[JAN. 16, 2006]
City officials will be opting out of a class
action suit against the Ford Motor Company in order to participate
in a lease program and purchase new squad cars. The city had been
added to the suit that was taken against the company because some
Crown Victorias have allegedly blown up. City attorney Bill Bates
said he had no prior knowledge of this until the city was turned
down for participation in the lease program the company offers.
Buzz Busby, chairman of the council’s police committee, said that
the city has not had problems with the Crown Victorias that they’ve
bought in the past.
Busby said the opportunity for a low-interest
loan is on the table to complete work that was initially planned
with the sewer upgrade a couple of years ago. The extra work had
been put aside when costs of the upgrade began exceeding project
costs. The Environmental Protection Agency has a loan that would
allow the city to proceed with a new pump station and force main at
the south plant on their five-year extended plan. The preliminary
cost of that work is $702,400.
Busby said that it was talked about in the past to raise tap
fees. He said it is time to consider that again.
Alderman Jonie Tibbs said there are some extra costs coming in on
the Sysco site. She turned it over to city engineer Mark Mathon to
explain the requests that have come in for compensation on the
project.
Stark Excavation has had more work and costs in laying the
sanitary sewer. The site elevation differs from the plan by 3
feet. They were shy 600 feet of pipe and had to dig 3 1/2 feet
deeper, taking more time. The cost is $4,770.
It was found that soil conditions were not adequate to
support the proposed storm sewer. It required adding oversized
stone for a better support base.
Green and Bradford would like to rent a mobile trailer at
$3,000 for five months.
There was some discussion about whether the city should be
responsible for any or all of the requests. The first two were
identified as unforeseen circumstances, and Mathon was advised to
have the companies submit a bill for payment.
It was not determined what to do about the trailer request. A
general consensus was that the trailer should have been in the
original contract with Green and Bradford. Alderman Derick Crane
commented, "Somebody’s feet are going to get cold."
