continue to apply for grants and maybe pay back the funds sooner.

Brandon Mahon of Anderson Perry & Associates said the existing lift station was installed in 1972 and in terms of lift stations, it is really old.

He said his firm came up with a couple different replacement options for the city to look at and presented those to the council.

Mahon said the existing lift station has a concrete wetwell and a steel enclosure that houses the pump. The proposal includes rehabilitating and utilizing the existing lift station, removing the existing steel enclosure and pumping system, installing new precast wetwell sections on the existing wetwell, installing new submersible pumps, and providing new electrical and controls.

Mahon noted that most entities are going to the submersible pumps because of the technology and low-maintenance, but added that, “the submersible pumps aren’t cheap, installing them is not cheap, and the current bidding environment is not favorable. Contractors are busy and all of our construction costs just seem to be going up, up, up.”

Mahon said another option would be a self-priming system that would be less expensive, but would probably require more maintenance.

Mayor Nikki Morgan stated that the council needs to look at the longevity of the project as, “whatever decision we make today is going to affect tomorrow and unfortunately, that wasn’t always thought of in the past.”

After some discussion, the council felt the first option would be best in the long run, and voted unanimously to move forward with the submersible pump option at an estimated cost of $276,000.

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Hines Police Chief Ryan Delange reported that a four-day trial has been scheduled for the individuals allegedly involved with three armed robberies in the community.

He said there continues to be a methamphetamine problem, and users are now beginning to mix fetanyl with the meth.

The department is also taking a lot of theft calls, mostly for items that have been left outside by residents, such as lawn mowers and weed-eaters, and DeLange encouraged residents to keep their possessions locked up.

DeLange said law enforcement will be conducting a distracted driving sting in the coming week and wanted the council to know about that.

Councilor Diane Rapaport asked what can be done about the meth problem, and DeLange said the problem escalated when it was decriminalized to a misdemeanor. He added that treatment centers will soon be overwhelmed as well if the problem continues.

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Hines Fire Chief Bob Spence said his department had received eight 911 calls in the past month, and five were either stand-down or turn-around calls.

He reported that the fire department had responded to a fifth-wheel fire at Sands Mobile Home Park caused by a cellphone charger. Spence said the owner of the fifth-wheel complimented the Hines and Burns fire departments on their quick response time to the incident.

There was also an emergency call from outside the city and Spence explained that if it is in the Burns Fire Department area, the Hines Fire Department will remain in town to protect the cities.

“We don’t want all our resources going out of town,” Spence said.

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In other business:

• Boomer Inselman told the council that while renovating the building that will house Boomer’s Place, a restaurant, they incurred an unanticipated expense of replacing the sewer line that runs about 200 feet. The council voted to award Inselman a $5,000 economic development grant. Inselman added that they are still waiting for three mechanical permits and once they receive those, they will have a date for their opening;

• the council approved business licenses for Dogs and More, a mobile hot dog cart owned by Susan Bush, and CLV Products owned by Chuck Vermillion. Vermillion said he remanufactures wood products;

• the council approved Resolution No. 2241, extending workers comp coverage to volunteers;

• Acting Maintenance Supervisor Lewellen said they are still cleaning disposable towels out of the sewer pumps on a regular basis. He commented that the towels are supposed to dissolve, but they don’t, and he encouraged residents not to flush them down the toilet. He said the bathrooms at the park are now open, and the water fountain has been repaired.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, at city hall.