City Manager Carlos Combs reported to the city commission on Monday that the City produced 118 million gallons of water, of which only 54 million gallons were billed.
“I can not believe that we’re actually losing the water that it shows on this report,” he said.
Combs said he’s unsure why the report shows such a large discrepancy, but he is conferring with City Engineer Hank Spaulding.
“There’s something here that we’re not doing right,” Combs added. “I do not believe that we’re losing approximately 50 million gallons of water.”
“We couldn’t pay the bills if we were losing that much,” added Assistant City Manager Paul Townes.
Spaulding noted that he is unsure of how the report can show that much of a difference, but he is in the process of narrowing down the problem.
“We know some things that it isn’t,” Spaulding said in reference to the reason for the discrepancy. “We don’t know what it is. We’ll just have to keep on working to try to find what it is.”
The City’s water system has been a source of concern for officials since this past winter, when leaks in the system caused a shortage, and forced the City to briefly cut off production to several communities. Since then, officials have been working to improve the system, including a metering project that should better allow the City to pinpoint leaks within the system.
In other business, the City has authorized the hiring of Stidham Reconstruction and Investigation to look into Monday’s tragic accident in Clay County which involved a City of Hazard vehicle and took the life of a Knoxville man. City Attorney Paul Collins explained that the City will need to evaluate the accident “from our own perspective” to determine what happened during the crash.
The commission also authorized the City to consider selling a small parcel of land to the McDonald’s corporation. Collins explained that McDonald’s has expressed interest in rebuilding their downtown restaurant. The land being considered is located next to the new bridge and is currently being used for parking. Collins said if a deal is reached and the land is purchased, the City could use the funds for improvements to the former triangle park or other purposes in the city.
The commission also approved the promotion of three officers with the Hazard Police Department. Patrolmen Bruce Fields and Paul Campbell were promoted to the rank of sergeant, while Officer Ruey Couch was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Deputy Chief Joe Engle with the Hazard Police Department presented their monthly report, noting that the department opened a total of 35 criminal cases in June, 16 of which involved felonies. The department also received 2,111 total calls for service and conducted 909 extra patrols last month.
Finally, Hazard Fire Chief Sam Stacy presented his department’s monthly report as well. During the month of June, the fire department responded to 36 calls.
Post a Comment
