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Martinsville staff outline storm response and substation failure that caused localized outages
Summary
Public works and electric department briefed council on an extended winter storm response and an underground substation failure blamed on wildlife; material and labor costs were tallied and contingency steps outlined, and council praised crews for extended emergency work.
City staff gave a detailed account of a prolonged January storm response and a separate electrical outage that required multi-department effort and will require replacement equipment.
Public Works Director Greg Maggard outlined the storm timeline (beginning Jan. 23), threshold response priorities (primary roads, then secondary and local streets), and resource usage during a 13-day response. Maggard said crews used about 200 tons of sand, 150 tons of salt and roughly 2,500 gallons of brine; material costs were about $33,000, parts and equipment repairs about $8,500, and estimated labor/overtime costs for the extended response were approximately $102,000. He said most overtime and materials are charged to the VDOT street maintenance fund under the city's maintenance contract for state-owned streets.
An electrical department representative described recent outages tied to a single underground substation fault. Staff said wildlife (a possum or similar animal) gained access behind a protective vent, caused a fault and burned a transformer in the underground substation; because that installation is enclosed in metal cabinets, the failure took the transformer out and required a replacement. The department said a replacement transformer could take months to procure and install and that, if another station failed while the Druid Hills station is out, the city could need to lease temporary portable equipment. The speaker summarized FY-to-date power costs and noted a June 2025 capacity charge increase that raised costs by roughly $1.2 million.
Council members and residents thanked public works and utility crews for prolonged emergency work and praised rapid responses in isolated cases (for example, clearing a road so a gas truck could reach a household). Staff said they will produce a map of prioritized snow routes, convene a lessons-learned meeting and continue to seek replacement equipment and procurement options.
No immediate new appropriations were approved during the presentation; council discussion focused on operational follow-up, procurement timelines for the transformer, and potential contingency planning for spare equipment and leased temporary stations.
