LINGLE – The Lingle Town Council met at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening for the bi-weekly discussion of crucial town matters, ideas and concerns.
Present at the meeting was Lingle Mayor, Al Unverzagt, along with fellow council members AJ Lambert, Kathy Wilhelm, Micah Foster and Brandie Cook.
Perhaps the most crucial item on the agenda for the evening was the discussion of troubling issues in regard to the plumbing of Lingle.
According to town maintenance staff Jeremy Ochsner and Logan Dailey the community has seen its share of plumbing problems going back last summer, where harmful items were steadily flushed down Lingle’s plumbing system.
As both Ochnser and Dailey pointed out during Wednesday night’s meeting, Lingle’s entire plumbing system is possibly going to face severe leaking issues within the next few years if the proper maintenance is not addressed promptly.
“This is a problem we have been having that is progressively getting worse with the ‘meter pits’ as everyone calls them,” Ochsner began. “For us, this makes it a liability where it states that all is up to us. It’s been one of those things in the past where there are problems with leaking. Sometimes they can be fixed. The problem is a lot of them are starting to fail underground to the point where you can’t fix them now.”
Ochsner went on to explain in specific detail the problem is going to be a concern for both property owners as well as town authorities in the near future, and everyone should become well aware of this immediately.
“Last year we had five [meter pits] fail with two underground. I informed those homeowners this was their meter pit, and we can’t fix it above ground. Those individuals hired a plumber who dug it up and fixed it. They serve no purpose other than being an extended water line with a leak. The problem is we are going to see a lot of them in the next few years. Most of them have a 25-30 year life span. If you want the town to take responsibility for those pits, it needs to say it.”
“Look at it like this,” Ochsner continued. “We pay very little for water a month. We all pay the same except for the school, which is very cheap. A part of that is more liability. This set up is very old. If you put this on the town, it’s going to fail and keep failing. If you are putting more responsibility on the town and not just the two maintenance guys, the town will be responsible for more potential leaks. This is going to be a much worse problem in a few years than it is now. That’s what we are saying. We are going to have raise the water rates. Not a lot, but a little.”
Dailey adamantly added, “Depending on where the leaks are, they can be anywhere from two, six, or seven feet deep where the leak actually is. Eventually the ground will be completely saturated by water, which is how you can tell there’s a leak.”
The council proceeded to take note on the matter, while taking on other prominent agenda items.
The meeting moved forward with public comments of Maggie Kimzey representing Pine Bluffs Gravel & Excavating Inc.
While speaking digitally before the council, Kimzey explained in detail a proposal for a fuel-tank storage project to be built near Lingle Fire Hall presumably within the next six months.
“I would really like to thank everyone for taking the time to hear me out,” Kimzey began. “Just briefly, we do have about 50% of our customers right now in Goshen or Niobrara counties. We are looking to get more changed, and all of our drivers have a restriction. So, if we could cut down on the time it takes coming from Pine Bluffs that would better serve our area from our standpoint. What we would like to do is purchase a lot. We have three 10,000-gallon storage tanks. The fire marshal regulations state we have to stay under 50,000 for storage in order for us to pass regulations for them. We would like to have one reserved for agricultural diesel for customers to access. The way that works for us in Pine Bluffs is there is just a pin pad, and each customer plugs in their number and just sends the amount straight to us for billing. They would be above ground storage tanks.”
When touching base on when Kimzey wished to get the project started and how long it would possibly take to complete, the representative was convincing that sooner is always better.
“We would’ve liked to have been there by now,” Kimzey said. “Obviously it’s probably going to be late summer before we are going to have the construction personnel available to get concrete poured. Once all approvals are in place, we could be up and running in under six months. We also have a graveling construction business in Pine Bluffs to do the necessary construction. Right now, we have a single tank that makes deliveries to farms and ranches up there, and we have a double tanker that hauls fuel back and forth. I don’t think as far as our deliveries it would be noticeable. We will have an annual inspection each year, and we have to keep up with all kinds of things to have our inspection. We like to take pride in our businesses.”
The council made a motion to move the tank storage project forward, and the item will be discussed further at the next scheduled meeting.
Additionally, the third and final reading of ordinance #365, the de-annexing from the town of Lingle real property known as the Scott Addition was unanimously passed and finalized by all council members without further discussion.
Lingle Town Clerk, Ritch Reyes, shortly before adjournment was remindful to the council election nominations will continue to be accepted from March 15 through April 4 at 4 p.m. at Town Hall.
“Remember, it’s a 25-dollar application fee to be on the ballot,” Reyes said.
The meeting adjourned promptly at 6:54 p.m. and will reconvene at 6 p.m. at the community center on Wednesday April 3.
