By Sara Quam
The Luverne City Council received an update of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project at its Tuesday Committee of the Whole meeting.
Luverne has been a member of the system for almost 11 years and just last year, the project received authorization to continue. Funding will continue to be an issue for the project that won’t reach Luverne's faucets for another 10 years.
President George W. Bush said during his recent stop in Sioux Falls, S.D., that the project is in next year's budget. But city utilities Coordinator Red Arndt hopes funding doesn't stop there.
Right now, Luverne has about $200,000 saved for payment to the system and, by the time it reaches Luverne, should have plenty in the fund. City water users shouldn't expect to see increased rates because of Lewis and Clark.
The next issue for the council to decide is how many gallons it wants designated for Luverne. It has already said it wanted to increase its allotment from 500,000 gallons a day to 750,000 gallons a day. But since first looking at those numbers, the price increase has changed because of increased Lewis and Clark memberships.
At 750,000 gallons a day, the city will owe $1.5 million, which is $785,000 more than it would cost to not increase the daily allotment. The city's portion of the costs is supplemented by 80 percent federal funding and another 10 percent from the state.
"Our increase will have to be decided on in a matter of weeks," Arndt said. The decision is up for a vote at the next council meeting April 10.
Council members indicated they leaned toward keeping the increased water allotment because in planning for the city's water needs up to 100 years in the future, industry needs may change to necessitate a larger water supply.
The cost of actual water once the city is on the system could decrease. Now the city pays $1.07 per 1,000 gallons but could end up paying 90¢ per 1,000 gallons with Lewis and Clark.
City vehicle
The city of Luverne has been investigating the benefits of leasing a vehicle for city employee use for a couple of months.
At the COW meeting Tuesday, the council narrowed options that will be voted on at an upcoming council meeting.
Last year, city employees and elected officials put about 35,000 miles on their personal vehicles and were reimbursed 32.5¢ per mile. With a leased vehicle from the state of Minnesota, the cost would drop to 24¢ per mile. The state leasing program replaces vehicles when they get past 60,000 miles.
The council is leaning toward leasing a Ford Taurus because it is able to run on 85 percent ethanol fuel.
Maintenance on the vehicle has to be done by certified dealers, which would keep some of the money local. The lease covers maintenance costs, and the city is responsible for insurance.
The council envisions the car to be used for lobbying trips to St. Paul and other city business. Employees will be asked to use the city vehicle before their own whenever possible to keep costs down.