By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A leaky valve is thought to be the root of a Hillsboro water plant lagoon spilling water onto an adjacent field.

City administrator Matt Stiles told council members Tuesday that Kevin Winter contacted him and was upset about the water draining into his field.

“The city is allowed to drain the lagoons into the drainage way in limited high flow times, but normally the water is put into the sewer,” Stiles said.

Stiles said a leaking valve might be the cause of the problem, and city employees will work on making a fix.

City employees were given a 2% raise as budgeted for 2022, but Stiles told council members that inflation rose faster than was anticipated when the 2022 budget was set.

Inflation has jumped to 6.2%, he said.

Stiles didn’t recommend a larger increase for employees, but said council members would want to keep inflation rates in mind next year when they consider cost-of-living adjustments in the budget.

Mayor Lou Thurston said given the difficulty of finding good employees, the city needs to make sure it keeps good employees.

Council members discussed the possibility of having a Wamego construction company sandblast, repair, and recoat the swimming pool.

Torrey Brothers Construction bid $34,900 for the work, Stiles said. The pool has $125,000 in its capital improvement budget.

Stiles said a second company will submit a bid.

In other business, council members adopted an updated code set for buildings, residences, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, property maintenance, and fire codes, and set a Dec. 28 budget hearing to make routine end-of-year adjustments to the budget.