CC Minutes 1998 06 04SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MINUTES - JUNE 4, 1998
A special meeting of the City Council was called to order on Thursday, June 4, 1998, at
4:30 p.m. The following members were present: Acting Mayor Mike Mason, Councilmen
Berquist and Senn. Mayor Mancino and Councilman Engel were absent. The special meeting
was held to discuss the situation with water supply Well No. 7.
EMERGENCY REPAIRS, WATER SUPPLY WELL NO. 7: Public Works Director, Charles
Folch, opened the meeting by briefing the council on the current status of the water supply of
Well No. 7. On the morning of Tuesday, June 2, 1998, routine maintenance inspection of the well
found that there was an excessive concentration of chlorine gas in the pump and control room.
Once the problem was brought under control, it was discovered that the well pump would not
function. Further investigation discovered that the master controller unit for the pump had failed
as well as some ancillary automatic control devices which function in conjunction with the city's
telemetry system. The estimated cost of these repairs known at this date are expected to exceed
the twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000.00) limit, which would require formal bidding for
contracted repairs. Well No. 7 is currently the only well which functions in the high pressure
zone. With this well down, Well No. 3 is actually being used as a back up for the high pressure
zone. Should there be some sort of failure at Well No. 3 while Well No. 7 is down, there would
be no further ability to pump water into the high pressure zone. Since the automatic controls for
Well No. 7 and the Murray Hill water tower are not functioning, the Murray Hill water tower
needs to be monitored on an around the clock basis to ensure that the tower does not lose water
or overflows. Therefore, Charles Folch recommended that the city council declare this situation
an emergency situation, which would allow the city to bypass the statutory requirements for
bidding and expedite the repairs.
Resolution No. 98-52: A motion was made by Councilman Berquist and seconded by Acting
Mayor Mason to declare Well No. 7 an emergency situation and authorize the purchase of a new
variable frequency drive controller and PCL, as well as other materials, and contracted service
that is necessary to put Well No. 7 back into service in an expeditious manner. All voted in favor
and the motion carried.
A motion was made by Councilman Senn and seconded by Councilman Berquist to adjourn the
special meeting at 4:40 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Don Ashworth
City Manager