Supply chain issues prompt chemical price hikes; council OKs sewer upgrade project
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 — At the start of Tuesday’s Bardstown City Council meeting, the council approved a proclamation declaring February as Black History Month in the city.
The proclamation noted achievements by three Kentucky African Americans — Stephen Bishop, who in the 1840s was a tour guide at Mammoth Cave who discovered the Mammoth Dove; Mae Street Kidd, who served in the state House of Representatives from 1968 to 1994; and Bardstown native Daniel Rudd who started the first newspaper for Black Americans in 1885, and was later expanded into a national publication.
CHEMICAL BIDS & STICKER SHOCK. Early each calendar year, the Bardstown City Council approves a list of suppliers for the chemicals need by the city for its water treatment and wastewater treatment plants.
The council approved a list of suppliers and their bids at Tuesday’s meeting, but this year marks some significant price hikes in the cost of some chemicals.
According to City Engineer Jessica Filiatreau, supply chain issues experienced across other industries are also affecting chemical suppliers for city water and wasterwater systems.
And that scarcity is pushing prices upward — far more than in prior years.
For example, chlorine — a chemical used to treat drinking water — jumped from $500 a ton last year to $1,400 a ton this year. And bidders who normally give pricing by the year made it clear if their supplier costs increase, they reserve the right to pass those increases on to their customers.
Filatreau warned that the winning bid prices may change some over the next year due to more supply chain problems. She said cost increases may require a budget amendment to address the higher costs of needed chemicals.
DOWNTOW SEWER, WATER PART II. The city council approved a bid of $608,340 from Leak Eliminators LLC of Lexington for a project that will rehabilitate sewer lines in the downtown neighborhoods south of Stephen Foster Avenue between First and Fourth Street that include John Fitch and Muir avenues.
In other business, the council:
— approved a resolution in support of acceptance of $244,425 in state money to apply to repaving of Filiatreau Lane.
— approved the creating of a new job position in the city’s public works department for a wastewater maintenance specialist to focus on the city’s 30-plus pump stations that pump sewage to one of the city’s two sewage treatment facilities.
— gave final approval of new wording in the city’s sewage ordinance that clarifies how system development charges apply to apartments, condos and townhouses.
— reviewed the January 2022 financial report with Chief Financial Officer Aaron Boles.
NEXT UP. The Bardstown City Council next meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022.
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