City public works staff told the Roads & Safety Committee July 10 that a planned water tower refill is scheduled to begin July 28; the department warned the return to full service may temporarily produce additional water main breaks but said conditions should normalize in August.

Public works reported crews and operators have been on 12‑hour shifts, seven days a week, to monitor the city SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, and that crews saw an unusually high number of breaks — “like, 22 in 2 weeks,” one staff member said.

Council later approved Ordinance 2025‑140 to authorize the mayor to enter a contract with ProTech Systems Group, Inc. for a SCADA system upgrade without public bidding. Staff said the current SCADA system dates to February 2006, has alarm reliability issues, and is serviced from out of state; the new vendor is based in Akron and serves hundreds of Ohio communities. The city intends to install the new system while the tower is being filled so both systems can run in parallel before decommissioning the old one.

Committee members clarified the purchase will be paid from the water capital fund and asked staff about timing; engineering noted lead times and coordination for concurrent projects in the capital plan.

The SCADA contract ordinance was adopted by council and will take effect according to its terms.