The Board of City Commissioners on Aug. 28 ratified an emergency declaration after a sanitary sewer line and an adjacent storm sewer failed behind the former Foodland grocery store near the intersection of Paula Road and Thirteenth Street.

City staff described the failure as an 18-inch clay pipe that failed and allowed significant water flow to the same area. City staff credited immediate on-scene response by public-works personnel and contractors and said the situation required urgent repair work.

"We had a group immediately in the area when this started really becoming a major problem," a staff member said at the meeting, praising staffers Bruce Worthington, Barry Atkins and Justin Royster for rapid response. The emergency declaration ratified work that had already begun; staff reported the original purchase order for the repair work was approximately $30,000 and additional work brought the request to roughly double that amount to complete remediation and stabilize the site.

Commissioners ratified the resolution declaring the local state of emergency effective Aug. 27 and approved carrying forward the emergency procurement and funding as described by staff.

No further update on the condition of the line was provided at the meeting; staff said they would notify the commission of any material changes and continue repair work.