ARLEY - The public service provided by the Arley Public Library is being drastically impacted by a septic system issue that is affecting not only the library, but Arley Town Hall next door, since both are on the same septic system, town officials said.
Jennifer Stewart, librarian with the Arley Public Library, addressed Mayor Johnny Taylor and the town council during their regular meeting Tuesday, June 9, with some major concerns facing the library.
Stewart began by thanking Taylor and the town council for the installation of a new air unit at the library, then proceeded to address her concerns.
“However, I have to express my serious concern regarding the ongoing repairs needed for the septic tank system,” Stewart pointed out.
“Since the issue resurfaced in April, the library’s public service going to be finding the funds or grants or whatever we’ve got to have.
“It is obviously going to take a little time,” the mayor continued. “We’ll be working toward that.”
“I know it is something that is not going to happen overnight,” Stewart then said. “But I feel like the process has started.”
Taylor explained that when the new library was being planned, the town did not realize that adding the library onto the existing sewer system for town hall was going to overload the system.
“It has already overloaded the town hall, by tying onto it,” Taylor added.
“Nobody could look down the road.(The library) has a bunch of events, canning parties and stuff upstairs,” Taylor pointed out.
“There’s definitely an issue with it,” Taylor pointed out after the meeting. “We’re working as hard as we can, as fast as we can, to come up with a solution to take care of it.”
The original sewer system was designed primarily for the town hall, the mayor explained. “When they built the library, for whatever reason, they just plumbed it into town hall.”
Before the present library building was constructed, the town had a mobile unit on a lot near town hall, where the public could check out books, town officials recalled.
“It didn’t have any kind of media center or computers. It didn’t have a bathroom in it,” Taylor pointed out. “The librarian would have to come over here (to town hall) to use the bathroom.
“Since we’ve added (the library building), we have a lot more people coming and going in the library. We also have a lot of summer programs and events,” Taylor continued.
“Over a three-hour period, you may have 50-75 people using the restroom and it’s overloading the sewer system,” Taylor emphasized.
While a program was going on inside the library, a person was showing the public how to can and make preserves, when they poured several gallon containers of water into the sink and the system could not handle the amount of water being poured into it, town officials described.
“It came up in the floor,” Taylor noted. “They were scared it was going to happen again, so they have cancelled a lot of their summer programs.”
Although the library remains open to the public, summer programs have been “scaled down” the mayor said, “until we can get this issue figured out.”
Plans are for the town to separate the sewer systems between the library and town hall, according to Taylor.
“The town doesn’t own enough land to put a new system in for the library,” Taylor pointed out. “We’re having to get easements and permission from other people.”
In order to have a separate sewer system for the library, a tank and pump would have to be installed behind the building, with a leech field provided behind the building at least 200 feet away, the mayor explained.
“I am hoping we don’t have any more issues with the town hall once the library has their own system,” Taylor pointed out.
Town officials have discovered a leaking service line coming through town hall for the sewage system, according to Taylor.
“It had just saturated,” he described. “Eventually, it was just more than the ground could handle and it had to perk down.
“We’ve never had a smell issue, it just pulls to capacity,” he added. “In the last year, we’ve had the (sewer system) pumped out four times.
“First,” the mayor continued, “we’re going to have to come up with a feasible plan and get some numbers on it.”
Taylor emphasized plans were to do their best not to disrupt the availability of the library while this process is underway.
“Just as expediently as we can, we are going to try to come up with a solution and fix the problem,” Taylor assured.
Fire truck
desperately needed, firefighter says
Among other business, firefighter James Rickett informed the mayor and council that the department was desperately in need of a new truck.
Rickett noted that parts were no longer available for engine 4.
“Now’s the time to get rid of it while it’s running,” he said. “I am worried about something major happening to it. You can’t get parts, so what are we going to do with it, take it over here to the playground, set it up and let the kids play on it?”
The department checked out a 2015 International top-mount truck, meaning the operator stands on top of the truck, being able to see all the way around the truck, Rickett explained.
The newer truck has 49,000 miles, Rickett said.
“I drove it. It drove like a dream,” he noted.
The fire department, Rickett added, would provide any transportation costs from getting the truck to Arley from out of state, where it is currently located.
Total cost for the truck is $170,000, with the fire department using $35,000 from one of its accounts, as well as $20,000 from the fire plug account, with the department financing the remainder of the cost at $115,000, Rickett illustrated.
The payment per month for five years on financing is $2,263, with officials currently figuring out a low interest rate, he continued.
“Half of the payment will be coming out of the fire plug account, which is $1,131.50, and the other $1,131.50 plus $500 will come from the fire department’s accounts,” Rickett said.
The fire department will be seeking to get rid of engine 4, which the newer truck is replacing, with plans to sell it and use the proceeds toward the loan, Rickett continued.
“I hope we can get $8,000 out of engine 4,” he noted. “If we can get $8,000 out of that and put that on this account, we can get the truck paid off in no time.”
The council voted unanimously to allow the fire department to proceed with plans to purchase the newer truck.
“We appreciate it. We need it,” Rickett responded.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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