By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Deer Creek water tower could receive a new makeover as soon as this summer.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the Deer Creek City Council received several paint designs for the upcoming water tower repair and repainting project. Much of the discussion last Monday night revolved around what color and overall design concept should be included as part of the water tower project. While there was a general consensus to include a deer and creek on the water tower, city council members discussed whether it should include the Wadena-Deer Creek school colors or a large paw representing the school district. 

Recently representatives from the Wadena-Deer Creek School District spoke at a city council meeting to ask the city to consider placing a wolverine paw or school logo on the water tower, similar to what was done in Wadena. 

Utility manager Dan Kovar cautioned the city council about the overall cost of including the school logo on the water tower as he said the cost for doing that in Wadena was approximately $10,000 apiece. 

City Councilman Danny Hendershot said whatever the design the city moves forward with he would like to see the bottom of the water tower to be a darker color. Having a darker color on the bottom of the bowl could go a long ways to hiding dirt that can collect on the bottom part of the bowl. 

Deer Creek Mayor Troy Beiswinger said he would like to see a paint design that really made Deer Creek’s water tower stand out, similar to the Pequot Lakes water tower that looks like a fishing bobber. He said the city could paint the water tower navy blue and orange, which would be similar to the Deer Creek Shockers colors, or even a brighter color orange since deer hunting is such a big part of the area. The mayor went on to say either design could also include the school logo depending upon the overall cost. 

The city council directed its engineering firm to come up with some different mock ups and designs using the new color schemes and will decide on an overall concept as soon as next month.

In order to help fund the expansive project, the city received a grant to fund over $581,000 of the estimated $600,000 project. 

Water usage

In addition to the design of the water tower, the city council spent a good portion of their meeting discussing how it will meet water demands when the water tower, and eventually the well house, are under construction this summer. 

Kovar said the city cannot do both projects at the same time and still meet water demands of the community. The plan is to complete the work on the water tower first, before beginning work on the well house. The water tower work is expected to take anywhere from 6-8 weeks. 

In order to meet water demands, Kovar suggested the city should bring in a low pressure mobile water unit to keep the water flowing at an acceptable level. Otherwise the city could run the risk of having more demand for water than it would be able to pump. 

The cost to rent the unit would be approximately $8,000 a month, but Hendershot said doing so would go a long ways to ensuring the city’s ability to effectively pump water throughout the project.

“My concern with going without (the pumping unit) is our well only pushes so many gallons of water a minute. There is a chance if we get into a high pressure situation there could be time where we need more water than it is able to pump,” he said. “I am just afraid if we don’t (get the mobile unit) we could run short of water. If that happened we could end up with air in the line and have to do boil water orders.”

Even with the mobile unit the city council said there is a chance it will ask residents to conserve water throughout the summer, for instance it could ask residents to limit how much they water their lawn, in order to ease the strain on the pumping units.

In other news

• Approved a liquor license for Woodbee, LLC or Wet Woody’s Pub and Grub. The business requested an on-sale, off-sale and Sunday liquor license. The business will occupy the former Bootleggers Bar and Grill building in downtown Deer Creek.

• Discussed a Joint Cooperative Agreement for use of Emergency Operations Personnel and Equipment. The agreement is essneitlaly a mutual aid agreement with the other fire departments in Otter Tail County.

• Approved the hiring of Jesse Stockwell for an open custodial position. 

• Heard the monthly police report from New York Mills Police Chief Bobby Berndt. During the month of December the police department logged 31 hours of service and responded to 19 calls of service. 

• Approved by a 3-1 margin with Bob Lund voting against, a recommendation to name former fire chief Travis Collins as the new fire chief. Danny Hendershot abstained from voting. Other officers approved by the fire department include: Jayme George as assistant chief, Brandon Christensen as fire captain, Cody Truax as training officer, Dana Damm as secretary and Diane George as safety officer.