Durham City Council: Bank will close, donate building to city
Contributing writer
Loren Barton of Central National Bank appeared Nov. 8 before Durham City Council, to consult about the closing of the Durham branch of the bank and its effects on the city.
"The board has decided to close this branch effective at year's end, " said Barton. "Our board would be receptive to the idea of donating the building to the city, if you have use for it or want to make it available to some other business. Our only restriction would be that you not sell it to another financial institution which would compete with us."
Mayor Glennon Crowther said, "There has been some talk of starting a museum. Would that be an acceptable use?"
Barton indicated that he thought the board would find that acceptable. "The only other issue," he added, "would be for the city to pay for an appraisal, so we could have the value for our tax purposes."
Up to the present time, utility bills have been paid at the bank. Barton indicated he wished to do what was possible to alleviate any problems with those collections and offered the use of the night deposit at the bank.
Verlin Sommerfeld, water supervisor, said, "I think the simplest way to handle it would be to have people mail in the fees." Other council members expressed agreement.
"We need to let everybody know," said Crowther.
"I could send a letter with the next bill," said Sommerfeld, and that was the course they decided to follow.
Barton departed, leaving the council to discuss the offer of the bank building, but a decision was postponed pending inquiries into possible uses including the potential for establishing a museum. With the bank disbanding its Durham branch, the council also needed to make a decision about where to place their accounts. They decided to stay with Central National. Since Joyce Medley, city clerk, now will be handling the collection of utility fees, she will be paid the amount previously paid to the bank. The deposit required when a resident signs on for city water will be paid to the mayor.
Sommerfeld reported that 413,450 gallons of water were pumped last month, with a loss of 23.62 percent. However, there had been a major leak, which accounted for most of the loss. Pumps at the lift station ran 39 hours. Sommerfeld suggested that repairs are needed at the pump house to prevent freezing this winter. Gary Unruh offered to look it over and determine what can be done.
The mayor reported he had seen an advertisement from someone with a boring machine to clear out plugged culverts. He had called and found that the charge would be $10 a foot.
"That seems awfully high," Mike Sorenson said. Others agreed that less costly solutions should be explored first.
"What did you come up with on the gradients?" Unruh asked Sommerfeld.
"It's not good," was the reply. Sommerfeld's survey found a drop of only .3 of a foot in 310 feet.
"If there isn't any drainage, then cleaning the culverts out wouldn't help for very long," said Unruh.
There was a rather lengthy discussion of the difficulties and possible options. Sorenson asked whether the culvert could be replaced with a dip in the road, and that was thoroughly considered. Sommerfeld will do some more surveying to find the difference between the ditch and the crown of the road, so the council can decide on the feasibility of the various solutions.
"I've used the city tractor to do odds and ends for different people," said the mayor. "Do we want to set a price to charge for the use of the tractor? I don't care much about my time, but it costs quite a bit to fill that tractor with diesel."
Unruh said, "I think there should be payment for whoever operates it."
After a brief discussion, Sorenson moved to charge $25 per hour, $15 for the tractor and $10 for the operator. On a second from Unruh, the motion carried.
The council decided to sell a propane tank from a lot the city recently cleared to help defray some of the costs of the demolition and clean-up.
"It's going to be time to put up Christmas lights soon," said the mayor. "We usually do it right after Thanksgiving." Most council members thought they could help with the project Nov. 25 or 26.
Bills approved for payment included $99.17 for the rental of street equipment, $48 for water testing and $180 for fuel at the water well. Not all the bills for sidewalk renovation have been received.
