“Hydrants are nothing to play with. They shouldn’t be there if they are not going to work.” “It doesn’t matter if you have a $500,000 firetruck; it is of no use if the hydrant is dry.” Those and other comments were made at the meeting of the Henderson City Council’s Public Works Committee on Thursday at the Municipal Building.
The meeting, chaired by Ranger Wilkerson, led to collaboration and consensus on many issues. “We are here to see what we can recommend to the council,” said Wilkerson, who set the tone for consensus building. “We want you to throw out ideas.”
Assistant City Manager Mark Warren said the impression that 108 hydrants are not working is not true. That is the number in need of repair. Some need oiling, some need to be raised, some have light poles that are too close, and some need small repairs such as caps or steamers replaced. Some are leaning but will have to stay that way.
The cost of replacing a hydrant is $4,500, and the city has eight new hydrants in inventory. Warren suggested putting the needs into a priority list and starting with the most critical repairs first.
Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson was asked whether his crew could help with the oiling. Now the firefighters are cutting back growth around hydrants. That serves the dual role of clearing access to the fixtures and making the firefighters aware of the hydrants’ locations.
A high priority was set on replacing the hydrant at the intersection of Raleigh Road and Dorsey Avenue.
Backup hydrants are as far as 50 feet from inoperative hydrants.
The committee suggested that an outside contractor be hired to replace three hydrants that need immediate attention. That was the move suggested by council member Mary Emma Evans at the full council meeting Monday night.
As it stands now, the 11 employees who oversee the hydrants are working at night to replace hydrants on Garnett Street. Part of the problem is that the old hydrants have no cutoff valve, so water to a good portion of a street or neighborhood must be interrupted to work on a hydrant.
In addition to the hydrants, the crew must oversee all the waterlines and the sewer lines in the city. Those men do not run multiple shifts, so they are working night and day to get the job done. If they get an emergency, they have to leave one job and go to another.
“It’s a full-time job to keep up with those hydrants,” Ranger Wilkerson said. “We need to get a man back on hydrants.”
Part of what is driving the repair effort is an insurance inspection set for Oct. 17. Built-up areas, warehouse areas and the business district are among 17 sites to be addressed. Another area will be chosen at random to check, Chief Wilkerson said.
“It is my intention never to stop the process on my end,” he said of the effort to maintain hydrants.
The council members at the meeting — Wilkerson, Evans, Elissa Yount and Lonnie Davis — decided to ask the full council to unfreeze a position in the water department to allow someone to work full time on hydrants.
With 834 city hydrants, including those in the Golden Belt Fire District and those toward Franklinton, the committee assumed that one employee would have to work on four hydrants per work day to keep all in repair yearly. The new hire would take on the responsibility for painting, oiling, operations and all repairs.
Chief Wilkerson explained that when his firefighters go to cut around hydrants, they are on call. If his department was required to do the painting and a call came in, response time would be affected.
“We plan to finish going to every hydrant on the map,” Wilkerson said. “This lets my new drivers identify the locations.” But the job of painting and repair needs to fall on another department.
Andy Perkinson, who is leading the department that oversees the water and sewer lines, said: “We need more people if we are going to be more efficient. We’ve been like a cat chasing its tail. There was no way we could catch up.”
The next priority need is to get shutoff valves on each hydrant. About 150 hydrants need to be upgraded.
“We’ve got to maintain,” Ranger Wilkerson said. “We’ve got to stay focused.”