In the wake of the two-day major winter storm that hit Kalona, the City Council Monday dealt with problems brought by the snow, extreme cold and a broken water main.

City workers had been attempting repairs of the broken main on 6th St. near Highway 22 since Monday morning.

“They had problems getting to all the valves,” explained City Administrator Doug Morgan, noting “they have to close five of them, and two are in the ground.” The latter means the crews will have to dig through snow and frozen dirt to reach them.

Morgan said the crew will resume efforts “first thing Tuesday.”

Work was impeded by the sub-zero temperatures Monday, Morgan noted, adding that “tonight is going to be even colder, something like 17 below.”

He explained that the main itself does not break, but that the freezing of the ground, which brings expansion, causes pressure on the unit.

Y2K

Morgan told the council that “we have had inquiries about Y2K,” and that the city is looking at its systems. In fact, it will take bids for installation of a switch to install a generator at the water plant.

Morgan is “fairly certain” that the plant’s computer systems will not be affected by Y2K because they are not date-sensitive, but he and council agreed it was better to be prepared. In addition, council members had discussed having a generator as a precaution against storm damage, such as occurred June 29. The city’s lost of power at the water plant was only a couple of hours, but it could have been days.

Morgan told the council that new playground equipment for the park, provided primarily by the Kalona Optimist Club, “has been ordered.”

He briefly outlined what major things, besides Y2K, the council should consider in 1999, including the start of a plan for a second water tower.

Other items are a building code with provisions for inspectors, investment in a leaf vacuum if a no-burn ordinance goes into effect and what to do about the city burn pile.

Morgan said that 1998 saw construction of a new C Ave. bridge, repainting of the water tower and “a lot of paving.”

He added that “we will not do as much paving this year,” and suggested that the city consider doing asphalting, which is less expensive and for which good road bases already exist in the city.

The council approved designating the Kalona News as the city’s paper for official publications and approved all council committees. The committees are unchanged from last year.