St. Helens — Resident Ron Tramlitz used the March 19 St. Helens City Council work session public comment period to allege longstanding failures and a settlement relating to a 2,000,000-gallon city reservoir, and he accused the city and outside consultants of withholding information.

Tramlitz said the reservoir rehabilitation was engineered using historical drawings and that no interior access or concrete testing was performed. He alleged the reservoir was leaking "74,000 gallons a day" and that concrete delamination was present as early as February 2016; he cited concrete core samples taken May 24, 2022. Tramlitz also said "John Walsh signed a settlement agreement" on April 22 that he said documented the contractor (identified in his remarks as Western Partition) had no liability for the reservoir failure. He criticized Walker (named in his remarks as Walker consultants) and said a withheld report was claimed to be privileged by the city attorney.

Tramlitz requested that the city explain the causes and responsibility for the reservoir failure. The council did not respond substantively during the public comment period; staff asked the speaker to conclude when his time exceeded the three-minute public comment limit. No city staff or councilor statements addressing Tramlitz’s specific assertions were recorded in the work session transcript.

Why it matters: Public infrastructure failures and settlements alleging no-liability designations involve questions of public oversight, maintenance practices and use of public funds for repairs or litigation settlements. Tramlitz framed his remarks as a request for disclosure and accountability.

What the transcript shows and what it does not: The statements in this article are claims made by the public commenter Ron Tramlitz during public comment. The transcript records his assertions about testing, leakage rates, core sampling dates and a settlement agreement; the city did not provide documentary evidence or a staff response on the record during the work session. Those claims have not been substantiated in the record presented at the work session.

Ending: Tramlitz said he will not return to the council to comment further; the council did not take action or ask for an agenda item in the work session to address his allegations. Any follow-up, document requests or staff responses would be separate public-record matters or future agenda items.