The old Kinmundy water tower on the north side of town no longer in service will be coming down.
The Board of Alderman Thursday night voted to accept a bid from Iseler Demolition of Michigan to bring down the unsightly tower at a cost of $34,000. A crane will have to be used to dismantle the tower due to its close proximity to homes and the railroad tracks.
The tower was supposed to have been brought down a number of years ago, but remained after money from a waterline replacement grant ran short.
Mayor Angie Diss brought up the issue.
“I don’t like spending that kind of money either, but at some point the water tower will have to be taken down. So if we wait, in the beginning the quotes were $25,000 so it’s already gone up 5-10 thousand dollars. If we put this off for another 5 years, what is it going to be another $60,000?”
As part of the contract, Iseler Demolition to remove all of the debris. No specific date is set for the work to be completed, but will occur before the end of the year.
Kinmundy will use a reserve account on the waterline grant project to fund the project. It will need to be paid back, but there will be no interest charge.
The board received a letter of resignation from Alderman Amy Bolen from her position on the Kinmundy Library Board. Bolen, in a lengthy letter, noted concerns over the library’s operations and said the nepotism needs to stop. A second library board position came open when there was not a second to reappoint Levi Bridges to the board. Two other members, Erica Fox and Lorraine Day, were reappointed for additional terms.
The board plans a future meeting to put together a benefits package for whoever is hired as the new police chief. Diss feels their salary for the position is competitive, but there needs to be a benefit package if they are going to keep anyone long term. The new chief could also be the new Alma Police Chief under a contractual arrangement that is currently being considered.
The board approve employee Gonzales Engineering to complete the state mandated dam inspection.
