Decatur awards soccer-field construction contract, looks at well system

Submitted Photo A Decatur city worker rewires a new junction box into the pump relay system after a lightning strike put City Well Number 3 out of commission for a short time July 11. The black marks above the worker show where the lightning bolt burned the paint off of the cinderblock building.
Submitted Photo A Decatur city worker rewires a new junction box into the pump relay system after a lightning strike put City Well Number 3 out of commission for a short time July 11. The black marks above the worker show where the lightning bolt burned the paint off of the cinderblock building.

— Two items topped the agenda as the Decatur City Council met for its monthly meeting in the conference room at city hall July 13.

Before the meeting started, Bob Tharp, Decatur Mayor, expressed his appreciation to Decatur Police Chief Terry Luker and the entire police force for their dedication to duty in keeping Decatur safe. Tharp also observed a moment of silence for the five Dallas police officers killed in the line of duty July 8.

The Veterans Park soccer field, the subject of the last three council meetings, once again topped the agenda. After the June meeting, the city put the project up for bids to find a contractor for the project. Four bids were received and were presented to the council for consideration.

The lowest bid for the project was $49,000, $14,000 more than the current budget of $35,000. The bid included a $20,000 parking area and $29,000 for the soccer field.

The city has reapplied for a major grant from the New and Blue foundation to complete the soccer field project and walking trail at Veterans Park.

The field will run north and south from Arkansas Highway 102 to near the outfield fence on Edmiston baseball field. The field will require the removal of dirt to level the field. Once complete, the dirt will be placed back on the soccer field in hopes that it will reseed itself. A net will be placed along Highway 102 to keep the balls from landing in the highway.

"It will be tight," said Tharp. "But Bob will do his best to make it work."

The plan also calls for two youth fields to run parallel to the goal lines of the main field. This will require wider side lines and end zones to fit the specifications of the regulations for the youth fields.

Alderman James Jessen suggested that the mayor contact the youth sports program officials to see what their requirements would be before beginning construction.

The proposal will be reviewed during the Aug. 8 city council meeting.

The Decatur water department experienced an emergency on Sunday, July 10.

Well Number 3, located on the end of Austin Street near the wastewater treatment plant was hit by lightning sometime in the morning of Aug. 9 during an intense lightning storm that swept through Decatur. The bolt completely destroyed the electrical junction box on the side of the building, catching it on fire. The wind and heavy rain extinguished the fire before it had a chance to destroy the building.

Fortunately, the pump station was shut down for the weekend, which saved the pump motors from damage.

A pressure drop was indicated when the city tried to turn the pump on Monday morning. Rapid response by city and water department workers in conjunction with workers from Empire Electric had the pump operational by mid morning.

"Should this have happened during the week when the system was operating during normal capacity," said James Boston, director of public works, "we would have had a serious problem."

The city currently obtains water from three wells and the Two-Ton water project. Well Number 4, located next to the tank farm at Decatur High School, has been inoperative for three years. In the past year, city workers have been looking at the well to see just what it would cost to bring it back online.

Well 4's shaft was drilled to the 2,000 foot level, with the pump sitting at the 600 foot level. Once the well goes back into service, it will add an additional 300 to 400 gallons a day to the system.

The council will readdress the well system during the Aug. 8 meeting.

In other action, the council reviewed parking on Second Street and approved the purchase of a new flag pole at Veterans Park, with cost for the project to be shared with the Decatur VFW post.

The Decatur City Council meets every second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the conference room at Decatur City Hall. The first 30 minutes of each meeting is set aside for citizen comments. For more information, contact the city office at 752-3912.

General News on 07/20/2016