Council hears water loss, hydrant and infrastructure maintenance reports

Public works reported on routine water sampling and distribution issues and told the council the system pumped about 9,400,000 gallons in June while metered consumption was about 6,700,000 gallons, representing a roughly 28.4% loss for the month. Staff credited recent repairs and line disconnections for substantial reductions in loss compared with earlier periods.

Council and staff discussed service-line mapping on the hill, the need to replace decrepit service lines and add or repair valves and hydrants; staff said there are five hydrants serving the hill area and recommended a focused investigation to locate lines and valves before extensive digging. "I think we should really look into that," a staff member said about addressing the hill problems.

Street and paving updates included a mobilization-only quote of approximately $83,000 (mobilization only; no oil, chips or material included) for chip-seal/paving work; councilors discussed piggybacking on a nearby Conrad paving project to reduce costs. The council asked staff to follow up with contractors and engineers and to bring cost-and-schedule details to a future meeting.