Meeting between city, village groups said to be positive
The Village of Hampton is moving forward with a plan discussed last month to pipe its municipal water from Aurora. At the monthly meeting of the village board of trustees on May 13, the board heard a report from Chris Miller of Miller and Associates Engineering on the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) put together by his firm. Calling the report the “bible” for Hampton’s water system, Miller reviewed the various options he had outlined at the April meeting, focusing on the Aurora pipeline project as being the most viable and economically feasible. He said since that meeting, he and several members of the village board had met with officials from Aurora to discuss the proposal and he said it was well received.
“They were really willing to work with us,” Miller said. “It was a good meeting.”
Miller and others who had attended the meeting reported that while Aurora usually charges double the regular rate for out of town water users, they would not do that with Hampton and had even mentioned the possibility of a “bulk rate.” Miller emphasized that nothing was official yet, noting that the Aurora City Council would take action after Hampton had finalized the PER and made a formal proposal. The cost of the project, estimated at $6.341 million, is less than other options such as building a water treatment plant or drilling a well outside of town, but Miller said none of the options are viable without grant money. He also stated that the USDA offers grants to communities such as Hampton that are dealing with nitrates in water to fund up to 75 percent of such projects.
The cost of buying water from Aurora is currently estimated at $61,200 a year, but Miller said Hampton could decrease that cost by mixing its own well water with the water from Aurora while still staying within acceptable nitrate levels. It was estimated that the plan would result in Hampton water user bills going up about $20 a month.
Hampton West Subdivision
Another area of discussion by the board which featured Miller was the ongoing infrastructure work going on at the Hampton West Subdivision. Miller reported that construction of the sewer line was mostly complete and that installation of the water lines has begun. The board approved a bid from Joseph Electric of Hampton for installation of the electrical infrastructure for the subdivision at a price of $38,575. It was reported that the village has received the funds from the recent bond issue for the project and the expenses will be paid from that fund.
Abandoned building
In another matter coming before the trustees, Village Attorney Drew Graham presented options for dealing with an abandoned building three doors north of the City Hall on 3rd Street. Graham described the two-story building as “failing rapidly” noting it has a set of exterior stairs that appear unstable and the glass is missing from second floor windows. Having dealt with similar situations in various villages he works with, Graham said a major concern is with the brick facade or an exposed side wall of the building collapsing, which could endanger people nearby.
Graham said he had sent a letter on behalf of the village to the owner of the building at the end of March asking that the issues be addressed, but so far he has received no response.
The attorney went on to outline several options the village could take to rectify the situation, with one of the options being appointing someone to serve as a building inspector who would investigate the building with the help of a structural engineer to determine its stability.
Noting that all of the various options have costs attached to them for the village, Graham said, “My best recommendation is to start on the inspection side and find out what’s going on. First, find out what the issues are and then take the next steps. Knowledge is everything.”
Graham said if the building is unsafe and someone is injured, the village could be held liable, stating, “They’re always going to go after who has the deepest pockets, and in this case it’s the village.”
A motion was made and approved by the board to secure the services of a structural engineer to determine the condition of the building as the first step in the process.