City adopts odd/even water ban

Jamie Hult

 

The Brandon City Council lifted the citywide water ban wMonday and imposed in its place permanent, every-other-day lawn watering restrictions. 

“It’s even/odd until the council appeals it,” said city administrator Bryan Read. “The ban is permanent.”

Resolution 13-17 repeals Resolution 12-17, which the city council passed Aug. 7. The every-other day restrictions do not apply to trees, shrubs and gardens, which may be watered during the usual, designated hours. No watering is allowed between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

“The penalty stays in place for watering on non-assigned days,” Read said. 

The penalty, which was put forth in the city’s first lawn watering ban July 19, is a written notice of violation for a first offense and $100 fine for a second.

Alderman Jon McInerney, who held out against Resolution 12-17, said he wasn’t in favor of the penalty terms but voted yes Monday. 

“I’ll fight that battle in the future,” he said.

In recent weeks city officials have addressed concerns from residents that Brandon did not buy water through the Lewis and Clark pipeline project 15 years ago.

Both Read and finance officer Dennis Olson said Lewis and Clark was not a viable option for Brandon due to its wealth of well water underground.

“For towns without water, Lewis and Clark was a great idea,” Olson said. “It was not a solution for Brandon.”

The question arose at the council’s July 19 meeting.

“Back when Lewis and Clark was proposed, if a community wanted water it had to pre-pay up front what the cost was going to be and rely on the federal government to fund the rest,” Read explained. 

Through Lewis and Clark, cities pre-paid for water the community didn’t receive until years later. 

“Lewis and Clark started 15 years ago. Luverne got water last year. So they pre-paid upfront ‘X’ millions of dollars for ‘X’ amount of capacity. And once you reach that capacity, that’s all you get with Lewis and Clark,” Read said. “You prepay up front, you might not get your water for 15 years like Luverne, and you bought a capacity that was capped.”

Brandon historically uses 20-year growth projections when planning infrastructure like a water treatment plant. 

“If we projected 15 to 20 years ago when this was being proposed, we would have exceeded our cap. We would have been out of water with Lewis and Clark,” Read said.

“Lewis and Clark is not the end-all, be-all solution to everything. In my opinion, I think it was a messed-up program with the feds relying on appropriations. Is it a source of water? Yes. Would it have solved our problem? No.”

At the Aug. 21 council meeting Stockwell engineer Jon Brown presented a project for implementation of an additional back-up water source, well number eight. The council approved a motion to put out bids to drill casing pipe and test pumping on the well at an estimated cost of $150,000.

McInerney said he anticipated questions from the public as to why the city was investing in another well rather than treatment of water from its back-up well sources. 

Brown said the city plans to expand its treatment capacity in the future and build two new water towers, but adding the additional well source was a necessary first step.

“We need all three things – source, treatment and storage,” Brown said. “It just takes time. We’re looking at water rates to see what we have to do to implement treatment sooner than later.”

He said a project in progress is giving the city’s water treatment plant the ability to better treat well water and should be complete in six weeks. 

Talk moved to the streets. The city council gave the green light to a street re-striping project that will put epoxy on main throughways, rather than water-based paint. The epoxy is expected to last two to three years longer, said city engineer Paul Sanow. He confirmed that re-striping would take place annually on designated streets. 

“If you look at the streets, they’re in need. They’re due,” Sanow said. 

Read advised the council that Inter-Lakes Community Action is looking into the possibility of hiring an additional bus driver to take on a route to Valley Springs. 

The council also gave the go-ahead for Hoover Martial Arts and Circuit Fitness to sponsor an event, Family Fun Fest, at McHardy Park on Saturday, Oct 1. from 3-5 p.m. The community event costs $5 per person or a donation to the Brandon Area Food Pantry and will offer old-fashioned games and food. 

McHardy Park will also be the site of a new outdoor ice rink. The council approved the refrigerated rink, which will be adjacent to the existing rink. Pond skaters will move to the former outdoor ice rink. 

Council members Blaine Jones and Jo Hausman will discuss city Christmas decorations at a special meeting Monday and return to the council with recommendations at the council’s next regular meeting, which is Tuesday, Sept. 5, due to Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.