Sewer Problems Continue

[Susan Maslowski]

So...while the Utilities Comm. was meeting last night, the pump station near my home was unable to keep up with the infiltration from the last heavy rain storm. Those bigger pumps will "do the trick," they said. It just takes a little longer for the red light to come on now. Where is the new guy the city hired full-time? Funny, how we never had these problems until the new development was built in Little Tokyo and the new sewer system was installed. Where is the infiltration coming from? That would be a good puzzle for the new guy to solve. God help us, if there is a flood on the Mud!

[HPDCapt]

I have seen Little Tokyo mentioned several times while reading this board. Could someone tell me where it is and where this new development is?
Thanks

[Susan Maslowski]

It is across the RR tracks behind the Church in the Valley. To get there, turn rt. off James R. Tpk. onto W. Mud River Rd., then make an immediate rt. after you go under the RR underpass onto newly named Dale Rd. The former Gibson Glass, now Osborne Glass, is located there. Osborne sells his stuff at Tamarack. He's a nice guy. There used to be a pay lake there and my favorite, The Shulamite Church. A new (now more than a decade old) "double wide" complex went in where there was talk of locating the regional jail, when Tommy Harbour was mayor. That part of the sewer system was built to accommodate a certain no. of houses, and w/the new homes, it surpassed the recommendations, and that part of the sewer line was not upgraded. Howard K. Bell Engineering has recently mentioned there are obvious problems there. I do not know why the area is called Little Tokyo, but would like to know the history. Little Tokyo is like New Milton...a small neighborhood all to itself, except Little Tokyo is not in the city limits and New Milton is. That is the isolated area beyond Blenko.

[HPDCapt]

Thanks for the information

[Susan Maslowski]

For the record...

We had several days of rain last week, which led to the Mud River overflowing its bank in several places. As mentioned before, it takes longer for the pumps at the Truss Factory pump station to become taxed to the point that the red light comes on, but here it is the weekend, and the red light has been flashing all day. I have watched this and reported this, and, anyone with an ounce of common sense, would realize the pumps, though larger in size than the ones they replaced, still cannot keep up with the infiltration that happens following heavy rains. It just takes longer now to trip the light, but just where is this infiltration coming from after a rain that is causing this? Has the new man even gone to check it out? Let's see how long it will be until someone from the city comes to check on the pump station. Monday??? Or will someone read this and come out on a Sunday and collect overtime? What about those promises that the stations were checked daily???

[Susan Maslowski]

The utilities meetings are always more interesting than the council meetings.

Last night, the commission voted to wait before awarding a contract to Thrasher Engineering to upgrade the water department facility. Why? Because, once again, as has been repeatedly noted, Thrasher Engineering has performed a less than stellar service and there are problems with their existing job with the new water tanks, so Ralph Bassett suggested the problems must be resolved before giving them the new contract. Jonathan Carpenter, proud brother-in-law to Jennifer Garner, was on the agenda, but when they called his name, he was no where in the audience. I suspect, as usual, he was stuck in traffic on I-64, or maybe he saw my car out front and decided to go back home.

Bell Engineering was also on the agenda, but not in attendance. They are working on the new water extension.

A lady wanted to sell her house and was trying to get on the "new" sewer system which is 12 ft. above her house. In order for her to go on the system, the city may have to buy a pump for several thousand dollars, but suggested she stay on her septic tank. Why was this situation not noticed when the new line was designed and installed? When a new line goes through, EVERYONE is mandated to go on, so why wasn't this problem recognized before this? How was this lady ALLOWED to remain off the system? We were all FORCED to go on the new system and PAY the sewer fees. I'm assuming this was another oversight by Betty Sargent and Kreth Sink.

An interesting tidbit...I'd heard recently and it was confirmed last night...when the city gave the contract to lay a water line out John's Creek to Jimmy Cummings and Greg Hatfield, it was laid right through leach beds. Mike Hatfield wasn't present last night to ask him, but I understand he protested at the time, because he was with the water dept. Later, when the mistake was discovered, every bit of that line had to be dug up and encased at the city's expense. This topic resurfaced after the recent hepatitis scare, with people wondering about the safety of that line. Remember Greg Hatfield is the person whom Tom Canterbury discovered was supposed to be renting the barn on the Morris Memorial property, but had never paid a dime in rent. Canterbury allowed him to remove the equipment, but I have never heard that the city has tried to collect any money from him. Greg Hatfield is also the contractor who was contracted to hook a homeowner's sewer line to the new city sewer, but instead hooked it up to the person's French drain, so when the person washed their clothes, the water circled their house and came back up in the basement. Saw it with my own eyes!

It is so interesting living in a small town. I really don't make this stuff up.

[miltonwv]

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[Susan Maslowski]

Connie Burgess came to the utilities meeting and presented a letter from her contractor, Rick Pierson, that said there was not sufficient elevation for a good flow to connect the house to the city sewer. He contacted Milton Utilities and the city was able to lower the city side of the pipe, but not enough for adequate drainage. Pierson said most engineers require 1% on 4" pipe and .6% on 6" pipe/per 100'. This is when the commissioners discussed that she either remain on the septic system or the city would have to look into purchasing and installing a pump. She wanted on city sewer, saying that was a plus when putting the house on the market to sell.

Lady...trust me...if your septic tank is working fine, stay on it, especially if you don't have to pay the high sewer rates to the city.

[Susan Maslowski]

The agenda for the last utilities meeting has under *Old Business*

[Susan Maslowski]

Just a teaser regarding last night's utilities meeting, with more later.

Finally, Tenis Adkins was given a task and he fulfilled it. He was to look into getting "an" estimate for survellience cameras to be used at the water plant and "workshop" on Rt. 60, so he got the estimate from Vitatoe, but suggested they wait until they got an estimate for City Hall, too. (I don't think a bid is required for that amount.)

The mayor said they had an estimate, and the total (combined) for both places was roughly $8,000 + or -. According to Jonathan Carpenter from Thrasher Engineering, one of the grants allowed for $15,000 worth of "security."

It sounded like there would also be a camera on our incoming water source, too. The cameras in the utilities office are to "protect the women who work there."

Here is my question? So they spend $15,000 for security and cameras, WHO is going to monitor the cameras?

[Susan Maslowski]

Sometimes the utilities meetings are much more interesting than the regular council meetings. Such was the case Tuesday.

There is still a problem with the water tanks at Kilgore and Newman's branch. It has something to do with a gauge or valve (I don't know what it is, but they aren't filling properly.) Anyway, Jonathan Carpenter from Thrasher Engineering, said he'd gotten an estimate to switch or change whatever needs to be done and Ralph asked about cost and time frame.

Jonathan, who is NEVER prepared, especially when caught off-guard with a question, fumbled to un-zip his portfolio and ruffled through some papers and finally said it would take a couple of days and cost thousands of dollars to fix the problem. The utilities commissioners sat there like bumps on a log, so NEW COUNCILMEMBER Jimmy Smith says, "May I ask a question?"

Tom doesn't like the audience to ask questions in a meeting, but he let Jimmy go ahead.

Jimmy looks at Jonathan and says, "I'm just curious, but if this is YOUR mistake, why are you charging the city to fix it?"

Jonathan turned to Jimmy (I was sitting on the bench next to him), and he glared with his beady eyes, pursed his lips and had the most hateful expression, then said, "I'll take care of it. I'll see that it is taken care of."

Jimmy calmly said, "I was just asking."

Now...why would Jonathan be so willing to absorb thousands of dollars for his company, unless they were truly in the wrong? He knew they were and he was trying to get as much money from the city as he could, knowing how much we have in our grants/money sources.

As soon as the meeting was over, EVERY commissioner was summoned to the back secret room behind the podium and they asked Jonathan to go back with them. Jonathan came out of the room beaming and smiled and waved good-bye to Gerald Clagg. He intentionally did not say good-bye to Jimmy, me or Leora Shelton as he exited the room. Planning on making his grand departure, he stretched his arm out to push on the right hand door and, low and behold, the door was locked and he plowed right into it.

All I can say is...the voters picked a good councilman when you elected Jimmy Smith. He just saved the town thousands of dollars...unless something took place behind closed doors after the utilities meeting that we don't know about. I wonder what they discussed, because Jonathan was all smiles.

Keep on them, Jimmy!

[Susan Maslowski]

The sewer problems haven't gone away. Twice within the last 3 weeks (that I know of and that Gerald Clagg admitted), the power went off at the Truss Factory pump station. With it came sewer stench. I'd mentioned it to the mayor. He drove by, but didn't smell anything. But it comes when there is high volume usage on the line (like 7 a.m.). It turns out, when the pumps shut down, raw sewage overflowed in front of that business that is in the old truss company bldg. now. Gerald sent a crew over to clean up the mess. Wouldn't you like your customers to have to step out into that stuff in the parking lot before they came inside? I understand the new guy "John" recognizes there is a problem over there. If the city would fix it permanently, no one would have to bitch about it. And, BTW, this time, I wasn't the only person in the neighborhood to smell it or recognize there is a problem over there.

[Susan Maslowski]

I see that Salt Rock is still having problems with their pump station out by Morris Memorial. Today, they had a big tanker truck there blocking the road, pumping the station. When there have been problems there, it has caused problems with Milton's stations farther down the line, including the one at the Truss Company. Is that why we've had odors for a couple of months? Do the people at Milton Utilities or Council even know what is going on? When there is a problem such as this with Salt Rock PSC, Milton should be informed. Does anyone want to address what seems to be wrong with the system?