A study designed to locate problems in Delphi's water system to help water department employees determine how much water the city is losing each year has more than paid for itself…and only three leaks have been discovered so far.

According to utility manager Dick VanSickle at Monday night's city council meeting, the study cost Delphi roughly $5,000 and has saved the city more than $6,000. The project is not yet completed.

VanSickle said one previously undetected issue located on E. Main St. was leaking 15 gallons of water per minute, which translates to 21,600 gallons a day or 7,884,000 gallons per year.

VanSickle said the city could own a unit to provide the inspections for roughly $5,000. He said he could be recommending that purchase in the future to enable the department to perform on-going tests.

Clean-up/Trash removal

Council member Brian Garrison said the city should furnish curb-side pick-up for spring clean-up this weekend and next. He also said he thought the contract with trash haulers Indiana Waste called for multiple dumpsters, not just one at a single location.

Dan Sterrett agreed with Garrison. He questioned street commissioner Aaron Lyons about what the city would do if residents put spring clean-up items on the curb instead of taking them to the central dumpster. Lyons indicated no contingency plan.

Lyons said the details about spring clean-up were clear in the contract with Indiana Waste. He said the city no longer owned a trash truck, therefore making trash pickup a challenge. He said the trash hauler would remove the dumpster from the park after the drop-off day each weekend. He said he was meeting with Indiana Waste personnel Thursday to discuss details for the spring trash weekend.

No decision about how to proceed was made. Mayor Randy Strasser said he and Lyons would "put our heads together" to resolve the situation.

"We'll make sure we get it picked up," he said.

In a related matter, Delphi resident Dennis Parks complained about the limited number of trash bags allowed each week. He said his household is paying $10 each month for trash removal and he thought it is unfair to then have to pay an additional amount for more than two bags or one trash can. He said council members should have realized young families have more trash than other families due to young children's input. He requested the maximum number of bags per household be increased.

Council members explained they signed a contract with Indiana Waste and those were the terms agreed upon.

"It was costing the city $20 per household to do trash pickup in-house," Strasser said.

He said recycling was encouraged with the new program because a household can put out unlimited recycling items for curb-side pick-up.

Strasser took credit for the yearly calendars developed by the street department not yet being sent to residents. He said a letter is being composed to accompany the calendars. Clerk-treasurer Janice Roe said the calendars are available in her office for pick-up.

New police car

After much discussion about whether a need existed to replace the police car wrecked last winter, bringing the fleet total to three cars, council members voted for the purchase of the new car.

Chief Justin Darling explained the department has three officers on duty during the day. With only two cars, when one becomes disabled, the city has only one car to respond to calls. He said there is no new car in the 2009 budget.

Strasser said the city has two pool cars that are nearly unusable. He said city employees use the cars for city business.

"I am not sure we needed to replace the totaled car immediately," Carolyn Pearson said. "And it doesn't seem to me like we need two pool cars."

"I don't see how we can cut corners on law enforcement," Kyle Germond said. "We're talking about human life."

Darling provided an activity report for March which indicated 46 traffic summons, 48 warnings, four felony arrests, seven information reports and nine accidents investigated which were all increases from February. City police also wrote five parking tickets in March.

Darling introduced new police officer Darron Giancola. He announced that officer David Yeager will retire May 31 and he received permission to pursue a new hire for the position.

Delphi Municipal Airport

Airport manager Brian Stirm announced the airport board decided to reduce the price of aviation fuel in lieu of the usual mark-up. He said a near-by fuel distributor has agreed to sell auto fuel without alcohol to the airport for those aircraft permitted to use the fuel.

Fire Department

Chief Denny Randle reported that in the first quarter of 2009 the department responded to 12 reports of structure fires which involved 205 man-hours. There were nine brush fires, 13 training activities, 11 vehicle accidents, 22 work details and 13 other activities with a total of 1,055 man-hours for the period. Totals did not reflect activity with The Andersons cob fire.

The council will hold a work session April 20 beginning at 5 p.m. Strasser distributed a list of projects to be discussed at the session, which is expected to last for three hours. Strasser said he will provide a summary paragraph for each project to initiate discussion which will help council members fully understand each project. The board of works will meet at 4:30 the same day.

The next city council meeting will be May 4 at 7 p.m.