Algonac City Council members approved reappointments to the planning commission and discussed several water plant items at a June 20 meeting.

Mayor Rocky Gillis said four planning commission board members had terms expiring July 17 and would like to be considered for reappointment: Rich Arpan, Amanda Hass, Brian Tideswell and Mark Thompson.

“The boards and commissions appointment policy approved by city council in December 2015 states that no new applicants would be sought out in the case of a requested reappointment, unless by majority of the council,” Gillis said.

Council member Corey Blair made a motion to approve the reappointments of Arpan, Hass, Tideswell and Thompson to the planning commission for three-year terms ending July 1, 2026.

He thanked each of them.

“Their reappointment makes everything a lot smoother, especially with everybody still within the group and been on the group for a while, so I commend them and say thank you,” he said.

“They’re all good people,” council member Michael Bembas said.

Gillis agreed, and the motion was unanimously approved.

Council members also thanked and congratulated those reappointed to the planning commission during the council comment portion of the meeting.

“It takes a lot to volunteer for commissions, especially one as important as the planning commission,” council member Dawn Davey said.

Mayor Pro Tem Raymond Martin commented that the four are volunteers and give up their time to serve on the commission.

“I would also to thank our reappointments,” Gillis said. “It makes our job much easier and we don’t have to go out and search for candidates, so we appreciate their service.”

Water Plant Items

The council also discussed several water plant items.

“We’re being asked to approve water plant fluoride probe replacement,” Gillis said. “The water plant is required to test the amount of fluoride in both raw water and drinking water. The current probe is no longer working.”

He said the city received a quote from USA Blue Book for a new fluoride probe and associated solutions.

Davey made a motion to approve water plant fluoride probe replacement from USA Blue Book in the amount of $1,118.14.

City Manager Denice Gerstenberg said a new fluoride probe was ordered as soon as it was discovered that the previous one was not working anymore.

Bembas suggested ordering a second probe so that if one stops working, there is a backup.

“I would like to ask the public services superintendent if that would be beneficial for him and then get back with you,” Gerstenberg said.

The motion was unanimously approved.

The council also unanimously approved a motion to approve a one-year maintenance contract for 24-hour monitoring of chlorine levels to Hach in the amount of $4,323.

“The water plant has three CL-17 online chlorine analyzers and one benchtop turbidimeter,” Gillis said. “These analyzers monitor the chlorine in the distribution system. The current maintenance contract with Hach has expired and Hach is the sole source maintenance provider for these instruments. The state of Michigan (Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) requires 24-hour, online monitoring of these analyzers. It is recommended that the contract with Hach be renewed to keep the system compliant with EGLE requirements.”

Next, council approved water plant annual water monitoring samples.

“The Algonac Water Filtration Plant is required by the state of Michigan to conduct annual water sample testing,” Gillis said. “The water plant staff will pull the samples and send them to a qualified, state-certified lab who will perform the required tests. Additional costs this year will include lead and copper sampling and synthetic organic compound testing, which is only performed every three years, and gross alpha, which is performed every nine years. Two quotes were received, one from Paragon Laboratories and one from Trace Analytical Laboratories Inc. It is suggested that we use Paragon Laboratories, with a not-to-exceed amount of $4,000.”

The quote from Paragon Laboratories was $3,557 and the quote from Trace Analytical Laboratories Inc. was $4,856.25.

Council member Ed Carter made a motion to approve water filtration plant mandatory 2023 water sample testing with Paragon Laboratories in the amount not-to-exceed $4,000. The motion was unanimously approved.

In addition, the council unanimously approved a motion to approve water plant generator annual service contract with Ruemenapp’s Repair in the amount of $1,600.85.

“The generator at the water plant requires an annual service contract in order to maintain emergency preparedness,” Gillis said. “Ruemenapp’s Repair has made repairs to the generator in the past and has performed satisfactorily.”

*Original full-text article online at: https://www.voicenews.com/2023/06/22/algonac-city-council-approves-planning-commission-reappointments/