City Council Agenda.

City Council will hold their bimonthly meeting at seven thirty tomorrow evening in Council Chambers. The agenda includes discussion of the golf course name and the use of municipal parks for various sport programs.

The City council will be presented with the name Boulder Creek at Carthage for the new name of the Carthage Municipal Golf Course. According to Director of Parks and Recreation Allen Bull the name comes from the creek that travels through the golf course that has boulders in it. He also suggested that the City could decorate to the theme Boulder Creek if that name was approved. The proposed new golf fees will also be presented to the Council for a first reading.

The City Council will be asked to authorize an agreement with the Carthage Softball Program, Carthage Youth Softball, the Carthage Aquatic Team, and the Carthage Little League Baseball Association for use of municipal parks such as Fair Acres, Hallam Field, and the pool.

A change order in the amountof $77,710.76 for golf course improvements will be presented.

If you’re lookin’ for the offices of the Mornin’ Mail, we’ve moved.

Over the weekend we relocated to our new location at 330 Lyon. Just about a block south of where we were, but on the other side of the street.

This is our fourth move since we began in our kitchen in 1992. This will be the last. We have purchased this building and plan on stayin’ for the duration.

If ya get the urge, stop by and see a work in progress. We still have some finishin’ up to do, but are pluggin’ along, continuing our record of never missin’ a scheduled day of gettin’ the Mail on the street.

As before, the Mail shares the office with Carthage Printing. We are the only newspaper published in the City of Carthage.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing

THIS IS A HAMMER

By Samantha Mazzotta

The Case of the Vanishing Toilet Water

Q: I have two toilets in my home. One toilet is used more frequently than the other. Unfortunately, the other toilet does not preserve water in the bowl during the winter months. The tank remains full but the water in the toilet bowl vanishes over 8 hours. This causes sewer fumes to fill my house. The mystery: Why does this only happen during cold weather? I do not experience this during warm weather. There are no obvious leaks around the tank or under the floor. I flush the toilet twice a day in an effort to maintain the water level in the bowl. By the way, there are no pets in the house slurping this water away. The mystery remains unsolved! — Sheila L.

A: Aha, but it’s no mystery at all! The problem — thanks to your detailed description — is a partially blocked vent in your home’s drain/waste/vent system.

A home’s DWV system is one of those amazing mechanisms that folks never really notice — until something goes wrong. The array creates a careful balance between gravity and air pressure to ensure that waste goes straight to the sewer or septic system, and that sewer gas is dispersed outdoors. The pressurized environment of a DWV system is pretty stable — a clogged sink or toilet won’t upset the entire process.

However, a blockage within a large vent or drain stack can cause trouble. When airflow is blocked, a vacuum is created, and both air and waste material get pulled in the wrong directions. In your case, the water in your toilet bowl is being sucked out of the drain trap, and sewer gases are rising to take the water’s place.

This is a problem I hear about often in winter. The blockage is often caused by frost forming inside an undersized vent stack. Warm, humid air created by hot water draining from the shower, the dishwasher, the washing machine, etc. rises into the stack. The moisture condenses as it cools, runs down the inside of the pipe, and, in freezing weather, ices up.

Frost within the vent stack could be exacerbated by an existing partial clog, such as grease or soap scum at the connections, or a bird’s nest built atop the vent.

The solution is to have the vent stack (or stacks) checked and cleared by a professional plumber. He’ll look for frost or ice dams inside the pipe and will use a plumber’s snake to clear debris from deep inside the vent.