NEW BREMEN – The reason for the million gallon leak at the municipal pool were explained at the Tuesday, Dec. 29, New Bremen Council meeting.
Village Administrator Brent Richter said inspection by Astro Pools revealed that several pipes leading to and from the pool had developed leaks that allowed the water to escape all summer. Richter said the pool, which was built in the late 1990’s, had schedule 40 pipe, which was the standard at the time. Current standards are to use schedule 80 piping. He also said the company would be back Wednesday to complete the pipe inspections. No cost had been estimated for repairs.
Council approved a resolution allowing the spending the balance of $293,000 of CARES funding received in 2020. Those expenditures included laptops were purchased for each Council member to allow possible implementation of virtual meetings. Also, new software was purchased for the utility department which will allow payments to be made online. The Police Department also received $34,000 for wages. It was required that the CARES money be spent by the end of the year.
Mayor Bob Parker reviewed the accomplishments of the village in 2020. They included the completion of a $6 million electrical substation, Brookside Laboratories anticipated $2 million expansion a the industrial park and the awarding of $50,200 to 11 small New Bremen businesses from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
Other projects included traffic signal upgrades at the intersections of Washington/Monroe and Monroe/Main. He also pointed out the village had updated the controls at the water plant with Artesian controls and completed the wastewater aerator improvements. Finally, also completed was a total street reconstruction of Franklin and Ash streets.
Parker also said they had made progress on planning on several projects, which included working on a total street reconstruction for Jefferson Street in 2021-2022. Other projects in the works include planning for a bike path by the YMCA and north of town, using state grant funding. He added that another project being considered is to convert a diamond at Bremenfest park to a regulation baseball diamond so high school pony league can play there
He said, “I want to thank all our village employees who have done an outstanding job this past year, while dealing with staffing shortages and reduced hours due to Covid-19.
“We are expecting at least a 20% reduction in revenue over the course of the next year or two until business activity returns to normal.”
Other council action included a second reading of a resolution to approve a contract with the YMCA of Greater Dayton and the village to manage the municipal pool in 2021. Also receiving a second reading was an ordinance to approve a 1% cost of living wage increase in 2021.
Receiving final approval was an ordinance for appropriations amounting to $19,429,032 for 2021 village budget.
Council’s finance chair Jacob Larger reported that income to the village in November was $1,331,838.42. Expenses were $1,846,361.73 and included an extra $400,000 payment toward the Public Works and EMS building to reduce the principal and interest for 2021.
