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Mayor LeTourneau commented that the City has continued to monitor manganese and the rates <br />have remained consistent and have not continued to increase. He stated that this is a driving issue <br />around this effort and the City is bumping up against challenges on the mixing side but has been <br />able to maintain the standards and demand. <br /> <br />Utilities Supervisor Nelson provided details on the mixing that is done and the order in which the <br />City wells are brought online during high demand use times. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove asked the dates the information was collected, specifically whether it <br />was the first quarter of the year or from last year. <br /> <br />Mr. Larson commented that these numbers are coming right from the well where it comes out of <br />the ground. He was unsure of the date the data was collected but noted that the numbers do not <br />tend to fluctuate. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove stated that she would assume then that the numbers are not going up or <br />down. <br /> <br />City Engineer Westby stated that this issue first came forward in spring of 2019 and therefore the <br />data could be a little over one year old. <br /> <br />Mayor LeTourneau commented that he recognizes that the Council had been given results at a <br />certain amount of time and asked if the wells continue to be tested individually or whether the mix <br />is tested. <br /> <br />Utilities Supervisor Nelson replied that the mix is tested. He stated that he takes 15 samples each <br />month, noting that he has focused on businesses throughout the community due to COVID. <br /> <br />Mayor LeTourneau commented that it would seem that provides an average, or mean, and if the <br />numbers jump up, samples could be taken from individual wells. <br /> <br />Utilities Supervisor Nelson stated that they have found that the samples tend to be close to the <br />original level. He noted that readings from 1985 have been close to the readings in 2019 and have <br />not been found to change much over time. <br /> <br />Councilmember Menth stated that Ramsey has been testing for manganese for a long time then <br />and asked if the Department of Health changed the rules during that time. <br /> <br />Mr. Larson confirmed that the Department of Health issued an advisory several years ago, but it <br />takes some time for the Department of Health to get around to reviewing each municipality and <br />issuing notices. He confirmed that the manganese level for Ramsey has remained consistent over <br />those years but was recently triggered by the Department of Health. He stated that through the <br />mixing the City does, 98 percent of the time Ramsey is under the range. <br /> <br />Mayor LeTourneau stated that Ramsey is at a place where it now needs to fall within the guidelines. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / July 21, 2020 <br />Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br />