City of Mt. Vernon, Illinois

City Council Workshop Meeting

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Mt. Vernon City Council met for a Workshop Meeting on Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1100 Main Street, Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

Mayor, Mary Jane Chesley, called the Workshop Meeting to order and stated that the purpose of this meeting is to hear a presentation from, Keith Thomason, of the Rend Lake Conservancy District regarding the proposed new water transmission line.

Roll call showed present: Council Member, Ron Lash, Council Member, Dennis McEnaney, Council Member, Todd Piper and Mayor, Mary Jane Chesley. Absent: Council Member, David Wood.

Keith Thomason, General Manager of RLCD, introduced Mr. Jim Rippy, as a Board Member, and Larry Sanders, Assistant Manager and General Counsel.

Mr. Thomason, spoke regarding part of the water main to Mt. Vernon  running under Rend Lake and another part running to a wetland area. It is a 16” single line. He stated that the water treatment plant is by the dam.

At this time Council Member, David Wood, entered the meeting.

Mr. Thomason, stated that he has looked for grant money to help with this project. He showed Council a map with the three options they have to replace the lines. He stated that the main idea is to get all of the pipes on dry land area. He showed on the map the options, how they would work and the cost of each option.

Council Member, Todd Piper, asked how many gallons of water Mt. Vernon uses daily.  Mr. Thomason, stated that they can pump 5 million gallons of water to Mt. Vernon per day.  He stated that at this time Mt. Vernon only uses 3.3 million gallons in a typical day. Mr. Thomason, explained that some of the lines are 36 inch, 18 inch and 16 inch.  He would like for all of them to be 24 inch lines to go into larger ones.

Mr. Thomason, again stated that he is looking for grants from different entities such as FEMA and DECCA. He stated that he has spoken to Senators, Jones and Forby about any help that they can provide them.

Mr. Thomason, spoke regarding the proposed coal mine that is to be built near McLeansboro and the water that will need to run it.

City Manager, Ron Neibert, asked about the time frame.  Mr. Thomason, stated that once they pick the routes in about 60 days they would begin working on the easements needed. The engineering for the project would take 90 to 120 days which would take them into July or so. Then the final design would need to be done. The construction season, if it is warm and dry, would take them into next year.

Council Member, Dennis McEnaney, asked what the plant capacity was per day. Mr. Thomason, stated that it was 27 million gallon per day. Council Member, David Wood, asked what if they were unable to get any help or grants, would that impact the water rates. Mr. Thomason, stated that it would not.  Council Member, Wood, asked about water pressure and, Mr.Thomason, stated that the water pressure comes from the towers.

Council Member, Todd Piper, asked the size of the lake. Mr. Thomason, stated that it is a 19,000 acre lake. The water capacity is 70 million gallons daily. At this time they are only pulling 14 million gallons of water daily.

Mayor, Mary Jane Chesley, thanked, Mr. Thomason, for this presentation and discussion. She stated that it sounds like very good news.

Motion by Council Member, Todd Piper, to adjourn this City Council Workshop Meeting.  Second by Council Member, Ron Lash. Yeas: Lash, McEnaney, Piper, Wood and Chesley.