Oskaloosa Water Approves Employee Health Care Plan Participation

54-inch storm water pipe ready to be installed under the Oskaloosa Community Stadium.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Water Department’s Board met on Tuesday afternoon in a regular session.

The board heard from Hunt and Associates, P.C. in regards to the 2016-2017 audit report of the water department.

The board accepted the report from Hunt and Associates, P.C.

The board then tackled the discussion of employee health insurance premiums.

The current policy is that the Oskaloosa Water Department covers 100% of the premiums for employees.

Employees will be on the hook for 2.5% participation for the premium beginning in January of 2017, eventually ending at 5% participation beginning in 2018, while keeping their same insurance plan in place.

If more than 5% participation was asked, the plan would have to be abandoned for an Affordable Care Act plan, versus the current pre-ACA plan.

Oskaloosa Water General Manager Chad Coon said that the department has jetted and televised a total of 2,640 feet and root cut 100 feet of sanitary and storm sewer, which required over 28,000 gallons of water to complete.

When it comes to capital work, Coon said that everything has moved up to Community Stadium, where the installation of 54-inch storm sewer is underway. “Those manhole structures they are putting in are impressive.”

Coon said that underneath the field at Community Stadium is where “bottlenecks” had plagued the water department when stormwater capacity caused the structures to fail, causing damage to the playing field. “There have been issues for years at that facility.”

The old stormwater drainage pipe was 36 inches in diameter, with the new being 54-inch pipe.

A junction around the 20-yard line on the north side of the field is where the blowups were seen after hard rains.

The size of the feeding pipe is unknown, and the location of the feeding stormwater pipes “didn’t work, to begin with,” said Oskaloosa City Manager Michael Schrock.

The stormwater pipe then “daylights” approximately a block and a half away from where it empties into an area creek.

Coon also addressed water leaks that have occurred within Oskaloosa during the past month, which included a valve on South F and Edmundson Drive that blew apart, disrupting service to customers for several hours.

The board approved the minutes of the previous meeting with some adjustments. The board also approved the invoices for October.

The board adjusted one high water bill to include the standard rate for regular consumption and reduced the rate to the Beacon rate for the extra amount due to a broken fixture.

Another high water bill was effectively tabled until the next board meeting until the owner could be present to discuss the situation.