City of Lebanon Authority board votes to retain current leadership

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

In its reorganization meeting Monday, the City of Lebanon Authority board approved retention of its current leadership, re-electing Martin Yocum as chairman.

Also re-elected were Betty Eiceman as vice chair, Brad Longenecker as secretary, Robert Hoffman as treasurer, and Ed Lynch Jr. as assistant treasurer/assistant secretary. CoLA executive director Tom Deitzler was appointed Right-to-Know/Open Records officer.

The board also approved its first water main project for 2026 to be built at North 4^th and Guilford streets in Lebanon. J. Phillips Excavating & Hauling LLC of Hamburg, was the low bidder and was awarded the contract for $1.23 million.

The water main services 117 properties. The project is scheduled to begin May 1.

Deitzler told the board that CoLA would like to develop a formal paving policy that would shift coordination of street paving from the authority and to the municipalities where the projects are completed.

Currently, street paving is included in CoLA’s bid package for a water line project. But streets are assets that belong to the municipalities, Deitzler said.

Additionally, paving after a completed water line project can involve other utilities as well as curb and driveway issues, restriping center lines, and restriping turning lanes.

“We as a staff would like to get out of the paving business,” Deitzler told the board. “Municipalities would be responsible for coordinating the paving, and we would give them an agreed-upon contribution.”

Whether CoLA would create a policy, agreement, or memorandum of understanding with each municipality has not been determined, Deitzler said. Nor has any timeline for when such a policy would go into effect.

Deitzler also told the board that crews have replaced 600 of the 3,600 meters that need to be upgraded to enable radio signals for reading water usage. But the project has run into a snag as crews have discovered that some of the meters are in customers’ basements.

Typically, meters are placed outside of the house. Still CoLA anticipates having all 3,600 meters replaced by the end of March.

In other business, the board approved several invoices for the wastewater treatment plant improvement project. These included:

• $722,655.47, Pact Two LLC, general contracting.
• $11,875, Garden Spot Mechanical, plumbing.
• $64,592.07, Garden Spot Mechanical, HVAC.
• $84,075, Garden Spot Electric, electric.

Also approved were payment of December invoices totaling $2,074,697.43.

The board held an executive session after the public meeting. No action was taken, Dietzler said in an email after the meeting.

The City of Lebanon Authority Board meets at 2311 Ridgeview Road, Lebanon, on the second Monday of each month at 3 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 9. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.