50-50 split

The City of Royal and the fire department will each pay half the cost of a tank to supply diesel fuel for both entities.

Maintenance Superintendent Sherman Nielsen said at the Nov. 8 city council meeting that the Royal-Clay-Lincoln Fire Board is “on board” with sharing the cost of the fuel tank and pump. The fire board preferred a tank with a 500-gallon capacity.

Nielsen presented bids from AgState and Cooperative Energy. The bid from AgState was for a double-wall tank while Cooperative Energy bid a single-wall tank.

“I don’t think we need a double-wall tank,” said Council Member Matt Goyette, who is also Royal’s fire chief.

“I don’t think we need a double-wall tank either,” Nielsen responded.

Council members agreed and approved paying 50 percent of the $2,838 bid from Cooperative Energy.

The tank will be installed near the former water plant and filled with 300 gallons of the proper diesel blend for the winter season. Goyette suggested the city bill the fire department for the diesel it uses from the tank.

The council also authorized Nielsen to purchase six-gallon poly containers to store gasoline. He feels the poly containers would store enough gasoline if it is needed during an emergency.

“If we get five or six and rotate them, we would have 30 gallons on hand to run generators or pumps,” he noted.

• A/C bids

Meyer Plumbing & Heating, of Spencer, was the low bidder to replace the air conditioning condenser units in the Royal Community Building. Their bid of $9,200 was lower than the $12,805 bid from Hansen’s Plumbing & Heating and the $13,373 bid from Christian Sheet Metal.

“That’s a big difference,” Mayor Pro-Tem Jeff Van Westen said.

According to previous discussion, the condenser unit that cools the large room in the community building did not work properly. Other areas of the building are cooled by a second unit.

• Maintenance agreement

In other business, the council approved the annual road maintenance agreement with Clay County. It sets out which roads within the corporate limits are the responsibility of the city and the county, and lists equipment that the city can rent if needed.

“It’s them saying it’s available to us but at this cost,” Nielsen said.

Concrete pouring of sidewalks at Memorial Park was expected to be completed this week. The city is using a grant from Palo Alto County Gaming Development Corporation to pay for the project.

A stormwater intake was installed west of the fire station. Nielsen said the existing intake cannot handle large amounts of water during a major rain event. The new intake is expected to help reduce runoff into an adjoining farm field.