By Julie Johansen
About 15 months ago, Kerry Lake, maintenance supervisor for Emery School District, approached the Castle Dale City Council in regards to a large overage bill from the main meter at Emery High School. There were questions as to leaks, non-functioning meters, or misreading. For several months, Lake and his maintenance crew, city maintenance workers and city officials have tested and monitored all these possibilities, including installing a new meter.
Several optional billing proposals and changes have been presented to the council for consideration, but in the end a motion and second was put before the council Thursday evening to leave it as it was before the debate began. This motion passed with a 3-2 majority vote. Emery High will be charged as a regular residential connection for both sewer and water. Overage fees will remain as they were previously. They will be allotted 10,000 gallons of water per month and 100,000 gallons of sewer disposal before going into overage.
Other issues before the council at February’s meeting included a public hearing to discuss the annexation of a parcel of land for Jake and Amanda Frandsen. There was no discussion, leading the public hearing to be closed and an ordinance to annex the land was adopted. The land is along SR 29 north of Castle Dale.
Fire Chief Nosh Arrien gave a report on the requirements and licensure of the volunteer firemen. These included random drug screening, wildfire, structure and rescue training. He also outlined the required jobs for his city maintenance crew to finish in the near future. Code Enforcement Officer Jared Lofthouse reported little action for the last month.
Approval was given for $250 to help Emery County Recreation Department purchase new canopies and replace tires on the mobile bleachers. A reminder that dog licenses are due by Feb. 28 was issued as well as a reminder about the program, Murder at The Swell Casino, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. in the city hall building.