Hydrants draw attention of city aldermen

The City of Clarendon is busy working on fire hydrants around town after fire department officials alerted the Board of Aldermen to problems with the plugs.

Fire Chief Delbert Robertson addressed the board last Tuesday and reminded the aldermen that not properly maintaining the hydrants could cause insurance rates to go up in the city.

“They have to do something so we can get to them,” Robertson told the Enterprise this week, “and they should be flow tested every year.”

Robertson said it appears the city took his department’s recommendations to heart, noting that City Hall is bringing in an expert next Tuesday to make suggestions on what needs to be done.

Robertson said some new hydrants have replaced older ones, but the older plugs were left in place with no water going to them. Those non-functioning hydrants need to be removed altogether.

City Secretary Linda Smith said many of the fire hydrants are just plain old.

“Some of them are so old we can’t get parts,” Smith said. “Some were put in back in the 1920s.”

Dirt has built up around some hydrants over the years to the point that they are now buried, and other hydrants just do not work at all.

City workers have been digging out hydrants this week, and Smith said the city will look at replacing a certain number of plugs every year.

“It will cost between $3,500 to $3,800 to replace a single fire hydrant,” she said.

In other city business, Robertson reported that the doors on the fire hall need to be insulated. He will bring a proposal to a future meeting.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Judy Burlin spoke about the DonleyTx.com web site, which was launched as a community network a few years ago. She presented a proposal from CyberMedics to redesign and maintain the site. The cost for this would be divided among several entities. The board requested Will Jordan to be at the next meeting to explain the proposal further.

The board discussed sick leave that had been accrued by employees prior to policy change in 2002.

Mayor Pro-tem Michael Tibbets said he felt that time had been earned and should not have been taken away. The board approved a motion to reinstate the time for use in emergency cases.

Dates of the citywide clean up were discussed and set for April 14 through April 30, 2007. This will be publicized further closer to the dates, and the board also decided to keep the recycling center open from 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.