City hires paid flood director for monsoon season; commissioners flag anomalous rain-gauge readings and standing-puddle concern

City staff told the Water Commission the city has hired a paid flood director who will be on call during monsoon season to monitor rain gauges and alert communities when action levels are reached, and commissioners raised separate operational concerns about anomalous rain-gauge readings and standing stormwater ponds in recent street work areas. Lee (city staff) said: "we're employing a flood director. It's monsoon season. There's a person permanently on call. When the rain gauges start to ping, they will alert when they hit certain action levels... they're now being paid." Lee described that the position is now a paid on-call city position with a one-hour response requirement. Commissioner John reported two operational items: a standing pond after recent utility work on Navajo, Whiting and Kutch streets that may promote mosquito breeding and may indicate a grading or drainage issue; and anomalous rain-gauge readings in the Peaks area. John said two gauges showed unusually high 30-day totals (one listed as 17 inches and another as 38 inches) and offered to provide the printout to staff for verification: "I noticed 2 of your rain gauges are kind of anomalous... that 1 that has a 30 day rainfall of 17 inches, and another 1 has, a 30 day rainfall of 38 inches. And I don't know. I kinda have a hard time maybe believing that..." Staff response and next steps: City staff said they will reach out to the Capital Development project manager to investigate the standing pond at Navajo/Whiting/Kutch and will check the rain-gauge data for accuracy. The flood director will actively monitor gauges and the city has set up an on-call policy during monsoon season. Ending: Commissioners requested staff follow up to repair the drainage at the street project area and to verify and correct any erroneous rain-gauge data; staff agreed to report back.