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Who does 911 call during an emergency? In the case of the failure of a generator to start during a recent storm that hit Gallatin, the answer was to call an electrician, a gas man, a fireman and a commissioner to troubleshoot the problem. When the power went out during the July 12 wind storm, the generator at the 911 office failed to start. This caused the 911 center to lose power to all equipment, phones, radios, lights, etc. as the back-up batteries are only designed to run a short time until the generator starts. Kyle McBroom was called and discovered the main natural gas line to the courthouse had been shut off, which caused a domino effect, resulting in other issues. John Sterneker, manager of Summit Natural Gas in Gallatin, was called and checked the gas line and changed the spark plug. County Commissioner Wayne Uthe and Gallatin Fire Protection District Firefighter Micah
Aug. 23, 2017 UPSP 213-200 Vol. 153, No. 13
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Sidebottom also helped get the generator started. Later, 911 Supervisor Dana Carder talked with the Daviess County Commissioners about the problem, and they were unsure how or why the natural gas had been turned off. Supervisor Carder reported to the 911 Board at its July 27 meeting that the generator had been performing well at its weekly maintenance since then and seems to be back in good working order. The board discussed ways to avoid such a problem in the future. A handheld radio will be purchased. Battery packs will be ordered. Summit Gas was contacted regarding a seal to put on the main gas valve. Daviess County Central 911 expressed thanks to Kyle McBroom, John Sterneker, Wayne Uthe and Micah Sidebottom for working on the generator, the City of Gallatin for making 911’s power a priority, and CarQuest for the donation of parts. In other business, it was noted that the Geo-Comm mainte-
nance contract is due in September. All employees successfully completed their Emergency Medical Dispatch certifications. A letter from Federated Insurance was presented to the board. Federated Insurance will no longer be providing group health/life insurance coverage as of January 2018. Supervisor Carder will check into different insurance companies. The treasurer’s reports were accepted with June bills of $16,199.48, revenue of $34,671.54, and a checkbook balance of $40,527.46 presented; and July bills of $11,641.29, revenue of $49,580.58 and a checkbook balance of $60,083.66 presented. A $50,000 CD was deposited with a six-month renewal period. The above are from the unapproved minutes of the July 27 meeting of the 911 Board. Present were Gene Walker, John Sullenger, Daniel Wilson, Joyce Eads and Ronetta Burton. Absent were Todd Watson and Kate Chrisman. Also present was Supervisor Dana Carder.
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Two eclipses for Mary McMahon Eclipses, like parenthesis, have enclosed both ends of Mary McMahon’s life — once when she was an infant and now again as a centurion. Mary McMahon, 100, was around for the total solar eclipse in June 1918. The 1918 total solar eclipse occurred on June 8, during the last days of World War I. The path clipped Washington State, moved across the whole of Oregon, and then the rest of the country, exiting over Florida. Mary was born in April of 1917 in Harvard, Neb. She was only one-year-old so she Mary McMahon doesn’t really remember the 1917 eclipse event. The second one proved more memorable. Mary arrived at the north side of the courthouse lawn in Gallatin for the Great American Eclipse of 2017 on Monday, Aug. 21. Mary reminisced about growing up on a farm outside Gallatin and working at the Brandom Law Office, which would have been located across the street from where she was sitting. Mary was accompanied by her daughters Kathleen and Eileen. Her other children are Casey, Joan and Lloyd. Mary now lives in Bethany.
Little Otter Creek considers others for hook up
Little Otter Creek Project, south of Hwy 36 about 3 miles from Hamilton, in neighboring Caldwell County
Cathy Youtsey, chair of the Little Otter Creek Wholesale Water Commission, has been meeting with area public water supply districts to explore the possibility of making a connection to the Wholesale Water’s distribution system as a secondary or emergency supply of water for their customers. Recently, the Commission has met with Public Water Supply District #1 in Daviess County. Ms. Youtsey believes the precaution is warranted. “During the drought of 2012, water districts in our area got down to a 13-to-30 day water supply,” she said. “People don’t understand how serious that is. If that happens, if
we run out of water, then there is no backup plan. Hundreds of square miles would be without water. You won’t be able to just open a faucet, or buy it, or ship it in. It’s just gone at that point. We need these reservoirs to withstand the droughts. The Little Otter Lake project, located about three miles east of Hamilton, is being built to serve multiple purposes, like recreational opportunities and flood prevention. But mostly it is being built to satisfy the need for an adequate, dependable, locally-controlled, rural water supply. The Little Otter Lake construction is directed by the Caldwell County Commission.
The County Commission is a separate governing entity from the Wholesale Water Commission. Ms. Youtsey explained that by state law, a county cannot be in the water business. That is, a county cannot process water, or sell and distribute finished water. A county can only sell raw water. The Caldwell County Commission owns the property and will build Little Otter Lake and construct a dam. Caldwell County will then sell raw water from the lake to the Wholesale Water Commission. The Wholesale Water Commission will then be in charge (continued on page 11)
Nobody quite knew what to expect but almost everybody now knows about the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse. The Daviess County Library spearheaded the local focus on this historic celestial event. Using funds and expertise provided by the NASA@mylibrary program, a series of stargazing and informational sessions during the weeks leading up to Aug. 21, 2017. Finally, the moment arrived. At approximately 1:08 p.m. the moon totally eclipsed the sun for over a minute here, a celestial wonder despite cloud coverage which made the quick transition from sunlight to twilight dusk less dramatic.
Accent lighting on the courthouse dome and street lights contrast with the “twilight dusk” of Monday’s total eclipse of the sun. Hundreds gathered around the courthouse to witness the event. A video slideshow is featured on www.NorthMissourian.com, created by event photographer Jill Steward. View even more of Jill’s photos on www.theJPEGstudio.