Tuesday nights meeting of the Kimball City Council included a lot of talk of the budget for next year, and it also secured funding for the new power plant.

Ordinance 823 was passed by the Kimball City Council on Tuesday night. The ordinance approves $2.5 million in funding that will supplement money already approved to build a new power plant. Original funding for the project was set before the bid process for the new building with six power generators. When bids came back, the city learned it would need more money to complete the project, 823 has secured that funding. Work may now begin on the new power plant.

So far studies show that over the next ten years, $63 million in capital improvements will have to be made to city owned properties and utilities. That includes the replacements and upgrade to the water and sewer systems that will lead to almost total replacement of pipes in some parts of town while other parts will see rehabilitation efforts to restore their pipes.

The city suffered its first water main break of the year on Oak St near GRI earlier this week. The age and condition of the pipe are believed to be the causes. Mayor John Morrison reminds us that fees and not taxes pay for a lot of the utility work in town. Fees that he believes have not been raised quickly enough over the last 10 years and will now face significant increases due to the work that must be done.

Residents may attend a budget workshop with the city council at 5:00 p.m. on August 15th to voice their ideas about the budget.