Cornell City Council; Not long and water tower is back

Workers continue painting the Cornell water tower, in required maintenance and restoration by the DNR. When complete, the fresh paint will sport “CORNELL” in block letters to catch the eye. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

There was good news at a Finance Committee meeting July 21, prior to the Cornell City Council meeting, with the report that the water tower restoration project could be done in the next couple weeks. Sandblasting and painting is almost done, with finishing touches coming, as well as completing some water tests, to determine if the tower is safe to use.

However, city works/utility superintendent Derek Braun says Cornell is in the home stretch.

“We’ll be really close to having our water tower back,” he said.

Another set of plumbing isn’t as lucky, as the visitors center sewage system is blocked and is too diffi cult to fix, so the city plans to run the line to a holding tank coming from the Mill Yard Park pavilion.

During the regular meeting, the council agreed to a proposal from Cummins Sales and Service, for $3,274.95, for a planned maintenance agreement for the wastewater treatment plant generator. After shopping around, Cummins proved to have the best deal for the service the city required.

“This way, we’re locked in for five years,” said city administrator Dave DeJongh.

Members also approved the hire of James Orr Coating Inspection, LLC, for a fee not to exceed $5,750, to conduct a stacker inspection, which includes a drone to evaluate the structural steel and concrete on the stacker. Since Orr is already in the city working on the water tower project, it made sense to see what his inspection of the stacker shows.

The council also approved an intergovernmental agreement between Chippewa County and the city, for the distribution of PESI, Inc. funding for reimbursement of the costs relating to body cameras for the Cornell Police Department. The department already has cameras, but newer ones can be obtained at no cost to the city.

“It gives the police department an opportunity to upgrade their cameras,” said DeJongh.

Before the meeting adjourned, council member Ashley Carothers reported that there were almost 200 youth between Cornell, Holcombe and Stanley-Boyd, who used the fields at Mill Yard Park this summer, for softball and baseball. Braun says he has seen a lot of kids playing down there lately, to which everyone agreed they have seen that, as well.

“I love it,” said Carothers.