SPRING CITY—Continued discussion of the water connection issues and the nuisance ordinance took place during the Spring City Council meeting last Thursday, April 7, along with new topics of interest.
A neighborhood in the north buffer zone of Spring City has been experiencing water problems. One family has been without water for six months and have been hauling water for daily necessities. Others in the same area have also lost access to running water.
Individual wells that have run dry extend to about 120 feet, so one family drilled down to 198 feet at great expense, where they found water at 4 gallons per minute. Other drilling attempts down to 300 feet resulted in no water.
To connect to the city’s culinary pipes and run water to their neighborhood will be expensive, according to Sunrise Engineering, the company contracted with the city to approve water plans for both culinary and irrigation. need city approval and funding.
“We have to make sure that we’re not jeopardizing the resources that we need for our city residents by doing this,” says Mayor Chris Anderson. The city council came to a consensus that many groups will need to be involved in order to get the project properly started. Since it is a large investment, it is important that the plan they set in motion considers potential water pressure problems and the future supply of water for the town.
“In the 50-plus years I’ve been here, I don’t remember a dry spell like the one we’ve been through in the last, really, eight, ten years,” says Councilman Courtney Syme.
The council members came to a consensus with the citizens to hold a separate meeting to discuss the water connection project, so that other government bodies can be involved in the process, and more time can be set aside for discussion.
Moving on, Police Chief Chad Huff summarized the progress of the nuisance ordinance enforcement and discussed future steps.
The first step that Huff has taken towards enforcing the nuisance ordinance was posting notices on cars illegally parked on city property, notifying owners to move vehicles to their own property or out of the city.
Many of them complied, he said, even though the notices may have offended a few residents along the way.
Huff said that the city has started looking better, but his attention has been brought to properties that are a much larger issue when it comes to the nuisance ordinance.
His goal is to move forward with a voluntary abatement agreement with the property owners to resolve the issue. If they don’t agree, they may receive either an administrative citation or, for more elevated situations, a criminal violation citation.
Huff plans to take the next two steps before the next city council meeting. He will talk to residents that are out of compliance before drafting up a civil violation, to be approved by the city council, that would require them to clean up their yard or put up a fence to cover up the nuisances.
The city council does consider that nuisances piled up on a property can become a safety and fire hazard. The cluttered debris would feed a fire and make it harder for firefighters to fight, while the chemicals emitted from items such as vehicles can create hazardous fumes.
The city council wants to show that they want to do whatever they can to solve the problem without making it harder on the property owners. They will reach out to non-profit organizations that would be willing to take the debris or find volunteers to help in the clean-up process.
In other discussions, Huff said that, regarding police coverage, the sheriff’s office is having recruitment issues and no longer has enough employees to cover their area. Further, Spring City only has one police chief. If he leaves the area, there is no one to cover for him.
He requested that the city hire another police chief to provide coverage 24/7, and he also he needs a short-term solution in the interim.
To temporarily resolve the issue, Huff recommends working with Mt. Pleasant about coverage in Spring City, and he would offer his assistance to them, as well.
One citizen also stood to announce his support for Huff’s suggestion of another police officer. He believes that law enforcement and protecting the people is the highest priority for the city.
The city council approved the motion to work with Mt. Pleasant to provide coverage on a temporary basis.
They also discussed the allocation of federal ARPA funds received in the middle of last year. They proposed to allocate a portion of the funds for periodically hiring a group of cleaners to deep-clean the city building for the prevention of COVID-19 transference.
They also reviewed a proposal to use ARPA funds to increase the hourly wages of all employees who are considered essential workers by $2 per hour, which will also help with employee retention.
It was determined that all city employees are considered essential workers, and the proposal for the fund allocation were approved.
They also approved hiring Dave Oxman, Mt. Pleasant financial director to provide expert assistance to the city council and the mayor in financial matters for $5,000 a year.
Oxman would provide training for all their staff, assist in budgeting, and be available to answer questions from staff.
The city council also updated their fees for manpower and equipment charges, which they will post on the city’s website by the next city council meeting.
