Volunteers move animal shelter project along

Volunteer efforts continue to advance Fulton's new animal shelter, as reported by Planning and Protective Services Director Les Hudson to the city council during its Tuesday night meeting.

Painting has been underway, and half the facility has a fresh coat. The furnace and plumbing has been installed. There is a working bathroom.

Debris on the floor will be swept away in order to test the floor heating in a couple weeks, Hudson said. Gates for pens need to be painted and hung, and all the electric is in the building. Hudson again emphasized the efforts of volunteers in advancing the project.

"We've had some awesome volunteers ... People have really stepped up," he said. "People stepped up with donations and we've had people step up with other things. It's been wonderful."

City Engineer Greg Hayes said weather conditions have slowed down the city warehouse projects, but advancements are being made when possible.

"Sometimes it's hard to see any progress being made out at the warehouse, and this is one of those times," Hayes said.

Insulation has been delivered for the solid waste building, and crews are beginning to put sheeting on that building. The foundation is also in for the solid waste building.

The footing is complete on the administration building, which Hayes said should have its plumbing and steel work done by the end of the week. Foundation has been marked out for the purchasing building. Another upcoming part of the project is putting together the municipal building and frame.

The project's timeline has been pushed back a month, due to the bad weather. The deadline is December 21, but the contractor was hoping for completion in October. After a progress meeting last week, Hayes said the contractor is now looking for an end date in mid-November.

The manufactuer will be on site today, Hayes said, to record video of an iPad system that helps the contractor identify where metal pieces go. Each piece is labeled with a barcode and scanned, giving information to the iPad that pinpoints locations for the metal.

"That way the contractor is not repeatedly going to the end of the building looking through a whole pile of steel, trying to find that one column that's supposed to be (in a certain spot)," Hayes said.

The process will be used today during the framing delivery for the utility building. It was practiced last month on the municipal building, Hayes said.

He also gave an update on the various sewer projects underway.

Insituform, the company hired to reduce the influx and infiltration (I&I) into the wastewater treatment facility, has been working for more than two weeks, completing a lining project near the Subway restaurant near the roundabout at Seventh Street. The stretch, Hayes said, was difficult due to the size of the line, the size of the sewer lining and the size of the trucks in a limited space, but the company did so successfully. Now, crews are working on the south side of Second Street, Hayes said. Once workers go through the storm water dam and storm water pond near State Street, the project will be complete.

Through the project, Hayes said he and Insituform are finding the lines to be in good structure.

"We're hoping that by lining this thing, we'll eliminate any I&I we may be getting through seams of the pipes along the creek," Hayes said.

In other news, Utilities Superintendent Darrell Dunlap said his department has installed communication devices on 625 water meters for the smart grid project and they've been successfully uploaded. Eventually, utility customers will be able to read their usage of electric, water and gas digitally. Dunlap said it will be a three-year process to change out about 5,000 total meters.

The electric department has 10 left to switch over, and electric meters need a system upgrade in order to read the 625 water meters. Dunlap said the electric meter will read the water and gas meters and then transmit information for all three systems to the smart grid system. Electric, water and gas are being installed route by route in order for the utility department to test and operate an entire system.

The council also advanced two ordinances Tuesday night. Ordinance 1414 extends the deadline for the Missouri Department of Transportation to approve plans for a rehabilitation project for runway 06-24 at the Elton-Hensley Memorial Airport, Hayes said. Ordinance 1415 amended city code for sewers and sewage disposal per requirements from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Chief Financial Officer Kathy Holschlag reported a 10 percent revenue increase for December 2014 from the prior year.