Macon Reporter

City of Sullivan City Council met April 8. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the council:

      1. The City Council ofthe City of Sullivan, Illinois, met in a special session on Monday, April 8, 2019, at 6: 45 p.m. at the Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library, 2 West Water Street, Sullivan. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Short. A roll call was taken.

      Commissioner Mike Mossman       present

      Commissioner Mike Kirk                present

      Commissioner Grant Wade           present

      Commissioner Jerry Risley            present

      Mayor Ann Short                           absent

      2. Lee Beckman of Milano & Grunloh Engineers was present to lead the meeting. He explained that the purpose was for a public meeting regarding the proposed construction of a 1. 5 MGD water treatment plant. The public was invited to attend and comment on such issues as economic and environmental impacts, service area, alternatives to the project, or any other pertinent issues.

      The water plant serves approximately 2367 customers with potable water. The project is estimated to cost $ 8. 5 million. The public hearing is required to apply for funding through Rural Development.

      Mr. Beckman explained that throughout the years the City has made improvements to the water plant pieces at a time. It was brought up that items needed to be addressed or completed. The clarification issue has an estimated cost of$ 2 million. A new water plant would make improvements that would probably take care of capital costs for 30-40 years as long as there were no major changes by the EPA. A complete new building would be built but would utilize the existing ground storage tank and the pump and electrical room. A recently installed Miox system also has the potential to be used in the new building.

      It was asked by a citizen in attendance what kind of manpower it would take to run the plant. Mr. Beckman stated that the City Council would determine how many employees would run the plant. Chuck Woodworth stated that the EPA determines the required number of employees. Mr. Beckman noted that one of the new surface water plants currently has one operator running the plant for 8 hours a day, and stated that the City could have additional manpower above the minimum.

      Commissioner Risley asked what length of time the construction would last, and Mr. Beckman stated 12 to 18 months depending on the season that was started. A new plant would be built while the old plant continues to run.

      An application of the proposed construction would be sent to Rural Development and the EPA. Rural Development can help with funding depending on the issues. The IEPA has loans that could come with principal forgiveness. It is estimated that the best funding would come from the IEPA. The last project was completed and was given a 50% forgiveness.

      Mr. Woodworth asked for a list ofthe things that needs to be done to the current plant. Mr. Flannell and Commissioner Wade promised to forward that list to him. Mr. Beckman asked if there were any other questions or comments, and there were none.

      3. A motion was made by Commissioner Mossman and seconded by Commissioner Kirk that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was reduced to writing and read to the Council. Upon roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

      Commissioner Mike Mossman      yea

      Commissioner Mike Kirk                yea

      Commissioner Grant Wade           yea

      Commissioner Jerry Risley            yea

      Mayor Ann Short                           absent

and the motion was declared carried and the meeting was adjourned at 6: 56 p.m.

http://www.sullivanil.us/document_center/Minutes/April%208,%202019%20Special%20Meeting.pdf