CHUGWATER – In a relatively short meeting of the council of the town of Chugwater, the council determined minor damage should be anticipated from an event with the scale of the Chugwater Chili Cookoff and agreed to cover the repair costs.
This year, there was damage to the underground sprinkler lines at Staats park from tent spikes. Councilman Steve Kelley emphasized, there is no way to locate all the lines in the park, and he thought the costs to repair any damage was far inferior to the benefit the event brings to Chugwater.
“With [the revenue] the cookoff brings to the town, I don’t think we can complain – and no matter what, every year there are some things that need to be repaired,” Kelley said.
There was some hesitation in approving bills as presented to the town, requiring a few minutes to discuss. The council present did not recall having been informed the engineer on retainer by the town was invited by the mayor to be on site for a consultation in regard to a current water study in Chugwater. In the end, the council unanimously voted to approve the bills, including the bill from the engineer, since “he was here and did the work, so he deserves to be paid,” said councilmen John Burns and Kelley, who was mayor pro-tem with the absence of mayor Carol Ash.
Councilmen Joe Schirmer, Eric Marlatt, Kelley and Burns all agreed, they feel in the future it is important they all be informed and have the opportunity to be present when the engineer or other entity on retainer by the town of Chugwater is invited to consult on any issue.
Kelley reported to the council, $200,000 high-rise sign that has been in the works for over a year will be going up at the Chug Chug Gas and Go gas station. He said the town received approximately $1,000 for the permit to erect the sign.

Treasurer David Clough reported a new account was established at the bank to provide a place for revenue from the 2018 special tax to be deposited. The sixth penny tax was slated to bring in $802,400 to Chugwater for use on street repairs and to purchase a multi-use tractor, according to official documents. The town has paid off early a bond and lease that was taken out for the project, so there was a need for an account for the specifically allocated funds to be deposited until they are needed for further street repair. Next month’s financial report should reflect this new account.
Water and sewer director Pete Delgado submitted a report to the council on the work done by the staff this month in the water/wastewater and maintenance department. Among many other tasks, the gate was repaired, and fence put back up at well no. 5. The same well was pumped to “zero” to clear out remaining chlorine after repairs were completed this summer. A lightning resistor is on order to minimize damage to the well’s pump system during lightning storms. Pump no. 5 was shut down temporarily while leaking fittings were repaired on the chlorine pump at the no. 2 water tank.
Water was turned on at the old grade school and baseball field at Prairie View Community School, the scata system at the town shop was reset for the no. 3 and no. 4 wells, and hosted the first meeting with Trey Rinne from AVI engineering and his team concerning the Chugwater Master Plan.
A water break was fixed on Clay Street, repairs were made to the sprinkler system lines at Staats park, cupboard drawers were repaired at the community center, took monthly water samples, well reads, chlorine residual tests, line locates and shocking of lagoons, and watering and mowing around town.
A new furnace was installed in the community center, but the air conditioning compressor was not working properly, so plans for its repair are being made. Concrete was replaced at the community center and a skim coat was placed on the library sidewalk.
Delgado emphasized to the council, he is frustrated at the lack of tools and equipment at the town. “I’m asked to fix things, but don’t have the tools to fix it,” he said. He emphasized he’s spending a lot of time trying to track down the proper tools and equipment to be able to do things like repairing broken sewer or water lines, and warned there is going to be some major issues if the town doesn’t come up with a plan to make sure there is sufficient available and maintained equipment.
He also said he has been looking at receipts for his department, and there are a lot of tools and things the town has receipts for, “I’ve looked at the inventory list and there is not even a quarter of the tools the Town of Chugwater has bought.”
Burns told Delgado, the reason there isn’t a lot of equipment is partially because of the fact the town does not have much revenue.
There was not much discussion at the meeting concerning the missing inventory, though it was mentioned, asking former employees about it would be a good idea.
A memorandum of understanding was discussed, and revisions recommended, to work with Platte County’s Road and Bridge department to provide emergency snow plowing of the town’s roads, if the need becomes beyond the scope Chugwater crews can handle on their own. Chugwater would also allow the county to house some of their equipment on town property.
Chugwater branch librarian Cathy Wilson Suazo said after compiling a report of the library’s use over the last year, there were 800 patrons, 559 books and periodicals and 20 DVD/VHS tapes checked out, 187 uses of the computer, 16 new cards, 123 participants in the book club, and in March there were 5 blood pressure kits checked out. During the Chugwater Chili Cookoff, there was a total $90 in book sales and donations given to the library.
As acting mayor, Kelley read a proclamation recognizing Independence Day as July 4th, and encouraging the town’s residents to join in celebrating freedom and the “unalienable rights” declared by the forefathers of our nation on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence.