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Public works outlines water-leak reporting, patch backlog and plan to catch up
Summary
Public-works director Jack told council the city handled about 3,000 water-leak calls in FY27, with 817 asphalt cuts (327 completed by contractor, 490 by city crews) and roughly 200 outstanding patches; staff plans a contracted push and an operations-management system to improve tracking and public notifications.
Public-works director Jack briefed the council on the city's process for water-leak reporting, repair prioritization, and asphalt patching. He said the department received just over 3,000 leak calls in the fiscal year, of which 817 required asphalt cuts; 327 of those were completed by contractors and roughly 490 were completed in-house by the streets crew, leaving about 200 patches outstanding.
Jack described two repair tracks: emergency mainline failures that require immediate locates and response, and lesser "seepers" that require Blue Stake utility locates and are scheduled. He acknowledged that the hot months increase demand and noted competing crew allocations (chip-seal and pavement-preservation work) have contributed to the backlog.
To improve transparency and efficiency, Jack said the city will integrate the GoGov reporting app with a new operations-management system so online requests convert to work orders, updates flow back to the requester, and duplicative entries are reduced. He said the city is procuring a contractor to assist with backlog reduction and expects a procurement action to come to council in August.
Council members emphasized the public expectation that outstanding patches be reduced promptly and suggested targets for limiting outstanding patches. Jack said water enterprise funds cover repair materials and contract costs, and staff will bring a contractor agreement to the council to accelerate closures of outstanding patches.
The presentation included details on emergency response protocols, current staffing constraints, and planned public-dashboard updates listing outstanding and completed patches by address.
