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Wayne reports 990 lead service lines replaced; 47 remain as city steps up outreach
Summary
Assistant DPW Director Dave Schmidt told the Wayne City Council the city has replaced 990 water service lines to remove lead and is using new outreach tools to reach 47 remaining properties that have not allowed access.
Assistant Director of Public Works Dave Schmidt told the Wayne City Council on Oct. 7 that the city has replaced 990 lead water service lines and has 47 known lead services left to remove.
Schmidt said the city began lead-line replacement in 2023 with a contract to replace 88 services but ultimately replaced 153 in that first phase. "So now where we're at today is we've replaced 990 services. We currently have 47 left that are known lead lines," he said. Schmidt told the council the remaining properties largely have not responded to door knocks and phone calls.
Schmidt said the city has added a self-reporting tool to the municipal website so residents can upload photos and report fixtures inside their homes to help the city build an inventory for the state. He said the site link appears on the home page under the refuse link and that the tool was developed with the city's IT department.
Schmidt said the city will take a more aggressive outreach approach, sending letters to properties that have not responded and warning that, because "the state's requiring us to separate this from our system," there could be penalties such as water shutoff if owners refuse to cooperate.
He also said the contractor has been asked to complete restoration—concrete and yard work—before the winter season begins. "I told them that I wanted to have all the restoration work ... done before snow falls so that it's all taken care of before winter," Schmidt said.
The mayor and several council members praised the city's progress. Council comments noted the program had expanded beyond initial plans and called the city's work a public-health priority. No formal action was taken at this meeting on the lead-line program; Schmidt presented the update as part of administration reports.
The council did not provide additional timeline details for the remaining replacements beyond the restoration-before-winter instruction. Schmidt said the city continues to document which properties decline service and will report inventories to the state.
