RISON - Rison’s new utilities director, Joe Freyer, gave the Rison City Council an update Tuesday night on his plans to improve the city’s water and sewer systems, as well as other projects that are within the works inside the city.
Meanwhile, the council also approved the 2023 city budget and Mayor Charles Roberts said he is still investigating the possibility of the city taking ownership of the old Lion Service Station building downtown. Those matters and others were discussed during the Rison City Council’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday nigh.
Roberts said Freyer has extensive experience working with public utilities, and is licensed to serve as both a water and wastewater operator in addition to being a master electrician. Freyer’s role as utilities director is to oversee the day-to-day operations of both of utilities systems as well as other work carried out by the city.
Freyer, who officially started his new job on Oct. 24, presented each of the council members with a packet detailing his plans for the city’s water and sewer systems.
He said his main strategy will be “proactive” rather than “reactive,” which means he will focus on doing more preventative maintenance to avoid problems rather than react to problems after they occur. That preventative maintenance will extend to the city’s water well power units, excavator, tractor and other equipment.
His packet included photos of some of the improvements he has already made, like painting the exposed piping at the city well. He explained that the fresh paint helps protect the metal (see ROBERTS page 10) (continued from page 1) pipe from deterioration due to exposure to the elements. He said he has also inspected both of the city’s water tanks and noticed some issues that need to be corrected there.
Having back-up pieces in place like power units, generators for water wells, pumps for the city’s main treatment plant and chlori...
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