Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Maintenance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utility board approves Northway maintenance for two pumps and upsizes well 4 motor
Summary
Eldridge City Utility Board approved Northway to perform FY27 maintenance — including pull-and-inspect work for Well 5 and High-Service Pump 3 — and approved upsizing Well 4's motor from 40 to 50 horsepower, all by voice vote.
Eldridge City’s Utility Board approved moving forward with Northway to perform fiscal-year maintenance work on Well 5 and High-Service Pump 3 and separately approved increasing the motor on Well 4 from 40 to 50 horsepower during its July meeting.
Chair (speaker 1) brought the water-maintenance package forward after Keegan, water department staff, reviewed test results and the two contractor quotes. Keegan described the maintenance work as “pulling and inspecting” motors and pumps to determine needed repairs and noted that upsizing would only be pursued if feasible: “So the upsizing can be tabled till next meeting until we figure out if it's feasible or not,” Keegan said.
Board members compared two vendor quotes and discussed technical considerations, including which pumps should be lead or lag in the SCADA sequence to avoid unnecessary starts and stops. Keegan explained the operational goal of upsizing: having high-service pumps that can keep up with well output so wells do not repeatedly shut off. Keegan said a full inspection for a well would cost about $6,400 and a high-service inspection about $1,700.
After discussion, the board approved a motion to mobilize, pull, inspect and perform the FY27 maintenance for Well 5 and High-Service Pump 3 with Northway without proceeding with upsizing at this time. Chair announced the motion carried by voice vote.
Separately, the board approved a motion to increase the horsepower of Well 4’s motor from 40 to 50, using a motor that had already been rebuilt and could be repurposed, by voice vote. Chair stated that the rebuilt motor could be shifted to Well 5 or Well 4 to avoid delays when the pump is reinstalled.
The votes on both items were recorded as voice approvals in the meeting minutes; no roll-call tallies were provided in the transcript. The board also discussed scheduling and noted that if the board later approves upsizing, staff could revisit a budget item (a $25,000 upsizing estimate was mentioned during discussion) to fund the work.
The board’s action sends the maintenance work to the contractor and authorizes staff to proceed with the inspected repairs and the motor swap; staff said they will follow up on scheduling and any further SCADA adjustments needed to make lead/lag changes.
