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City manager reports FBI returned servers in water-plant cyber investigation; grant updates and project timing given
Summary
City Manager reported the FBI returned servers and SRM is conducting forensics in New York after a cyberattack on the water treatment plant; new local servers are installed, operators from Hutch are assisting, and staff gave updates on LWCF grant for pickleball courts, master planning and other capital projects.
During the city-manager updates the commission was briefed on a cyberattack at the water treatment plant and on a range of grant and capital-project items.
On the cyberattack, staff said: "The FBI has returned the servers, and now they are in New York with SRM, which is the forensics group that's working with our insurance company to try to analyze them and figure out what happened and who did it." Staff reported new servers have been installed locally, that thin clients and workstation connections are pending, and that SRM had to order special connectors which slowed analysis. Mutual-aid operators from Hutch are assisting the city's operators, and retired operator Mike Frank came back to cover shifts.
Staff also updated the commission that a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant application for pickleball courts at Wilson Park has had an on-site review and that decisions on grant selections are expected before the end of the year and final federal approval could be in early 2025. Staff said the city has submitted a Greensand application and is preparing master-planning and public-improvement-finance policies for development of city-owned land.
Other items included a water-tower repaint/cleaning plan, progress on a street-condition assessment and an asset-management valve-coordinates exercise to prepare grant-ready, construction-cost estimates.
Why it matters: The cyberincident affects a critical utility's operations and requires forensic review and possible operational adjustments; grant and planning work shapes near-term capital projects and funding decisions.
What’s next: SRM will continue forensics (staff said a meeting with SRM was scheduled Monday afternoon in the transcript), staff will continue grant follow-up and bring policy proposals and project estimates back to the commission.
