Council approves routine bills, discusses radio-read water meters and road repairs

Council received accounting reports listing vendor charges and routine bills. Staff reported vendor items including ChemTech for water samples and Enbridge gas and Frontier phone charges for town and fire accounts. Unidentified Speaker 4 moved to pay existing bills and include pending Enbridge and Frontier charges; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Council also moved to continue the practice of paying the UAF bill in advance to keep the account up to date; that motion passed. In the water department update, staff said they are preparing source protection letters and checking recorder's office addresses for empty lots. Mountainland will provide a quote for installing radio-read water meters (automatic transmitters attached to meter caps) that would allow remote readings, earlier leak detection and potential water-conservation benefits; staff noted some communities have obtained grants to offset installation costs and will bring a formal quote for council consideration.

The road department reported laying approximately four tons of CrackSeal on several streets (North, Center and South Streets and parts of 4th East) and is awaiting the contractor’s bill; staff said they hope to budget for remaining streets next year and to complete the work within a two-year window. Parks and cemetery matters were raised and the sexton job was mentioned as a pending personnel discussion later in the agenda.