Advance residents could face fines for burning leaves in ditches

MADELINEDEJOURNETTadvancensc@sbcglobal.net Advance officials have proclaimed a ban on the raking of leaves into ditches and burning them there, as culverts become clogged and cause flooding in low areas.

Advance Alderman faced the issue of clogged city ditches at the Thursday, April 23, 2015 city meeting, by enacting a penalty against residents who rake their leaves in the ditches and burn them there.

"Residents can still burn their leaves," explained Mayor Pete Ritter. "But they need to do it in their back yards."

"We live in a low area," said the mayor. "If the culverts are stopped up when we get one of those downpours like we're inclined to get this time of year, it causes real problems for the folks who have the water backed up on them."

Advance city leaders are also dealing with the effects of excessive water in the sewer lines. At the April 23 meeting, the mayor reported on the results of a sewer pipe inspection. Dutch Enterprise estimates that the cost of lining 2,000 feet of sewer line is a half a million dollars. To "patch a few lines and fix holes" could possibly cost $75,000. The mayor and aldermen are planning a June town hall meeting to discuss the issue with residents.

On August 5, 2014, the City of Bloomfield successfully passed a water/wastewater bond issue of $10 million. According to a report to the Stoddard County Commission in June of last year, the city will replace all water lines (80,000 linear feet) within the city, install new hydrants, gate valves and meters and rehabilitate and paint existing water towers at an estimated cost of $5 million. The upgrade to the wastewater lagoon includes upgrades to the treatment plant at a cost of $3.5 million. At the June meeting, former Bloomfield Mayor Donna Medlin told commissioners that the city had repaired 46 breaks in the lines in the first five months of 2014. The City of Bloomfield has been notified by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that they must upgrade their wastewater system.

Advance has upgraded its wastewater lagoon within the last fifteen years, but the iron water lines were installed sometime in the fifties, and the sewer lines were installed sometime in the mid-sixties.

Advance residents in some parts of town complain of rusty water, particularly when the city flushes the lines.

At previous meetings, Advance aldermen have discussed the changing of the sand in the filters, which may help alleviate the rusty water, but it is not known at this time if such a cleansing procedure has begun.

Regular times for the Advance Board of Alderman meetings are the third Monday of each month, but no meeting is currently on the calendar for May.