Mother Nature, contractor create troubles for city water department

McCOOK, Neb. — It is still unknown why the power outage occurred at the City of McCook water treatment plant last week.

In response to a question by McCook City Councilman Jerry Calvin at the council meeting Monday night, Jesse Dutcher, Utilities director, said he was alerted about 5:49 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, that the power was out at the water treatment plant.

The plant switched to generator power but because there was a high demand for water due to residential irrigation watering, city water tanks were low and city residents were asked to refrain from outside watering for a few hours. Typically for this time of year, between 3,000 to 3,500 gallons of water are used per minute.

By 7 p.m. that night, everything was caught up, Dutcher said. There are nine water wells the city uses to pump water and seven of them had lost power, he said. The reason for the power failure is unknown at this point, Dutcher said, adding that he has been in contact with the affiliated power company. Dutcher told the Gazette today that so far, the city has been able to keep up with the water demand, with 3.5 million gallons used per day that is average for this time of year.

Councilman Calvin also asked about a water main that was hit by contractors on Aug. 2 and questioned how that could happen if the GIS workshop is mapping water mains.

Dutcher said that particular main was an older pipe, non-metallic and made of a concrete substance, so although the water department staff knew the general area of it, were not exactly sure of the depth. The incident occurred west of the West 10th and C Street intersection, when a telecommunications company was installing fiber optic cable. It disrupted water service for a few hours for nearby residents.

Dutcher said the company and the contractor would be billed for damages.

Councilman Calvin had another question about one of the street closing requests made by the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce for the upcoming Heritage Days celebration.

Pulling the request from the consent agenda for discussion, Councilman Calvin asked why the 800 block of East First was being closed for the weekend. He said that closing appeared to be new to him and wondered if residents on that street were notified.

Streets requested by the chamber to be closed for Heritage Days included the 700 and 800 blocks of East First from Saturday, Sept. 28 until Sunday evening.

No one from the chamber was present at the Monday’s meeting, but city staff and other council members said the request for the 800 block of East First to be closed was including in last year’s request. Kyle Potthoff, Public Works director, said he copied the street closings from last year’s request and Councilman Gene Weedin said he also remembered that street being blocked off last year.

The council unanimously approved the street closings requested by the chamber. Activities planned for Heritage Days include a parade, craft show at the park and a car and tractor show after the parade in the Norris Park area.