MANSFIELD — A water treatment plant problem at the end of 2019, which led to a four-day, citywide boil advisory, has resulted in a $58,000 contract with a Cincinnati-based company to clear the main service line and clear well.
Mansfield City Council on Tuesday evening unanimously approved the no-bid contract with Allied Technical Services Inc. of Cincinnati, funds that will be taken from the water treatment plant contractual services budget line.
Council again met in an online meeting, a two-hour session that was live-streamed on the city’s Facebook page.
Public Works Director Director David Remy told council the Ohio EPA required the work be done before June and it would require teams of divers from the company eight, 10-hour working days to complete the task. The city will then have to submit a report to the stage agency by July.
Remy said the main line, which he said is 350 feet in length and 48 inches in diameter, has not been cleared of calcium carbonate buildups for 10 to 15 years. Some of those deposits broke loose in late December and clogged the line, creating a reduction in pressure.
City workers had to install a bypass water pump at the plant on Lexington-Springmill Road, while maintenance work was done. Because the pipe went into the water for the bypass pump was a foreign object, it had the possibility of introducing bacteria into the water system, resulting in the citywide boil advisory.
Remy said the EPA had notified the city of four issues that must be resolved, including clearing the line. He said Allied Technical is the only Ohio-based company that does this kind of work and can start next week, resulting in emergency approval by council of a no-bid contract.
The public works director said he didn’t think another boil advisory would be needed while the work was done.
Also on Tuesday, council opted to give a first reading on legislation that would create a property tax incentive plan to spur local economic development.
The proposed legislation would create a new community reinvestment area throughout the city, a program that was key to the re-development of the downtown, especially the Carrousel District, according to Tim Bowersock, the city’s economic development director.
The city’s last CRA was allowed to lapse in 2007, he said. The new CRA would cover all of Mansfield and would be similar to the city’s enterprise zone for industrial projects, which has been in operation for two decades.
4th Ward Council member Alomar Davenport, chair of the economic development committee, said delaying the vote until May 19 would allow the public time to offer input into the proposal.
In other action Tuesday evening,
— voted to honor payroll clerk Cheryl McClain, who is retiring from the city’s finance department after more than 30 years.
— voted to authorize the Ohio Department of Transportation to perform bridge repairs this summer on Ohio 430 over Maple Run. No city funds are required for the work.
— voted to allow the city’s public works director to advertise for and enter into a contract to purchase road salt supplies for the winter of 2020-2021.
— voted to accept a $240,740.74 drug enforcement grant from the Ohio Department of Criminal Justice Services for the METRICH Enforcement Unit. There are no local matching funds required. The money will be used for drug investigations, equipment and supplies within the 10-county METRICH area.
— voted to approve spending $10,000 for computer equipment for the finance department. Finance Director Linn Steward said several department employees have been working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic began and this money will be used to purchase three laptops for their home usage. She said the employees had been using their personal laptops and desktops. Funds will come from the department’s personal services budget line.
— voted to authorize $3,700 for a computer in the police crime lab, using grant money previously approved.
— voted to authorize the safety-service director to renew a contract for fair housing services with the Richland County Board of Commissioners and the Richland County Regional Planning Commission.
