MENTONE — A failed pipeline topped discussion during the regular meeting of the Mentone Town Council Monday evening, June 6.

According to James Emans, Emans Engineering, Bremen, approximately 500 feet of pipe beneath Main Street has failed. Emans and Water Superintendent Josh Shephard called on a company from Rochester to send a camera through the pipeline to find out where the problems were. According to Emans, things did not look good.

“It’s evident that the pipe is completely fractured,” he said, adding there are no complete collapses, but the pipe is smashed into an egg shape.

“There’s a limit to how squished the pipe can be,” he said.

Some of the material, Emans said, was placed 20 years ago with a 10-year life span and past repairs are starting to give.

The pipe runs along the north edge of the westbound lane of Main Street. Options include digging up the road and laying a new pipeline, which would require repaving, or using trenchless technology to insert a resin lining.

“It’s like putting a pipe inside of a pipe,” Emans said.

The approximate cost to replace the line is between $50,000 and $80,000. Emans and Shephard plan to study the situation further. If the situation is bad enough, Emans believes replacing the pipeline would be the more affordable option.

Emans recommended, if funds are available, making the pipeline a top priority, tackling it before fall. That way, he said, if the street needs to be torn up, there will be time to repave it. Jill Gross noted a budget hearing is set for later this month, at which time the council can assess what is available. Emans believes the 500 feet in question are only the beginning.

“There’s no real storm sewer system,” he said.

Some of the pipeline, he added, is leftover field tile, some from when the town was first founded. He suggested looking into implementing a storm sewer system with a storm sewer utility to help offset the costs. Rates, he said, could be set at $5 per month, which would not generate enough revenue quickly enough to install an entire sewer system. However, he added, the town could issue bonds, then use the stormwater fees to pay off the bonds.

No action or decisions were made pertaining to the sewer line.

Rock expressed concerns over potential use of the land at the end of Jackson Street, which the town is looking into purchasing. No decisions have been made as to its use. The council noted it was a good time to buy and the purpose for now is to have something for options down the road.

“I think the school would have some issues too,” he said. “But that’s just Ed Rock’s opinion.”

Clerk-treasurer Barb Ross noted the town has received $27,194.84 from the state, 75 percent of which must be put to a specific use. The other 25 percent, she added, can go into the COIT and EDIT funds and used as the town sees fit.

Other News

Ed Rock noted a veteran’s grave in the cemetery has no headstone and that, if the funds do not exist to place one, the Office of Veterans Affairs can help with the cost.

Shephard noted Bill Holder, who is in charge of Kosciusko County’s GIS maps, has created a new map of the cemetery and the cemetery books have been scanned into a database that can be updated and information such as military service added.

Town Marshal Jim Eads gave a shoutout to Krystal Lybarger for her historical presentation during this year’s Egg Festival. “I just wanted to publicly commend her on such an incredible job in doing that,” he said.