SCOTT CITY PURCHASES MATERIALS; WILL BE USED TO EXPAND UTILITIES

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Council Monday approved the purchase of almost $100,000 in materials that will be used to construct water and sewer lines to the Nash Road industrial area.

Construction began last week on the project, which will cost more than $500,000 before it's through.

The industrial park was the scene of an immense fire over the weekend that destroyed parts of the Industrial Fuels and Resources plant. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated, but an inadequate water supply in the industrial area hindered fire crews.

At Monday's meeting, Scott City Mayor Shirley Young said the blaze made the need for a city water supply to the area more evident than ever.

"We now realize how vital it is to have water in that area," she said, adding that tankers from nearby fire departments had to be refilled with water eight to 10 times before the blaze was brought under control.

The council approved a contract for $71,442 worth of materials from Shulte Supply Co., of Edwardsville, Ill., and one for $28,223.82 worth of materials from Mid-America Supply of St. Louis.

The industrial area was annexed by the city in June 1989, with the city's promise that water and sewer lines would be built soon afterward. But delays in obtaining government grants held up construction.

The project is now going forth with funding from the Department of Natural Resources and a city bond issue. It will be several months before the lines are completed, officials have said.

Young also commended the city's fire and police officials for their work in fighting the blaze, which started Saturday night. Fire crews from 11 area departments were called to the scene.

Several council members said that although officials did a good job of organizing the effort to fight the blaze, there was a problem with supplying information about the blaze to news organizations that called the police department.

Councilman Jay Cassout said the police department dispatchers, who fielded calls from the organizations, were busy communicating with area fire and police departments that assisted in fighting the blaze, and were forced to hang up on reporters.

He said the department was in a state of emergency for several hours, and, in addition to not having time to talk to reporters, dispatchers are forbidden to do so under police department rules.

He said all news media calls are usually referred to the department chief.

Councilman Jim Cauble suggested that a news information center separate from the police department be set up during future emergencies of a large magnitude.

Cassout said: "The problem with that is when you take away qualified people to man this center, you have no one left" to organize the firefighting effort.

Councilman Jerry Cummins said "the situation wasn't handled that bad" and added that instead of being criticized, the departments should be commended for their efforts in fighting the fire.