Good Audit, Progress On New Management Company Highlight BPW Meeting

A clean audit and continued progress on the search for a new management company for the city’s water department highlighted the Tuesday, Feb. 4 meeting of the Board of Public works.

Audit
The first order of business began with an audit report presented by Butch Beeman of Trout, Beeman and Company. He opened by thanking BPW and O&M for their cooperation in conducting and preparing the audit. He said there were no difficulties, the teamwork was valuable. and there were no deficiencies to be concerned about. Beeman continued by noting the BPW looks financially stable, and the balance sheet looked comparable to the previous year. He added the long-term debt was decreased by $81,000, all monies in accounts in the bank, and all securities, are FDIC insured and fully collateralized. He concluded his by restating the BPW is financially stable.

After approving the minutes of the previous meeting and the financial statement to pay invoices, the board moved on to old business items.

Water System
With regard to the water system, Water Superintendent Tony Lerda noted there was a water main break along 131 Hwy (North Lexington) with a baseball sized hole, but added it had been repaired. Also reported was a small leak along that street, too small to find. In addition, there was another break along South Vine Street near 7th Street. Both of these, he said, should have several feet of pipe replaced, adding there have been several leaks in both areas in recent years.
BPW Chairman Al West asked how long water pipes should last. Lerda responded Missouri assumes the life of water pipe is estimated at 70 years, but added there were pipes in the ground over 100 years, and better ductile iron of today should last longer.

Sewer System
Turning to the sewer system, Lerda reported there was some general maintenance done on the SAGR system and some routine jetting performed, but otherwise there were no sewer issues. With no new business, the board then heard comments from the floor.

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