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Public works director summarizes water, sewer and street projects, recovery work
Summary
Scott Duncan, Medical Lake public works director, presented a self‑assessment on March 4 detailing water‑system monitoring, sewer work related to wildfire recovery, street maintenance plans and recent equipment purchases.
Scott Duncan, the city’s public works director, delivered a staff self‑assessment at the March 4 meeting outlining the department’s operations and planned 2025 projects.
Duncan said his first task each morning is to check the water system and emphasized that maintaining water quality is a top priority. “I check our water system. That’s our big — I’ve always told our employees, our crew, that we can make more people sick than a doctor,” Duncan said in the meeting transcript. He described ongoing monitoring, the city’s seven lift stations, and recent and upcoming street and sewer work.
Key details presented by Duncan included: - Lead service-line mapping: Duncan completed an EPA‑style led service line survey for Medical Lake; results are available on the city website and identify materials from the city main to the meter where records exist. He said the city has identified about a dozen lead goosenecks from older maps. - Jefferson Water Main replacement: The Jefferson project is finished and closed out in 2024; Duncan had saved a lead gooseneck from that work as an example. - Sewer and wildfire recovery: Following recent wildfire damage, officials have issued 48 permits for rebuilding out of 55 homes that burned, Duncan said, and crews continue to support utility reconnections. - Street maintenance: The city completed about 10–10.3 miles of scrub seal last year and expects more work in 2025 (Duncan referenced a plan of roughly 13 miles in the coming season and associated pre‑leveling under the Small Cities Maintenance Program). - Equipment and operations: The department purchased a Vactor truck with ARPA funds; Duncan credited it with expediting a recent water‑main repair. He described 200 locates performed in 2024 and ongoing coordination with Comcast fiber hookups. - Regulatory reviews: The city expects a sanitary survey by the health department and will send the drafted hazard‑mitigation plan to state emergency management and FEMA for review.
Why it matters: Duncan framed many items as routine but essential city infrastructure work — water quality, sewer capacity, stormwater mitigation and street maintenance — and tied them to both short‑term recovery from wildfire damage and the city’s capital program for the coming construction season.
Ending: Duncan asked council to support continued investment in equipment and staffing to execute the department’s seasonal workload. Councilmembers praised the crews’ emergency responses and approved the item as informational; no formal action was required.
