Sparta Senior Center Needs Emergency Sewage Repairs; Council Wants Agreement

The Sparta Senior Center needs emergency sewage repairs, but there are questions as to how it is going to get paid for.

The Sparta City Council discussed the sewage issue during a Thursday meeting. The repairs will cost between $28,000 and $33,112. City Administrator Tonya Tindle said the situation needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

“Right now they are using port-a-pottys, and this has been a month,” Tindle said. “It’s costing them $200 a week for port-a-pottys. The discussion, we own the building. They don’t even pay rent to us. We don’t have an agreement with them. We pay all their utilities.”

Tindle said White County will often help with costs to repairs to the Senior Center, because the center serves county residents as well. Mayor Jerry Lowery said he believed the cost should be split three ways.

“The motion could be to negotiate the best deal with the county, the Senior Citizen Center and us to get this taken care of,” Lowery said. “We can put a number amount to not go above that $33,000. Let’s get this negotiated and get it done.”

The motion was made and unanimously passed.

The work includes jack-hammering 12 to 15 feet deep and two-feet wide into concrete, removing a blockage in the sewage system, and then replacing the tile.

Lowery said a plan needs to be put into place so next time it is clear where the responsibility of cost for repairs to the Senior Center lies.

“I think what needs to happen, number one, is we are going to initiate an agreement with the Senior Citizen center in case this ever happens again we need to know whose responsible, because right now we have nothing,” Lowery said. “This should have been done a long time ago.”

In other business, council approved a contract with Hethcoat & Davis Engineers to update Sparta’s subdivision regulations. The last time they were updated was 1992. The council also approved the purchase of five trucks, including two trucks for the Police Department totaling $41,478.40. Three trucks will be purchased for the Public Works Department totaling $43,164.10.