Scott City may be underequipped for snowfall

Snow was a main topic of concern during Scott City's city council meeting Monday night.

The city has three snowplows and a sand spreader. But with the spreader being repaired, city employees will be underequipped if Scott City gets the four to six inches of snow the National Weather Forecast in Paducah, Kentucky, is forecasting for Wednesday.

The council discussed adjusting public work's hours to 10-hour shifts for four days a week.

Jack Rasnic of the public works department said employees will work Monday through Thursday, and someone will be on call Friday if issues arise. He said the gate at the department will be unlocked Friday for residents to unload trash or tree limbs.

Also, city employees recently discovered fire hydrants in the 3000 block of Main Street aren't working. The New Hamburg-Benton-Commerce Rural Fire Protection District responded to a structure fire Feb. 15 on Camelot Drive in Scott County. Scott City Fire Chief Jay Cassout said when firefighters tried to refill tankards at the hydrants, neither one in that area worked.

"We had just used them the week before on a vehicle fire on the interstate, and they worked fine then," Cassout said.

The mayor and council agreed public works should make fixing the hydrants a priority. The issue led to a discussion about city fire hydrants. The council decided to have the fire department and public works meet to discuss regular flushes of the hydrants and said all outside fire districts must report to the police department when they use hydrants and record how much water is used.

Police Chief David Leeman said a new filing system for police records is up and running, and officers are happy with it.

"We are up to speed with everybody else now," Leeman said.

Phyllis Crump from the parks and recreation department said the city is planning its annual Summerfest for May 28 to 30 and will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the city park and pool.

Councilman Norman Brant invited the mayor and other councilors to a lunch March 11 to thank them for their help in opening the new Scott City Historical Museum.

smaue@semissourian.com

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