Inside: Use squash instead of pumpkin for bread recipe See A4
Sports: Schools prep for 2014 season See B1
The Weekender Saturday, January 4, 2014
SNOW DAY
MAKING THE BIG MOVE
Catalyst nears end of move to 160,000-square-foot facility in Iola
Ron Riebel, a maintenance worker for Catalyst Artificial Lift, is just one of the many employees who have been working on the company’s move to Iola. REGISTER/STEVEN
SCHWARTZ
By STEVEN SCHWARTZ The Iola Register
While the snow on New Year’s Day was anything but a blizzard, families from the area took the opportunity to slip and slide around in Riverside Park. At top, Bodhi Ashford, 7, waves for the camera while sliding down the hill on the west end of the park. Above, Julian Maddox, 8, gets a helping hand from Krysten Peppmeier while trying out his new snowboard. Don’t worry, he made it down the hill on the next attempt. REGISTER/ STEVEN SCHWARTZ
The idea of moving makes many people cringe, and that’s on a normal scale. For Catalyst Artificial Lift, the move from Humboldt to Iola is on an unprecedented scale. Justin Defebaugh, plant manager for Catalyst, is heading up the move from its 15,000-square-foot Humboldt plant to a new location in Iola — a whopping 160,000-square-foot space. To say they’ve been busy is an understatement. “It’s been a lot of work,” Defebaugh said Friday morning. Since September employees have been hard at work moving equipment and setting up the space for the transferral. They have been juggling their current operation as well. “The idea is to not lose out on any production,” Defebaugh said. There are 27 employees with the company, which was purchased by the Gainesville, Texasbased Catalyst over a year ago. It was formerly known as 2 R Tools. “It’s been pretty smooth so far.” The company produces parts for down-hole oil pumps, and they use CNC
(computer numerical control) machines for their work. They recently purchased six new machines, valued at approximately $80,000 apiece. About 30 machines are being moved to the new space “in waves” to maintain production at their current plant. “I’ve got a really knowledgeable staff behind me, they make everything easier,” Defebaugh said. “They take instructions and run with them.” City of Iola crews Justin Defebaugh have assisted with the move as well, Assistant Administrator Corey Schinstock said. They have run new power lines to the plant, for different voltage, and will be completing some interior concrete work as well. When Catalyst agreed to move to the Iola location, it was with the help of some incentives; one of which was a predetermined amount of work that the City of Iola would do. Schinstock said the city is nearly done with its portion, See CATALYST | Page A4
Dirty, rotten pipes
Iola crews often called to repair failing water lines By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
The last two Sunday mornings Iola crews worked in subfreezing weather to repair broken water mains. More and more, city crews are called out to repair the city’s decaying water line system. Crews are called out about 65 to 70 times a year, largely because about 75 percent of the city’s water lines were laid a century or more ago. “Look at this,” said Corey Schinstock as he held up a section of cast iron pipe. The 4-inch pipe was cut from a line
to be repaired. In it were deep gouges. “Those marks were made with a putty knife,” he said, indicating its decay. Schinstock, Iola’s assistant city administrator, also pointed to “barnacles” within the piece of pipe. Barnacles are globs of calcified rust that have built up over the years. They restrict flow, occasionally to the point that firefighters choose more distant hydrants with more volume when fighting a fire. “All of the old lines are like this, and some are a lot worse,” said Schinstock. The city has three types of
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 47
mains carrying water to 2,700 Iola residences and businesses. Cast iron lines were first laid when Iola was a bustling city of more than 10,000 residents and on the cusp of the gas boom more than 100 years ago. Later, cast iron pipe was lined with concrete, which today are better vessels with minimal barnacles. Starting about 40 years ago, the city began using plastic pipe. “The plastic lines are pretty much free of any build-up, just a film,” Schinstock said. See PIPES | Page A4
Assistant City Administrator Cory Schinstock holds a section of a barnacle-clogged water main from a recent water main leak. REGISTER/ BOB JOHNSON
“Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair.” — George Burns 75 Cents
Hi: 37 Lo: 13 Iola, KS