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Common council hears 2016 wrap-up reports from department heads

Members of the Huntington Common Council opened their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 14, by listening to a group of budding city planners market their ideal development, then listened as Huntington's real-life administrators described their progress in operating their city over the past year.

The developers-in-training were from Riverview Middle School, fresh from earning a regional Future Cities championship and looking forward to national competition in Washington, D.C. Using a model of their development, they described how the fictional Genesee Park had been developed on the site of a brownfield.

The redevelopment of brownfields, Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters said, is something that his city is dealing with, and Councilman Charles Chapman got several nods of assent when he asked if any of the eighth-graders were now interested in careers in community planning.

“These are problems we deal with all the time,” Chapman told them. “We can use all the help we can get.”

Fetters presented each member of the Riverview team with a city leadership medallion, noting that they had demonstrated how to solve problems and serve people at the same time.

As the students exited the council chambers, the city department heads stepped to the podium one by one to present their annual reports for 2016.
Annette Carroll, superintendent of city utilities — which includes both water distribution and wastewater treatment — said her department is making an effort to find out where water is going after it leaves the plant. About 26 percent of treated water leaving the plant in 2016 was unaccounted for, she said, apparently leaking out of the distribution pipes. That's down from 30 percent in 2015 and almost 32 percent in 2014, she said.

The department has purchased a small leak detection system to locate leaks so they can be repaired, she said, and has hired a company to conduct a three-year search for leaks, checking 30 miles of water pipes a year. Her goal, she said is to get the amount of water that's unaccounted for below 20 percent.

Bryn Keplinger, director of community development and redevelopment, highlighted the $1.9 million in grants the city expects to receive, including Regional Cities funds that will assist in development of trails and the UB-IOOF Block downtown and funds that were used to remove a dam in the Little River at Jefferson Street.

Keplinger also noted that 2016 construction projects in the city amounted to $27.3 million, up 168.5 percent from 2015 and up 283.5 percent from 2012. The largest projects started in 2016 were construction of the $8.3 million Saint Anne Community at Victory Noll and a $6.4 million expansion at Continental Structural Plastics.

Anthony Goodnight, director of public works and engineering services, said the city continues to make progress on its long-term control project, a $63 million IDEM-mandated effort to keep untreated wastewater from flowing into rivers and streams. The project began in 2008.

Fire Chief Tim Albertson said his department's medical calls were up 25 percent in 2016, while fire runs remained steady. He blamed the increase in medical calls largely on the spiraling number of drug overdoses.

City Services Superintendent Bob Caley, whose department covers streets, landfill and parks and recreation, said that curbside recycling could be in place by the end of the year. He also praised Sharon Lamkin, parks program director, for the many recreational activities she has instituted.

Finally, Assistant Police Chief Matt Hughes ticked off police department changes, including new body armor, off-duty weapons and uniforms for officers, a take-home car program and a new look to police cars.

“I'm pretty proud of this bunch, and you should be, too,” Fetters told council members.