Water rates pass on first reading

New water rates given initial approval Monday night will raise an extra half-million dollars a year for the next two years.

After that, McCook will know exactly what its new water project will cost -- and $1 million in sales tax funding will be available. The project is estimated at $13.2 million.

Councilman Dick Trail's motion to delay the vote until December died for lack of second, after members were reminded that Monday night's vote was on first reading only, and there would be time to amend it if needed before final approval.

The city also hopes for a legal settlement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe over a large diesel spill in south McCook, which threatens a 4 million water storage tank, as well as grants or regulatory relief from the state and federal governments.

In moving for the delay, Trail noted that the water project is the "culmination of a long effort" that involved aborted efforts to establish wellfields at the old Army Air Base and elsewhere to the north, which would have been cheaper and would already have been built, he said.

Councilman Jim Kenny questioned plans for routine use of chlorine treatment in the water, saying the chemical was unsafe.

Engineer Greg Wolford said the chlorine plan was "not set in stone," but, used in the small amounts necessary, chlorine has "changed the face of the country" as far as its health benefits.

An alternative, ultraviolet light treatment at the source, does not disinfect the entire system the way chlorine does, he added.

That discussion came during Wolford's explanation that while the water system does not need a 4 million storage system for fire fighting or drinking water capacity, it does need the storage capacity for two days worth of treated water storage in case the treatment plant breaks down. With the two water towers, the city would have a total of 6 million gallons of storage.

The council also approved a sewer "impact fee" hike to $1,000 from $50 for a new sewer hookup. That fee is designed to offset future improvements to the system.

During a discussion of the Natural Resources District's regulation of city wells, Kenny also raised the question of adding more wells in hopes that treatment might be reduced or eliminated altogether. He said that idea had repeatedly failed to find support, however.