Milford City Council on Tuesday approved emergency spending authorizations to cover immediate water and sewer repairs after a leak on State Route 28 led crews to replace an estimated 400 feet of failing infrastructure.

City Manager Benjamin Gunderson told council the work began as a water leak that revealed collapsed sewer piping and multiple failing water-line sections; Gunderson asked the law director to draft an ordinance authorizing emergency expenses. “It went from a small water leak to we needed to replace an entire 400 foot sewer line,” Gunderson said during the Committee of the Whole discussion. The council adopted Ordinance 25‑359, which authorizes the city manager to pay project bills up to $275,000.

Why it matters: the leak required immediate excavation and repairs, interrupted traffic on State Route 28 and prompted a 24‑hour boil‑water advisory for affected customers. Gunderson said water service was restored about 5 a.m. the morning before the meeting and that the city expects to reopen the road to normal flow after paving repairs are complete, with the earliest full reopening by Friday if weather allows.

Council and staff described funding adjustments to reduce the budgetary impact. Gunderson said crews trimmed other paving items and postponed some equipment purchases to free funds; he also said the city added the affected stretch to the annual milling-and-resurfacing schedule to save money. The Council voted unanimously to adopt the emergency spending ordinance.

Council separately approved an ordinance to purchase replacement pumps for the Happy Hollow lift station after a failure left the station unable to reliably move wastewater uphill. Gunderson said the station serves five or six apartment buildings and that rented pumps have been used as a temporary measure; the council authorized a $109,766 contract with the Henry P. Thompson Company to supply two pumps (Ordinance 25‑361).

During discussion, council members and staff flagged the underlying problem: aging underground infrastructure in areas that may need larger, planned replacements. Councilmember Parrish said the city should resume a more proactive program of lining or replacing vulnerable sewer segments rather than reacting to failures. Gunderson and others said they will continue to identify funding and schedule larger stormwater and sewer projects.

Quotes in context: “We took the approach that this is something that we needed to replace at the same time simultaneously, not only because of the age and the shape of the existing infrastructure, but because we wanted to do it right from the start,” Gunderson said. Law Director Pacheco explained that the charter permits emergency contracting without competitive bidding in real or present emergencies.

Ending: Ordinances for the emergency repairs and Happy Hollow pumps passed on unanimous votes. Staff said they would continue to present funding options and project schedules to council as the city moves from emergency fixes to longer-term capital work.