Operations manager Greg told commissioners that plant steam output peaked at about 60,000 pounds per hour during the recent cold snap and that staff had recently addressed a feed-water pump problem likely caused by the variable frequency drive.

"The pump people... it's been running great now since last Friday," Greg said, describing steps that included transmitter replacement and pressure-relief-valve troubleshooting. He said staff ran process water into the plant during the outage to maintain steam service for "about 140 people who rely on that heat."

Greg also reported crews repaired three leaks near the county courthouse and identified a major leak on 6th Avenue adjacent to Rocket Liquor. To manage risk in extreme cold, staff temporarily changed feed paths and considered isolating and cutting off a loop near an abandoned lot on Chestnut. He cautioned that full replacement of the damaged line would be expensive: "to replace or to do any work with that line is hundreds of thousands of dollars." Commissioners agreed to defer large-scale excavation and major capital repairs until after the extreme cold weather period passed (March–April timeframe was suggested).

Why it matters: the steam system provides heat to roughly 140 customers; outages and major leaks pose service and financial risk. Staff described both short-term operational fixes and the potential need for high-cost capital work if problems worsen.

Next steps: staff will continue monitoring the repaired pump and steam lines, prioritize temporary measures to maintain service through winter, and bring proposals for any major capital work if conditions require.