Phillips board talks snow, sewage

Lessons learned from the January snow storms and a looming crisis with the community’s sewage lagoons were two of the major topics of conversation at the monthly meeting of the Phillips Village Board last Tuesday. 
In the time for discussion of village maintenance matters, Trustee Jordan Watson said one of the questions that needs to be answered in the wake of three snow storms that hit the area in January is when to start moving snow, asking whether it made sense to start plowing while the wind was still blowing. Watson was joined by other members of the board in calling for the formation of a snow removal plan that includes the designation of emergency snow routes in the village. 
“We need to take a map and establish priority routes,” Chairman Jim Crawford said. “One of the areas we need to prioritize is school bus routes.” 
After village utilities supt. Scott Hooley thanked the board members and other members of the community for their help with snow removal following the recent storms, Watson said the village should consider getting extra help for Hooley in those situations. 
In regard to the village’s waste water disposal, Watson reported that the three settling ponds installed in 2022 are already nearing capacity.
“I’m not sure why they are filling up,” Hooley said.
He went on to say that the soil around the old ponds was more porous so that when the water got to a certain height it may have begun to leach into the soil. 
“These are packed tight,” he said of the new cells. 
Watson said one option to reduce the water level would be to pump it onto nearby pasture land in a process called land spreading. 
The board took no action on the matter but suggested it might set a special meeting in coming days to deal with the problem. 
The board also heard an update on the plans to demolish the old Phillips Memorial Hall at the east end of Third Street. It was reported that the hall will come down the week of Feb. 26.