Business : Kiwanis Club members hear and see how light plant has recovered from flood

A gauge shows how much electricity the generator produces. One unit can power the town most days.

This new Catapillar generator was replaced after the flood. It reduce outages by several minutes.

The Kiwanis members saw how the basement of light plant has been rebuilt to withstand flooding.

Rick Ohrt tells Kiwanis members how light plant has been rebuilt and made more flood-resistant.

The members of the Vinton Kiwanis met at The Pizza Ranch for their weekly meeting Tuesday at noon. But after eating, the members moved their meeting to the Vinton Municipal Electrical Utility.

Light Plant Manager Rich Ohrt gave the Kiwanis members a tour of the light plant, particularly the areas that had been affected by the flood of 2008.

Ohrt told the club that because of FEMA funding, virtually all of the repairs were made with federal dollars without having to charge the utility's customers.

The repairs included a $1.4 million generator project, and the pouring of a 12-inch floor in the basement. That basement area is now designed for use only for flooding; water will be allowed to flow into the basement during a flood to allow for equal pressure. The bursting of the basement was one of the problems during the Flood of 2008.

Ohrt also told the Kiwanis Club members that electrical demand has been steady in Vinton, and that the generators available are able to produce more power than Vinton needs even at its highest use. The generators are tested monthly, Ohrt said.