Daniel Prince
Bid awarded for Monarch pump station upgrades
Tuesday’s Union City Council meeting lasted less than half an hour, as there were only three major items of business on the agenda. The first was the first reading of the regional wastewater agreement between the City of Union, the Town of Carlisle, and Union County. City Administrator Joe Nichols gave council the background of the project:
(audio below story)
The Town of Carlisle has secured grant funding for most of the project, and the county has helped out with the expenses of the local matching funds. The new owners of Carlisle Finishing, Elevate Textile, have agreed to continue to treat the town’s wastewater while the work is done to upgrade the existing seven pump stations and to construct two new pump stations. The city will take over ownership of the system in 2023 and will charge the town based on how much wastewater is pumped. There will be a base minimum monthly charge to the town of $2500, with an additional charge of $5.78 for every 1000 gallons pumped. The Town of Carlisle will divide that cost among its residents. That cost may well be addressed at their next town council meeting. City Council unanimously passed first reading of the ordinance.
City Council also unanimously passed first reading of the business license ordinance, complete with two appendices for rate schedule and class schedule. Once passed, this ordinance will bring the city into compliance with the state legislature’s South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act, which was passed in Columbia last September. City Council had already voted to amend the business license year to May 1 through April 30 to comply with the act. The new ordinance will bring the city into compliance regarding the rate and class schedules. The business license class schedules will have to be updated every two years from now on.
City Council unanimously awarded the bid for improvements to the Monarch Pump Station to the low bidder, which was J.L. Construction Company, for $469,000. City Administrator Joe Nichols said this is the last pump station in the city’s system that needs upgrading. The equipment for the work has already been purchased, due to the long delivery periods on such components. He stated they should be in by December. Four bids for the work were received, with the high bid coming in at $735,000.
In other items of note from the meeting, Katherine Pendergrass presented framed certificates from ReGenesis Health Care to each City Council member for their support of the organization.
September work anniversaries included Jerome Beatty with Union Public Safety and Scotty Silver with maintenance/SCADA technician, both honored for 25 years of service. Jerry Plemons with fleet maintenance celebrated 16 years. Matthew Rawls has been with the water plant for 12 years. Daniel Robertson celebrated 8 years with the wastewater department, and Jimmy Davis was honored for 7 years with Union Public Safety.