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Public Works update: aging equipment, AMI meter rollout and brief untreated discharge after generator failure
Summary
Public Works Director Jay Hertz reviewed a six-year capital plan, equipment-maintenance priorities and the AMI meter rollout; he described a recent generator-transfer failure that allowed about a half hour of undisinfected treated water to enter Oakland Bay and outlined steps to reduce similar risks.
Public Works Director Jay Hertz presented an updated six-year work plan and described both near-term projects and a recently mitigated treatment-plant incident.
Hertz said the department is moving from reactive to proactive maintenance, planning a 2026 equipment-maintenance and rental study and preparing to replace aging, high-cost assets, such as a Vactor/combination truck he estimated at roughly $350,000.
Hertz summarized a recent winter incident at a wastewater facility in which a transfer switch did not operate as expected after a power outage. He said staff responded quickly and limited the uncontrolled discharge to about a half hour of treated but undisinfected water entering Oakland Bay. Hertz described steps under review, including replacement parts for the transfer switch and improved redundancy.
“We flooded our disinfection area. It burned up some equipment. Anyways, we got things going,” Hertz said, and credited staff who responded on short notice for minimizing impacts.
Hertz also gave progress numbers for an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project, telling the council crews had installed roughly 170–200 of an approximate 3,000 meters and expected the program to continue through the year. He said the city will move from walk-by reads to a fixed-base radio-read system in a later phase.
Other items included plans for smoke testing and infiltration assessment next year, an emergency-water filtration trailer purchase in the current budget to support potable-water continuity after major outages, and GIS updates tied to waterline location and valve mapping.
Hertz said some stormwater and sewer-basin projects are grant-eligible but may require local matching funds, and that certain basin projects remain on the six-year list for later years. He asked council members to support budgets that allow timely replacements for generators and other critical infrastructure.
No council vote occurred on any capital project at the study session; Hertz said staff will return with detailed CIP work items and funding options.
