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It’s a scenario too scary even to speak of: what if “it” happened again? Azle’s mayor and city council approved the purchase of replacement valves for the water system on Lakeview Drive, where a major water leak brought the city and school system to a standstill last month.
“Will these valves prevent it from ever happening again?” councilmember June Earp asked utility manager Rick White during his presentation.
City manager Craig Lemin could barely bring himself to describe the “perfect storm” scenario that occurred on Feb. 6, when a broken water main on one of two pipes leading out of the water plant and into the entire water supply system broke, leaving the city largely without water for four days. In fact, Lemin “knocked on wood” by rapping his knuckles on the dais during discussion Tuesday night. In the end, council approved the purchase of three “motor-operated” valves at a cost of $224,513.
Motor operation would speed up the process of closing (or opening) a valve, White said. Had the city been using motor operated valves during the water crisis last month, one water department employee could have determined that the valves were malfunctioning within only a few minutes rather than the one and half to two hours that were required. The two employees on duty at 8 p.m. on that Saturday night had to wait for additional employees to arrive because those valves require three men to close. The entire contents of both overhead water storage towers was lost, which extended the length of time it took to restore sufficient water pressure for supplying the entire system. The contents of the water tower near Boyd Road had been lost by the time the three had established that neither valve could be closed. Non-motor-operated valves were also considered, at a total cost of $160,993. The valve replacement project also will add a connecting pipe between the two water mains, one a 16 -inch and one a 10-inch in diameter, plus a third valve nearer to the city’s water plant, that will allow either main line to be isolated should a second catastrophic break – knock knock – occur. “It might cost us an additional $60,000 now, but (the event) probably cost the businesses in town more than that,” Mayor Russ Braudis said. In other business, council approved a lease agreement with Yamaha to provide a fleet of 60 golf carts plus 12 “seasonal” carts at Cross Timbers Golf Course, the city-owned course on South Stewart Street. Course manager Matthew Jones said the current fleet “has seen better times” and sought bids early in January. Yamaha is the low bidder, at $4,039.78 per month or $48,477 annually. The new lease provides “completely redesigned” carts from those currently in use, Jones said. “These drive much more like a car,” he told councilmembers Tuesday night. “The steering is more precise and the engines are very reliable.” Council also approved the annual purchase of chemicals for water treatment and discussed several aspects of the city’s localized flooding mitigation projects, or “flooding hotspots.” |
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