Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Faulty Hydrant Damages Local Parking Lot

A leaking fire hydrant is at the center of a disagreement between the Gurdon Water and Sewer Department and the owners of the Pizza Barn.

Ken and Sue Harris, Pizza Barn owners, say the leaking hydrant damaged their parking lot and want the Water and Sewer Department to pick up the tab for having it repaired.

They presented bids, Thursday morning, Oct. 19, with one being $9,475 to overlay the entire lot.

The Gurdon Water and Sewer Commission had talked with the Harris's about this Monday night, Oct. 16, but could reach no compromise in the issue. This was partly due to having less than a half the members of the commission present at the meeting.

With only two of the five members on hand, no voting could be done on any issue requiring action to be taken.

However, the Harris's, the commission, Harold Hurst, department manager, and Charles Summerford, of Summerford Engineering, along with Wendell Gill, who originally installed the lot in 1979, met outside the Pizza Barn to look at the damage.

Hurst never denied the department's culpability in the issue, only what the city would be responsible for paying in repair costs.

At the September meeting, the commission agreed to pay 20 percent of the highest bid received. This amounted to $1,895 of the $9,475 bid.

But, the Harris's refused, saying the department is responsible and should pay for all of the damages.

Sue Harris said the hydrant had been leaking for three years and the damage to the lot occurred during this time period.

"I'd be embarrassed," she said, "if I worked for 23 years and let a leak like this happen. We can't continue to let our customers come through the drive through. If they damaged their cars, they'd come after us."

"And we're going after you," Ken Harris said to Hurst.

Gill said it would cost about $1,200 to repair the 150 square yards damaged in front of the business, but added the damage was also caused by dry weather, which is harder on asphalt than wet weather.

"What we're saying," Hurst said, "is we need a professional opinion. I'm not in the street or asphalt business. In the beginning I said we'd take care of the drive through and front of the building."

Rain, he said, is as damaging to parking lots as the leak.

"We want it made whole," Ken Harris said."

Hurst agreed to get a professional opinion and follow their recommendation, but told the Harris's any action taken would have to be approved by the commission.

"The city," he said, "isn't responsible for a lot warranty. We'll need a release once it's fixed. I'll guarantee while I'm here it will not leak like this again."

However, Hurst was informed it was his negligence that resulted in the damage in the first place by Sue Harris. She said he was trying to blame the leak on the Gurdon Fire Department.

Several times during the meeting Hurst asked the Harris's to leave personalities out of the discussion. While they claimed there was nothing personal involved, they blamed Hurst personally a number of times.

Sue Harris did say each time they called the water department an employee came out and tried to fix the hydrant, only to have the leak start up again later on. When they came out, she said, they were told the water was destroying the parking lot.

"Your leak caused the damage," she said to Hurst. "This is a main line and has nothing to do with our building. You are liable."

"We can argue all day," Hurst said, "but it's up to the commission. If it changes its offer it's up to them."

"We don't want an offer, we want it fixed," Ken Harris said.

"Will it require us to close," Sue Harris asked. "I was told we'd have to be closed three to five days and this should be taken into consideration."

Throughout the meeting she repeatedly said the problem was the department's fault and they, the Harris's shouldn't have to pay for it.Hurst continually told the two he wasn't trying to "shuck responsibility" but was trying to figure out how much of the damage was caused by the leak. "We're disagreeing on what was damaged by water."

"I got an opinion from a water department manager in Bentonville," she said, "and he said it was the water department's fault and it's responsible for damage to the surrounding area. The lot is the surrounding area."

After more than an hour of this kind of back and forth, Summerford and Gill left, with the commission going to City Hall to further discuss the issue.

Commissioner Jim Hatley said the soil in Gurdon doesn't hold up adding it isn't the department's fault for the damage on the north side of the building.

Cracks in the lot, Hurst said, were full of sand before the hydrant came apart and the water washed the dirt out, making the cracks more visible.

Gill, he continued, said the lot was overdue for problems being 21 years old, but this doesn't settle the issue with the Harrises.

Any offer made to repair the lot, he said, would be fine as long as the Harrises signed a release.

Commissioner Don Morehead suggested getting two more bids before anything else is done. The bids would be for repairs to the lot on the northeast corner from the building to Highway 67.

This was later changed to getting three independent bids and consulting with the Ken and Sue Harris before even seeking the bids.

This would be done to prevent wasting anyone else's time in coming down and preparing bids which could wind up being ignored.

In addition, whatever the group agrees to do will be taken to City Attorney Taylor King to make sure it's legal.

But, Hurst said, if King says the city isn't liable and tells the department not to pay for any repairs, the commission will have to look into doing something else. "We have to be careful because of future damage."

The commission agreed a release form is needed to protect the department from future problems with the lot.

Hurst reminded the panel if an overlay was done on the entire lot without first removing the existing asphalt, the lot would be higher and water could then run inside the building, causing damage.

Early on, while the meeting was being conducted outside amidst heavy truck traffic, Hurst said he would as just soon let it go to court and do what the court ruled.

In other business Hurst told the commission the department had received several calls about International Paper using water without paying for it.

IP, he said, ran 770,000 gallons of water through a metered hydrant and into a pond, not from a pond as was earlier reported.

The company, he continued, has been billed for the water used and will pay for it. The billing was done using the rural water system's rate.

He reminded the panel the Gurdon City Council approved the sewer rate increase ordinance at its Oct. 9 meeting, and when it goes into effect, the rates will be raised.

Nothing further has been heard about the department's bookkeeping system, he said. But, the department's accountants did say the accounts could be separated creating more work, but such a move isn't necessary.