Sunnyside declares emergency to rehab Well 7, appoints interim public works director

Sunnyside City Council on Monday declared a state of emergency to rehabilitate Well 7 and approved an interim public works agreement intended to return the well to service within weeks.

City Manager Mike Gonzalez told council that Well 7 has been offline and that the city’s peak summer demand rises from about 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 gallons per day. Interim public-works contractor Casa Arteaga described a plan to pull and inspect the pump, clean the well casing and replace or rebuild parts. Arteaga told the council the repairs should take about six to eight weeks if ordered immediately and predicted the well could be back online in mid-May.

The emergency declaration lets staff bypass formal competitive-bid timelines to work with firms already familiar with Sunnyside’s system; Arteaga and the city have been working with Picotis (the contractor who pulled the pump) and other vendors to accelerate the work. Gonzalez said the city recently learned it is eligible for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund award that could cover about 50 percent of Well 6 and Well 7 work. Arteaga noted that, after reimbursement, the city’s estimated net cost on the immediate repairs could be in the low tens of thousands of dollars rather than the previously cited roughly $800,000 estimate for a full rebuild.

Council approved a separate resolution to contract with Casa Arteaga of Arteaga Municipal Training and Services LLC to serve as interim public works director while staff continues recruitment for a permanent replacement. Council members repeatedly praised Arteaga’s early work, saying he had already identified lower-cost repair options and helped reduce expected expenditures.

In the council discussion, Arteaga explained the technical steps taken when the pump was pulled: “The first hundred feet, the columns rusted really bad, which we felt that that was a contributor to the higher readings in that water samples,” he said, summarizing the inspection findings. Councilors asked about timeline and capacity; Arteaga and Gonzalez said bringing Well 7 online would add about 1,000 gallons per minute (roughly 1,400,000 gallons per day), which staff said would significantly improve daily supply and fire-flow resilience.

The council voted unanimously to adopt the emergency resolution and to authorize the interim-services agreement. Deputy Mayor made the motion to approve the emergency declaration and the interim services contract; Councilor Ripley seconded both motions.

The council was told the state SRF process may take another month or two to finalize contracts, but that emergency work should proceed now to prevent summer shortages.

Background: Council and staff said Well 6 has been held as a reserve for emergencies and Well 7 has been offline for several years; restoring source capacity was described as necessary to meet peak irrigation demand and to preserve firefighting reserves.

What’s next: Staff will place the rehabilitation order, work under the emergency procurement authority with the contractor currently engaged, and pursue SRF reimbursement once state contracts are available.