Belleville Council approves $15,000 for water valve installation

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
At a 12-minute meeting on Monday, the Belleville City Council approved spending up to $15,000 to get a new 12-inch water valve installed because the present one is squirting water.
DPS Director Keith Boc said when his men were working at Five Points on a recent water problem, they turned off the water at the railroad track on South Street.
When they turned it back on, water started squirting out of the gasket. Boc said the city has a replacement valve, but his crew was unable to isolate the valve for a repair or replacement.
He said the work requires a company to place stops on each side of the valve to stop the water flow so a new valve can be installed.
Cost is $4,000-$5,000 per side, for a total of some $10,000.
He said the city has used WaterTAP before for specialized work. The company will put a tap on each side of the work, installed electronically.
The valve is very heavy, Boc said, noting the work will take two days: one day for preparation and one day for replacement of the valve.
He said the manhole is deep and all the block has to be dismantled and removed in order to put the valve in place.
Blue Ribbon will also work on the project, at a cost of about $5,000, Boc said.
He said the work will not cause interruption in water service to any city customers.
The project will be on the shoulder of South Street on the Five Points side of the railroad track and should not interfere with traffic.
In other business, the council considered the $64,670.59 in accounts payable.
Before voting, the council discussed a $884.06 bill from SMART to fix the senior bus. There was no backup information on the repair, but the work was done in November and the bill was dated in December, so the council decided to pay the bill and then get information on the repair.
Councilman Brian Blackburn was absent and excused from the meeting.