City pays for damages after waterline extended

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

— Kim Goble was appointed to fill the Ward 3, Position 1, seat on the Decatur City Council during the Aug. 16 meeting.

The seat was left open when Tripp Lapham, who represented Ward 2, Position 2, resigned on Jan. 1. Alderman David Sutton, who represented Ward 3, Position 1, was subsequently moved to Lapham’s ward after it was discovered he was appointed and re-elected to the wrong ward.

Goble told the council she graduated from Decatur High School and her family owned the Gallery Cafe for a number of years. Her daughter is currently an honor student at the Decatur High School, she said.

“I would be glad to help sit on council if you need me,” she said.

Mayor Charles Linam administered the oath of office after the meeting. Goble will be an official member of the council in 10 days, after she files the minutes at the Benton County Clerk’s office.

Water Line Troubles

The council voted to pay Tommy and Betty Turner $3,800 for repairs to their property after the city installed a water line across the Turner’s land last year.

The water line extended the city’s current water linesto the Decatur Livestock Auction and back to Y-City Road to make a complete loop.

The Turners appeared before the council on Aug. 16 with their attorney, Wayne Ackerman, to request their land be put back the way it was before the line was installed.

The Turners said the city broke a piece of cement, left loose rocks across their land which made it impossible to mow and maintain the property, and destroyed a pine tree. They presented an estimate from Tom Mills Construction for the repair of the property for $3,800, which included the repair of the cement, raking the waterline ditch to get rid of excess rocks, applying three loads of top soil and rolling the ditch before and after the top soil was applied. They also estimated it would cost $763 to replace the 15-foottall pine tree.

The Turners were not asked to sign an easement until after the line was complete, Ackerman said. City employees had made several attempts to fix the property but did a poor job, according to the Turners.

Mayor Charles Linam said he requested the Turners sign the easement several months ago and the Turners refused. Linam then refused to repair the property until the easement was signed.

“I said, ‘We will fix it if yousign the easement,’” said Linam.

“I feel that’s a threat,” Betty Turner responded.

“I’m sorry. That’s not how I meant it,” Linam said, explaining he felt the city would be just as legally liable to fix the property after the easement was signed.

Ackerman voiced concerns that signing an easement that stated the land would be put back into the condition it was before the easement was signed would mean the city did not have to change the land from its current appearance.

After a great deal of discussion, the council agreed to pay Tom Mills Construction $3,800 to do the work. City attorney Tom Smith also agreed to reword the easement to specify that the land would be put back to its original condition.

Alderwoman Nan Mc-Clain said she would begin calling local nurseries to see if she could find a replacement tree at a lower price.

Falling Springs Water Line

Donnie Shook, Brent Hopkins and his sister Megan Oaks appeared before the council to request that a city water line be extended to their property near the intersection of Falling Springs Road and Carlton Drive.

Oaks is planning to build a home on the property and needs to make arrangements for water before construction can begin.

On Monday, city utilities director James Boston estimated the water line would cost about $23,500 to install. Shook offered to pay $5,000 towards the line.

Boston estimated the line would have to be extended between 1 and 1.5 miles, with at least two property owners who would be hooking up to the water and potentially four more. If the water line were extended a little bit further down the road, there are15 to 20 residences that could hook into the line, including a chicken farm, he said.

Hopkins told the council that many of those neighbors have expressed interest in having city water.

The waterline extension would bring the city closer to its goal of forming a complete loop from Falling Springs Road to West Highway 102, joining together at Rootville.

“We want to extend water lines to the people in our water district including the people on Falling Springsand Mount Zion ... on West Mountain Road and even on Turkey Ridge.

“We have a lot of people that want our water and we want them to have it. Its strictly a matter of when we can pay for it,” said Linam.

In the past, the city had a policy of not borrowing to install water line but paying for it as they built it, Boston said.

On Monday, Linam said he was still trying to decide whether or not to make the waterline extension.

News, Pages 7 on 08/24/2011