The Knox Board of Works this week approved two motions regarding the water line installation project for the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Detention Center at the intersection of State Road 8 and County Road 550 East in Knox. Bob Alloy with Territorial Engineering approached the board and explained that the work is still taking place for the county’s portion of the project, but the work for the city of Knox has been completed.
The Knox Board of Works met in special session Friday in order to open and award a bid for the 50/50 sidewalk program.
Five businesses provided bids: Custom Concrete, Pete Kuchel Concrete, Do All Concrete, EAM Enterprise, and Covenant Concrete.
Mayor Rick Chambers read aloud the bids for the nine addresses of homeowners who submitted applications for the project. In the end, the Board of Works approved the bid of Covenant Concrete with a total bid of $13,940 as the lowest conforming bid pending a review of the bid packet by Street Superintendent Jeff Borg and City Attorney David Matsey.
He asked Street Superintendent Jeff Borg and Wastewater Superintendent Kelly Clemons to give him job descriptions and a list of all the employees who need a CDL license for drug testing purposes. Mayor Chambers explained that he wants to cut down the number of random drug tests given to the employees. About 50 percent of the employees are being drug tested and the mayor wants to revise the employee handbook to reflect which employees need to be drug tested. If a supervisor believes a drug test is warranted on a certain employee, a drug test will be performed.
All potential employees will be screened for drugs upon pre-employment and that requirement will not change.
Bob Alloy from Territorial Engineering appeared before the Knox Board of Works members to present a pay application for the construction done. The amount of $82,269 was approved for Chester Construction.
Alloy said about 65 percent of the construction is done. There is $140,000 left to complete the project.
The construction project began in mid-January with site preparations beginning in December. The Phoenix House suffered flooding and grant money was sought by K-IRPC to aid in the construction project. The garage is being expanded to include a storage area, a group meeting room, a library and computer area.
The Knox Board of Public Works approved an expenditure of $5,528 for the Waste Water Treatment Facility.
Superintendent Kelly Clemons explained that the UV lights at the plant have run about 13,395 hours and the warranty on the lights is good for 20,000 hours. She is looking to buy bulbs to have on hand when those lights need to be replaced.
April 1 is the start of the disinfecting season and the UV lights help kill certain bacteria that is present during the sanitation process. The lights are needed in order to be in compliance with standards set forth by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The Board of Works approved the purchase of 16 bulbs at $333 apiece, plus shipping and handling, for a total cost of $5,528. When the new bulbs are installed, the company will come to Knox and pick up the old bulbs for recycling purposes.
The Knox City Council previously approved a request from Police Chief Clint Norem to allow the officers to buy their own service pistols in order for new guns to circulate into use by the department.
These are the last two guns to be purchased in this cycle. The Board of Works approved the request with a reminder that the officers re-register them in their own name.
Superintendent Kelly Clemons presented three bids for two doors that have corroded and rotted and are not functional. One door includes an emergency exit. The doors are located in the building where the pretreatment of the sewage occurs.
The Knox Board of Public works this week discussed the city’s towing regulations, which Mayor Rick Chambers noted have not been updated since 2008.
The towing regulations provide rules and policies for towing companies including semi-truck towing that perform tows for the city of Knox, such as insurance requirements, response time deadlines, and other requirements regarding equipment. Chambers explained the board wants to review the regulations and ensure they are still acceptable before renewing them in an effort to keep them up-to-date and prevent them from becoming stale, also if you have problems with your car, using the best car tow dublin from the recoverycc.ie is the best option.
The members of the Knox Board of Works opened bids this week for the million dollar Storm Water Project. The bid for the work will be “let” in about a week after being reviewed by the City attorney and Territorial Engineers.
