Having been down for roughly eight months, a Tennessee Gas Road water well located in the vicinity of Fire Station No. 8 was given the green light for repair during Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Greenville City Council.
Vice Mayor James Wilson broached the matter with council along with Street and Sewer director, Ronnie Washington.
“What we did was reallocate $13,180 for it to be pulled and determined what was wrong with it and what it would cost to get it fixed. So, I talked to Steve (Osso) this morning about this and it’s something that we need to go on and do in this budget session,” Wilson said to fellow council members. “If Steve gives us the “OK,” let’s go on and get it fixed.”
Total cost for repairing the well, including the $13,180 reallocated to inspect and diagnose, would be $57,031.
Wilson pointed out that if the necessary repairs were stalled any longer, the city could possibly lose the $13,180 that was reallocated seeing as how the well pot had already been pulled and torn down for inspection.
“So I’m advising council that we need to go and get this pot replaced. It takes care of Tennessee Gas Road and helps get water out to the tank where Fruit of the Loom used to be. It services all of that so we need to go ahead and get this well back up and going,” Wilson said, noting the project could be declared as an emergency due to the tank being down and thus lower water pressure.
He reiterated that $13,180 was hanging in the balance if the additional $44,000 needed to repair the well was not allocated sooner than later.
Washington, reaffirming Wilson’s position on the matter, said, “If we don’t go on and act fast, we might be paying a little bit more to get this well back online. The quote is only good for a week, so my suggestion is to go ahead and get it back online.”
Mayor Errick Simmons asked if a second quote for the project had been submitted.
Washington informed that he received two quotes for the pulling and inspection of the component and the lowest bidder, subsequently, quoted a price for the repair work.
“If I can get another one from somebody to pull it, and inspect it and to fix the well, it’s probably going to be more, but I don’t know if I can get it done in a week. We only have a week with this quote,” he said.
Ward 1 Councilman Al Brock highlighted that if the project was declared as an emergency, a second quote would not be required.
He then moved to declare the water well repair project as an emergency and accept the submitted repair bid and quote.
Wilson seconded the motion and it passed by a unanimous vote of the council.
Per Washington’s request, the council also considered the approval of an additional $2,000 to go towards a repair project at the intersection of Wildwood and McClain.
Although the project bid ($20,000) was awarded roughly a year and a half ago, Washington said it wasn’t until two weeks ago when repair work began that they realized about 600 sq. ft and about 25 ft. of curb needed to be added to it.
The city council then unanimously approved the total request of $22,000 for completion of the project.
