Breckenridge City Manager Recaps the Water Main Break on 10.3.2023

Note from the Breckenridge City Manager

Water Main Break: The Recap 10.4.2023

 After a long day, the latter part which was consumed by a major water line break that resulted in draining both of our water towers, hours with no water, and a system/city-wide boil water notice I can’t help but review the day’s events. I think about the impact on our schools, hospital, medical and rehab facilities, businesses, and citizens. Water is critical, and as city staff, we know it is a hardship for residents and businesses to be without it.

I’m grateful for our supportive Mayor and City Commissioners. I am thankful for our dedicated staff who sprang to action to address the emergency, from our administrative personnel getting together public notices, answering phones and gathering information to keep our residents informed, Public Works Director and Public Works foreman, crew leader and workers, including a new hire, springing to action, getting equipment, supplies, preparing for the unknown and potential complications, identifying and troubleshooting our facilities that are not well mapped out, working in less than desirable conditions ( which is a major understatement!) and doing what it takes to get the job done.

What is the job? In short, it’s getting our citizens’ potable water back up and running, and in the process getting muddy, wet, down in a hole, and doing the grunt work until the job is done.

In the midst of this, Police and Fire, along with Stephen’s County and other volunteer Fire Departments and organizations were putting on the National Night Out event: This is where I think of Queen’s Freddy Mercury singing the ‘Show Must Go On!’ All the while ensuring Plan B is in place in the event of a worst-case scenario and we don’t get the water back on by the morning.

In this case, PW Crews got the repairs completed and the water back on by 8:30 pm, water pressure gradually increased, and prayerfully, no subsequent major issues in our system except getting samples to the lab and getting results back in order to lift the boil water notice.

Here are the challenges:

  1. Breckenridge has infrastructure that once serviced 30K people but now only has a population of 5500. In other words, aging infrastructure that was installed in the 1930’s – 1940’s.
  2. 45 miles of gravity sewer mains at an approximate cost of $1.5 million per mile to replace = $$68 million.
  3. 80 miles of water mains at an approximate cost of $1.19 million per mile to replace = $95 million.
  4. 5 miles of sewer force mains at an approximate cost of $.8 million per mile to replace = $6.5 million.
  5. Short-staffed

Here is what we are doing:

  1. Applied/received a Texas Water Development Board low-interest rate loan and loan forgiveness to address water lines, wastewater lines, Water Treatment Plant, and Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements. The project is currently in design with construction scheduled to begin in 2024.
  2. Using contractors to replace longer stretches of water mains vs. just repairing them. Replacements done in 2023 include 6th Street, 3rd Street, and McAmis.

So yes, I’m thankful for our Public Works employees and all city employees who go above and beyond to serve. I’m thankful for our Mayor and City Commissioners who support staff in their service. I’m thankful for our community partners who pull together and work with us and I’m grateful for our residents who expressed their appreciation for PW Crews even while experiencing the uncertainty of not knowing when the water service would be restored.

It has been noted that Code Red notification system was not used. We are in transition between Code Red and a new, updated system, Hyper Reach. Normally, we would use that notification system in addition to our website, Facebook and media outlets.

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