MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council on Tuesday approved spending up to $90,000 for an emergency repair to a nearly 50-year-old water main that feeds the industrial park and much of the city’s north side.
City engineer Bob Bianchi said in the past couple of weeks that one of two 16-inch water mains that feeds the area broke along Ohio 13 beneath a U.S. 30 bridge.
He said the city’s water repair department was able to isolate the line by closing the section that broke, leaving just one line flowing.
The legislation approved by council awarded the emergency contract to BK Layer of Perrysville without competitive bidding.
“I would consider this an emergency because we are currently in a vulnerable state,” Bianchi said. “If the other feed were to break, we would have some real problems where we would have to act very fast and there would be a closure of the water while the line was fixed.”
On Wednesday morning, Bianchi said the water main that broke was built in 1975.
“Watermain breaks can be very unpredictable, so it’s difficult to say we are completely in the clear,” he said. “What we are trying to do is manage the risk as best we can and restore the second ‘feed’ line as quickly as possible.”
The engineer told council that the watermain is buried “fairly deep” and that is not much clearance under the bridge. He said the combination prevents the city from doing the repair work.
“They asked us to contract it out and we have got a great contractor,” Banchi said.
The engineer said he thinks the work can be done in about 10 days if the contractor can obtain necessary materials for the work.
Also on Tuesday, City Council:
— delayed a vote on legislation adding a fourth assistant chief to the Mansfield Fire Department.
— heard leaders from the Debt Recovery Services of Ohio defend their efforts to pursue delinquent City of Mansfield water accounts.
— gave a first read to legislation that would increase water rates in 2023.
— approved the reappointment of Matthew Maiyer to the Richland Public Health Board for five years.
— approved the appointment of Clint Knight from the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development to the Downtown Improvement Advisory Board to complete a four-year term that expires June 30, 2024. Knight replaces chamber Chief Operating Office Jodie Perry, who recently announced she was a candidate for Mansfield mayor the 2023 election cycle.
— approved the payment of $28,000 to Rick Bond for concrete work done at the municipal parking lot garage.
— discuss during caucus a resolution opposing the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 that is being included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
