By John Howell
An engineering report on Como’s sewage lagoon is nearing completion, bringing the municipality a step closer to completing its application for a $5 million sewer and water upgrade, Mayor Everette Hill said Tuesday.
“We’re waiting on a tank inspection report from Mid-South Tank,” Hill said. “They came in and went inside the tank.”
If approved, the project will rehabilitate the town’s larger 300,000 water tank, remove a smaller 100,000 gallon water tank and replace water meters with digital, remote-read meters.
The sewer project would take three lift stations off-line by converting to gravity feed, add a sewer clarifier and extend the collection system on the east and west sides of town.
“We’re going to do some lines up there where the school is always stopping up; we’re going to replace all that up there,” the mayor said.
“By us being under a DEQ order —  we’re working on right at $5 million — we should pay back a little over $1 million,” Hill said.
Hill said digital-read water meters had performed well during a three-month test conducted by the town and Coburn Supply Company of Oxford.
“It’ll also show you where your water is leaking; what time it’s leaking and how much it’s leaking,” Hill said.
Last September, aldermen agreed to a pilot test where 25 conventional meters would be replaced by 25 of the digital meters. The meters are remotely read by a computer in the vehicle of the meter reader.
“I think the meters would be great for the town, but we would have to do a grant on it to afford them,” the mayor said.
Mayor Hill said that a recent water conference had convinced him to avoid adding (fluoride) as part of the water project.
“We got approved for two years for (floride) to go in your water,” the mayor said, “but while I was in the conference I learned that (fluoride) (is not) good for you; (fluoride) only works for a child from the time he’s one up to 18.”
“What they do is give it to you free for two years, but after you go past the two years, you’ve got to buy at whatever price they sell it to you,” said Hill.
An emergency sewer repair was necessary on a broken main line south of Highway 302 in an area known as “Foggy Bottom.” The line had become overgrown.
“Two trees fell and burst the pipe open,” Hill said, blocking flow through the line.
“It had to be cleaned completely. It had grown up; it took us three weeks to find out why we couldn’t unstop it,” he continued.
The cost of the repair swelled the monthly claims to a total of $52,830.35. Alderwomen Teresa Dishmon, Tonia Heard and Ruby Higgenbottom and Alderman John Walton voted to approve payment of claims; Alderwoman Rachel Powell voted against.
In other business during Como’s meeting:
• Como firemen are selling pork butt roasts for $35 each, Fire Chief Randy Perkins said. The cooked roasts will be ready for pickup Saturday, July 2 at the fire station.
The volunteer fire department has sold the roasts for years to raise funds to buy equipment but were sidelined when their cooker broke down. A new cooker has been purchased but firemen will only cook 100 roasts for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Perkins said.
• Of four vehicles burglarized one night during May, “all of them were unlocked,” Deputy Police Chief Faye Pettis said. “Half of them had guns in there.”
Pettis said that the car burglars started in Senatobia but apparently followed home a Como resident whose vehicle was equipped with an expensive sound system. Once they had stolen the sound system, “they went shopping,” Pettis said, striking the other three vehicles. The suspect has since been arrested by Senatobia police.
Alderwoman Higgenbottom asked Como police to be especially vigilant for speeding vehicles on residential streets since summer vacation has begun for students.
Alderwoman Powell asked about four-wheelers. “I saw them racing in the street,” she said.