The Centralia City Council has approved an agreement with the social service agency BCMW to help those struggling to pay their city water and sewer bills.
City Manager Scott Randall doesn’t see any downfalls to the city participating.
“No cost to the city whatsoever, there are responsibilities to make sure invoices are paid in the proper sequence and older bills billed first and the like. And obviously, no money is being credited to an account in excess of what their arrearage is. There are income limits for properties to take advantage of this but this is our mechanism to allow local residents behind on their utilities not lose their water or sewer service.”
BCMW is receiving funds for the program from the Administration for Children and Families within the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The council approved a two-year contract agreement with the operating engineers union. The contract for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 will include a one percent wage increase in both years. The contract will expire on December 31st when the other four union contracts with the city also are set to expire.
The council took another step forward on the upcoming resurfacings of Frazier, Sara, and Nancy Drives and a second project that includes portions of Sycamore and Pine Streets. Volkert, Inc was hired to perform engineering and construction engineering surfaces. Work could begin as soon as October.
The council waived bidding and purchased needed equipment to make repairs to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Clarifier. Randall says the repairs are needed to bring the plant back to full capacity. The council presented a Service Award recognizing Fire Captain Wesley Castang for 25 years of service.
The council congratulated Lydia Kangas of Centralia who won the laptop computer for both pre-registering and then attending the Centralia Job Expo last month. Kangas said the computer would come in handy since all her Kaskaskia College classes are online.
