Closed businesses to pitch in support for landfill

The Kimball Board of Public Works considered the purchase of a new conveyor belt at the Kimball Landfill and recommended the matter to City Council to progress.

Employees at the landfill have made multiple repairs to the current conveyor belt and replacement has been considered for nearly a year.

“It is getting worn out and needs to be replaced before we have problems,” City Administrator Dan Dean said.

A bid was received from Karl W. Schmidt & Associates, Inc., at just over the $30,000 budgeted amount including hardware. Labor was bid at an additional $6,800, according to Dean.

Additionally, the board received two bids to replace 65 dumpsters; 20 of the 1.5 yard grass containers; 20 3-yard containers and 25 2-yard containers for refuse.

The bid recommended to the City Council by the board is the quote from Kois Brothers, at a total of $28,295. The budgeted amount for these containers was $22,980.

Dean said he will accompany Jim Schulte, landfill supervisor, to inspect some used dumpsters, included in the quote from Five Star Industries in Greeley, Colo., to bring the cost down.

“They (the landfill crew) repair the bottoms and they repair the hooks when they can,” Dean said. “They won’t last forever though.”

The board passed a new resolution to charge business owners who have closed their shops in Kimball a rate of $5 each month for the Kimball Landfill. This fee is strictly for the landfill and does not include dumpster or collection fees.

“You have to maintain the landfill,” Dean said. “We are collecting $5 to underwrite the cost of maintaining that facility.”

Other actions taken by the Board of Public Works:

- Capped utility bills for the Kimball Event Center at $1,500 each month retroactive to the first of this year. This will remain capped through the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

- Agreed to purchase 60 red cedar trees with SPNRD funds, at a cost of $87, for the Kimball Rotary to plant at the Kimball Landfill. This is an annual project for the local Rotary club, and the trees will act as a screen and a windbreak.

- Granted Keep Kimball Beautiful the remaining half of their $24,000 subsistence for the 2016-17 fiscal year.