>> CITY OF MILLEDGEVILLE
Milledgeville officials are hopeful that the recent water crisis will help lead to meaningful efforts to solve the perceived problems in the city’s water system, as a council member has offered a resolution to initiate city action and businesses have formed a coalition to offer assistance.
The serious problem began on a Monday three weeks ago when the main pump used to distribute about 4.5 million gallons per day failed, according to City Manager Hank Griffeth. He said the problem escalated when a back-up pump experienced problems that led to a significant reduction in water production.
“We went from a pump that could pump about 4.5 million gallons of water day to one that could pump about three million per gallons per day,” Griffeth said, adding that other issues reduced that secondary pump’s actual output. The failures led to a temporary water outage in some areas and reduced water pressure for other customers.
Griffeth said the main pump was pulled, rebuilt, and reinstalled in one week.
“A new motor would have had a 12-week lead time,” he said. “We pulled that pump out and rebuilt it and had it back on the following Monday.”
The city manager said customers started experiencing water pressure problems late Monday and Tuesday, and some had no water late Tuesday and part of Wednesday. Following resolution of the smaller pump problem, tanks started refilling Wednesday evening, and customers had water by Thursday morning following the Monday pump breakdown.
The recent problems led to two specific responses.
City council member Walter Reynolds submitted a proposed resolution that calls for the city manager to gather information on water problems and solutions and present that to council. That resolution has yet to be adopted, or even considered by the mayor and council at a public meeting. There was discussion at the conclusion of the group’s work session, May 9, as to the proposal being on the agenda of a May 23 work session and meeting, but Griffeth said he is not sure that will happen.
“I don’t know if the resolution will come back up for discussion and a vote on the 23rd,” he said, noting that Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan addressed that. “The mayor said that will be the first time it will be discussed in an open meeting…It ought to be on the agenda if it is going to be discussed…I’m not real sure how that’s going to shake out.”
The resolution is worded as a directive, and Griffeth intends to take it that way.
“I’m going to use that resolution as a directive, as something to actually formulate information we can share with the public,” he said. “[Reynolds] felt these are the things the public wants to know. I’m going to take the initiative to go ahead and get that information together.”
The resolution, if adopted, would require the city manager to work with others, including the water and sewer director, water plant director, public works director, and director of finance to provide reports to the mayor and council with information relating to previous failures, back-up system usage, problem areas, cost estimates for repairs, upgrades or replacement of the affected infrastructure, and financing options.
Griffeth said Reynolds was appreciative of his efforts thus far to begin collecting the requested information. He said he is not able to speculate whether his ability to get the information together might alleviate Reynolds’ need for the resolution to be adopted.
“I’m not real sure what his thought process is on that,” he said. “(Reynolds) is supportive of me taking the resolution and using the directives as a structure to get the information together and communicating it to the public.”
Reynolds echoed Griffeth’s assessment.
“He and I are both in agreement that these are things he can certainly do without the need for council to direct him to do it,” he said. “And, I certainly appreciate him taking the initiative to go ahead and take up these particular directives, because I know that solving this situation with water is just as important to him as it is to all the citizens of Milledgeville.”
The other response to the crisis was the formation of a coalition of business owners. As was reported in last week’s edition, around a dozen downtown business owners formed a group they referred to as “Fix Our Water Now.” Four representatives of that group spoke at last week’s work session, pleading with city officials to address water problems in the city and pledging their support in the endeavors.
Griffeth sees the offer and the group attending the meeting as positives.
“They were a group who wanted to help the city take care of these situations,” he said. “They wanted to work with us.”
The city manager said information and data will be collected, including funding sources for upgrades to the water and wastewater systems, such as loans, grants, and water rate hikes. The coalition of business owners could be a help there.
“I just think that group will be a good group to help educate the public,” Griffeth said, adding that another work session was scheduled for this Thursday morning.
He anticipates some of those owners will be present, expecting to hear any new information made available and to have the opportunity to address the mayor and council again.