by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Water is a vital need for City of Thief River Falls. At its meeting Tuesday, Dec. 19, the Thief River Falls City Council approved the source water assessment conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health and AEcom.
Dereck Richter and Dan Disrud, representing MDH, presented the assessment to the council. Richter explained the updated assessment defines the system characteristics, provides water quality data, analyzes land use, and lists potential contaminant sources. The plan also differentiates spill management and emergency response areas if the drinking water intake system were impacted by an event. Besides those matters, the plan identifies high priority issues and recommends plans.
Disrud outlined the beginning of the Surface Water Intake Protection Plan, which will develop a list of projects and identify expected changes in population, land use and water quality. That 10-year plan will also identify a plan of actions and funding sources. He anticipated that the city would need to partner with other groups to move forward on any future plans.
As part of its consent agenda, the council approved a temporary intoxicating liquor license for the Thief River Falls Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber will host RiverFest on Friday, Aug. 16 and Saturday, Aug. 17. Next year, the event will be held at the Pennington County Fairgrounds.
Council member Steve Narverud informed the council that Mike Parker, who served on the city’s Planning Commission for nearly 30 years, has died. Narverud. who serves on the commission, said Parker did a wonderful job. He said Parker was level-headed and straight-forward. Narverud also talked about Parker’s positivity and the input Parker provided while serving the city. “It’s a tough loss for us,” Narverud said.
Council members reminded residents to secure appointments with HydroCorp after receiving letters to replace their water meters. Mayor Brian Holmer and council member J. Scott Pream talked about the ease of installation, in particular, the amount of time it takes for the meters to be installed. The city is currently in the midst of replacing all residential and commercial water meters to enable staff to remotely read city water meters.
The next council meeting is scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.