The Thousand Oaks City Council on Jan. 14 approved construction to fire-harden five of the city’s water pump stations and add permanent emergency power, a step officials said will help keep reservoirs and hydrants functioning during wildfires and power outages.

Council members voted 5-0 to award construction contracts covering two consent calendar items that together fund the first set of improvements identified in a system-wide study of 16 pump stations.

The work approved by the council includes installing two permanent emergency generators, replacing roofs with more fire-resistant materials and other site upgrades at the five stations. City staff said the projects are the first phase of a multi-year program to harden the city’s water infrastructure.

“These projects were developed as a result of the lessons we learned from the Woolsey fire and the Thomas fire,” Cliff (staff member) said, describing the study of all 16 pump stations and the recommendation to begin with five sites. “A year from now, these generators will be in place, which will mean those portable generators can be used at other stations.”

John Minkle, introduced as the deputy director of operations, and Michael Dvorwitsch, introduced as the utility superintendent, were present alongside Brett Sherman, utilities maintenance supervisor, to answer technical questions from council members.

Council member Adam said the work is the culmination of earlier council direction to review pump sites for water pressure and fire preparedness. Council member Engler, a 30‑year firefighter, urged residents to use county preparedness resources as well.

Staff described the city’s water storage and supply during the discussion. Cliff said the Bard reservoir is the city’s largest local reservoir and described it as “supporting 10,000 acre feet.” He also said the city has “36,000,000 gallons of water within our reservoirs” and that the system operated through the recent wind-related outages by using portable generators moved between pump stations.

Staff said the portable trailer‑mounted generators used during the recent outages will be freed for other uses once the permanent generators are in place at the five stations. They also said additional stations will be evaluated for permanent upgrades in future budgets.

Council members and staff emphasized the projects are part of broader resilience work and praised public-works personnel for keeping water flowing during recent outages.

Construction timeline and contract amounts were discussed during the staff presentation; staff said installation of the permanent generators is expected within about a year. The council provided unanimous approval for the two consent items authorizing construction awards.

The council did not change the contracts’ scopes beyond the specifics noted; staff said any additional stations would be brought forward for future budget consideration.

Votes at a glance: The motion to award construction contracts for the five pump‑station fire‑hardening projects (consent items 9E and 9F) passed 5-0.