PHILLIPSBURG — The Phillipsburg Board Of Public Affairs opened its meeting on March 6 with unexpected good news.

Wendell Harleman, street and water commissioner, report that when he began to replace the wheel bearing in the department’s truck, he found it took an old-style bearing. He was able to repair it with $19 wheel seals. The original estimate had been $566.

(The board met on the first Monday of the month instead of the usual date of the second Thursday due to some members having scheduling conflicts.)

Harleman had nothing more to report except a water meter at one address that was giving a strange reading. The water clerk’s computer was apparently receiving readings from the meter indicating a backflow or a leak, but the meter itself showed no problem. Harleman said he and an official from Buckeye State Pipes were meeting the next day to figure out what was happening.

The board then turned to discussing a contract for Derek Shell as a contractual operator for the water department. The head of Municipal Service Pros, LLC, of Brookville, Shell will succeed Mike Myer, who notified the board last year he wanted to leave the position some time in the spring. Shell said he had met with Myer, touring the village and looking over the equipment.

The board agreed to Shell’s price of $500 a month, and he told them he had no intention of raising the price during the length of the first contract. The contract will be good for a year, with an automatic renewal unless either party wants to alter the terms.

Shell also assured the board members he would be able to respond to emergencies too big for Harleman to handle by himself, at $60 per hour.

“If I’m not available I have staff members I can trust, certified operators,” he said, “and I also know some contractors I can call on.”

His main concern was whether the village had accurate maps of the water system. (Occasionally a small town finds that in earlier days things were done less formally and maps were not kept up to date.)

Harleman said the department’s maps were current and said, “I know the location of every valve.” He warned that some of them required two people to turn them.

Because Myer had offered to serve until his successor could begin work, Shell and the board members debated when it would be convenient for him to start. They decided April 1 would be most convenient from a bookkeeping standpoint, although Harleman teasingly asked him if he thought April Fools’ Day was a good day to start a new job.

The only glitch arose when he learned an EPA official was scheduled to make a regular inspection later in the week. While it is not necessary for Shell to be present, he and Harleman agreed it would be helpful, but Shell could not be available on the scheduled day. As he knows the official, he offered to call to try to reschedule.

The board will resume its normal meeting schedule, with the next meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, at the municipal offices, 10868 Brookville Phillipsburg Rd.