Monday, May 17, 2010

MAJOR SOUTH COLUMBIA WATER LINE: Inadequate, city report claims

COLUMBIA, 5/17/10  (Beat Byte) --  A 16-inch pipeline on Scott Blvd. that breaks routinely but serves as the sole source of water to the Thornbrook, Magnolia Falls, Wyndham Ridge, and Mill Creek subdivisions in southwest Columbia is substandard and inadequate after less than 8 years, claims a City of Columbia staff report.
 
"The existing 16 inch water main was installed in August 2002 and has experienced five main breaks since Spring 2005, causing reduced pressure and water outages to these subdivisions," the report claims.   Trying to avoid damage from future roadwork, crews buried the line deeper than normal.  Today, "overburden on the line" from backfilled dirt has forced it into contact with bedrock, causing the breaks.
 
The report recommends either replacing the entire line for about $650,000 or a less costly alternative -- adding a supplemental smaller line and new valves for roughly $35,000 to $110,000.
 
Report on Scott Blvd. Water Main Outage
 
 
CAT TV:   To get long overdue makeover money
 
COLUMBIA, 5/17/10  (Beat Byte) -- Stephens College and Columbia Access Television (CAT) will receive over $130,000 for long overdue upgrades to the Stephens College CAT TV studios, now that cable television scofflaw Mediacom and St. Louis-based Charter Communications have settled a lawsuit with the City of Columbia for "among other things, failure to provide studio and equipment support for public access as part of cable television franchise obligations with the City." 
 
The 2009 settlement -- $212,636 for underpayment of franchise fees from the two firms -- followed a 2007 lawsuit that alleged neither firm provided "sufficient support for public access television," part of an exclusive contract that granted cable television monopolies in sections of Columbia. 
 
B121-10  Appropriating funds received as part of the settlement agreement with Mediacom and Charter Communications to fund public access television improvements at Stephens College

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