Cost of removing sewage sludge likely to change

The Scott City Council heard some good, and bad news about the closing of the Old Illmo lagoon at its meeting Monday night.

The good news: The removal of sludge from the lagoon is expected to come in below estimated costs.

The bad news: Further requirements from the state Department of Natural Resources mean that restoring the lagoon area to its original state will cost more.

Jeff Limbaugh with Heartland Application and Equipment Sales Inc., the company under contract to remove the sewage sludge from the lagoon, presented an update to the council.

The city will probably save about $12,000 off the $151,000 bid for removal, since more of the sludge can be directly applied to farm fields than originally thought, Limbaugh said.

But city administrator Ron Eskew said DNR's Storm Water Prevention Plan (SWPP) will require more costs than estimated. Eskew said the DNR only recently made the requirements known to the city -- requirements exceeding the city's original estimates in labor and materials.

The SWPP requires the city to meet certain requirements for seeding and strawing the ground where the lagoon once sat.

Eskew said he doesn't yet know how much the SWPP will cost.

So far the sludge removal is more than 50 percent complete. Limbaugh told the council the sludge should be removed by this weekend.

In other business:

* The council approved tax rates by a vote of 5-0. The rates are 0.4706 cents per $100 assessed valuation for general revenue, 0.3711 cents for debt retirement (down from last year's 0.4180), 0.1681 cents for the City Park and 0.05 cents for the cemetery. Ward 2 Councilman John Crail and Ward 4 Councilman Ron Worl were absent, and Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Curnell abstained.

* The council renewed the city's conflict of interest policy 6-0. The policy is renewed every two years.

* The council voted 6-0 to approve the hiring of Chris Venable as a volunteer firefighter.

* The council approved 6-0 the hiring of Jessica Stoffregen, Stephen Raffety and Randy Sloan as full-time police officers and Ryan Medlin, David McLain and Josh Henroid as reserve officer. The police department is currently short staffed because chief Don Cobb, patrolman Randy Sloan and reserve officer Henroid are with the National Guard assisting in hurricane relief efforts.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182