Mentone Water Superintendent Josh Shepherd addresses the Mentone Town Board on Monday, Aug. 6.

MENTONE — The town of Mentone will receive fiber-optic communications service courtesy of RTC Fiber Communications from Rochester.

The town board, made up Monday, Aug. 6 of Tim Croy and Shelly Krueger with President Jill Gross absent, approved  I’m here on behalf of RTC asking for your blessing and to let you know we’re in the process of bringing fiber into Mentone,” said Matt Cohagen of RTC Fiber Communications. “Fiber-optic cable will serve the community with internet and it will handle phones also.”

Croy told Cohagen that the prospect of adding fiber-optic technology to the town has been well received. “I know word around town people were really interested in getting fiber-optic here,” Croy said. Krueger concurred, saying “yeah, our internet right now is not good.” Croy and Krueger signed the agreement with RTC.

Water Superintendent Josh Shepherd told the board that he received an estimate for street work on Morgan and Main streets. Shepherd said that two structures are needed and that sewer lines in severals spots need to have lining added to them. He said the total cost for all the work would be $59,900. He expressed concern about getting all the work done  so early in the fiscal year and said that if an emergency developed later in the year, the department could end up short of funds.

He recommended the town proceed with the installation of the structures for the time being since that work is needed prior to the addition of the linings anyway. The board approved the request. The cost for the installation is $21,900.

Shepherd also told the board that the town was experiencing trouble with a motor for one of the town’s two wells.

“We put in our budget to go through both of the wells next year, but that being said, two weeks ago on a Sunday, I came in and I couldn’t get my one well to run,” Shepherd said. Shepherd said the motor was removed and determined to be faulty. “They priced putting a brand new motor on there and it’s $8,000,” he said. “It’s $8,000 we won’t have to spend next year when they come to service the well, but we weren’t planning to spend it this year.”

Shepherd told the board that the motor company provided the town with a loaner motor while Shepherd waited to come before the board with the issue. The board voted to purchase a new motor. Shepherd said the new motor would have variable speed drive, which provides numerous advantages on the previous motor.

In other news, the board heard from Anthony Hill, who told the board he is scheduled to serve as the new president of the struggling Mentone Youth League, effective Jan. 1.

The board also:

• Approved the hiring of Corbin Hudson to work with Shepherd in the Water Department.
• Agreed to raise the hourly wage of lawn mowing personnel to $10 per hour from $9.25.
• Heard from Clerk Treasurer Barb Ross that the annual public budget hearing will be held at 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 10 with the regular meeting to follow. This schedule alters the regular town board meeting from its regular schedule, which would have been Sept. 3. The budget is scheduled to be adopted at the board’s regular October meeting, scheduled for Oct. 1.