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Falls City staff update council on hires, street work, water, plant operations and park projects
Summary
City staff briefed the Falls City Council on new hires, alley grading and street tarring, hydrant flushing, a change to power-plant shifts, decommissioning of two engines for scrap, winterizing park facilities and work on operations manuals for the aquatic center and Pritchard Auditorium.
City staff provided the Falls City Council with an operations update covering recent hires, street and water system work, power-plant operational changes and park maintenance projects.
On human resources, staff reported that Bridal Burr started Sept. 23 as the parks and recreation director; Kathy Poleneck was hired as a custodian and Shaylee Mackie began as a part-time cashier at City Hall. The city is advertising to backfill a position vacated by Dale Campbell. Staff said some employees previously doing airport custodial work will have that duty added to another role and the airport will reimburse the general fund for that service.
Public-works updates include grading and reshaping alleys on the west side (complete) and expected work on the east side over the next two to three weeks using a new Harley rake and other equipment. The streets division is conducting sectional tar and asphalt operations and staff said a new snow-and-ice control plan will be presented to the council for adoption after coordination with downtown businesses and the county.
Water and power updates: the distribution team began hydrant flushing and expects completion in one to two weeks; the water-distribution crew is handling the work rather than the power-plant crew going forward. At the power plant, the night shift was eliminated effective Oct. 13; staff now operate two shifts (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) with an on-call system overnight. Plant manager Robert McHenry continues to check operations during overnight hours while the plant transitions more monitoring to SCADA systems.
Staff reported the board of public works approved decommissioning engines 1 and 2 at the power plant; the city has a contractor lined up to remove the engines for scrap at no cost to the city, and staff are developing a bonded scope of work to manage disposal and site restoration. Parks staff are winterizing splash-pad and outdoor restrooms as low temperatures approach and are awaiting new mowers budgeted for the 2024–25 fiscal year for parks and cemetery work. Parks leadership is preparing consolidated operation manuals for the aquatic center and Pritchard Auditorium, which will be returned to the council for final adoption to guide future operations.
Staff identified a longstanding nonworking valve outside a pump house that required isolation of a main; water distribution crews addressed the valve to reduce the need to shut down water features during the summer season. No formal council votes were taken on these informational items during the update.
