Board discusses sewer plant improvements

PINEVILLE -- The Pineville Board of Aldermen, at its meeting Tuesday, discussed possibly adding drying beds at the sewer plant.

Public Works Superintendent Chris Tinsley said the drying beds would have to be engineered. He said he spoke to a representative about lowering the price of engineering and surveying.

Mayor Gregg Sweeten said the representative lowered the price by $14,000. The price for engineering and surveying is $27,300, he said. Another $22,100 could be added for flood plain and geotechnical boring, he said.

Sweeten also explained the city has budgeted $40,000 to repair clarifiers at the sewer plant, and this project is under budget at this time. Any leftover funds from the clarifiers could be applied to the drying beds project, he said.

The board voted to table the drying beds until more is known about the clarifiers.

Also Tuesday, the board looked at materials quotes for a lift station vault at the main lift station.

Tinsley said the labor for the project would be $2,000.

The three materials quotes were: $13,732 from Core and Main LP; $6,030 from Joplin Supply; and $7,035 from Ferguson.

Tinsley recommended that the board select Ferguson because the bid from Joplin Supply included an unfamiliar brand of materials. The board approved the bid from Ferguson.

Elliot Frazier appeared before the board to say that he and his wife are buying land on Mountain Ridge and that a quarter of an acre they originally believed to be part of the property actually belongs to the city. He said they want to purchase it. He added they are about three weeks away from closing on the property.

City Attorney Kirk Wattman told Frazier that the current owners of the property had approval to purchase that piece of property and the city did not know they had never done so. He said it would take longer than three weeks to get approval for the Fraziers to purchase the parcel.

Frazier asked whether, if the current owners were willing to purchase the land in order to sell the property, that would be acceptable to the city.

Wattman said that would be a possibility.

Also, the board voted to spend $1,560 to fix the rail on the bridge on Eighth Street.

In other business, the board voted to approve the payment of bills in the amount of $37,532.