Photo: Otter Tail Power Company

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Otter Tail Power Company will be conducting a transmission line project this summer to improve redundancy and service to the city of Jamestown.

City Engineer Travis Dillman laid out the scope of what would need to be accomplished in the project.

Dillman says this is the most ideal route for the project.

Otter Tail Delivery Maintenance Manager Todd Langston says they will go underground until they reach the river and then over using poles on both sides.

He says they want to get started as soon as possible on the project.

Langston added there would be fewer outages if they went strictly underground, but outages would last longer than if they went overhead lines.

Because of a franchise agreement with the City of Jamestown, Mayor Dwaine Heinrich stated he didn’t believe there needed to be a public hearing and the City Engineer should be able to work with Otter Tail Power Company to get the project finished.

The committee moved to give City Engineer Travis Dillman the authority to work with Otter Tail Power Company on the project.

In other public work information, bid openings for multiple projects will be held at the end of the month and introduced to the City Council on April 4th.

City Administrator Sarah Hellekson also informed the committee that a replacement quote for the Sewer Department vehicle had come in “very high” and is a result of the current fleet vehicle shortages being experienced nationwide.

Jamestown Engineering Technician Tyler Michel stated the sewer department had a temporary fix at this time.

The committee decided to wait on the issue with the increase and unavailability of vehicles.