Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Water emergency shortens meeting; council approves purchase of used truck

A severe leak in the city's water system resulted in an abbreviated council meeting at Emmet.

Emmet Mayor Dale Booker informed the council of the emergency, saying the business at hand needed to be taken care of quickly so the water situation could be addressed.

The water problem, he said, began when the water table began dropping rapidly for no apparent reason.

Water Superintendent Frank Faulkner missed the meeting as he was searching for the cause of the leak.

With little discussion, the council approved the purchase of a truck from the state for $3,400. Of this purchase price, one third each will come from the city's general fund, water department and street department budgets.

Booker said he had spoken to the council members individually about this prior to the meeting.

He also said all but one of the sewer pumps are in operation. The lone pump has not been installed at the Hickey Lane site, but is on hand at the city.

Booker said the new pump will be installed in a couple of weeks. When it's in place, the city will flush the pump wells down.

This will be done to allow the system to be degreased and cleaned. Booker said there is a major buildup of grease in the system needing to be removed.

In addition, he said Faulkner has been attending school in Hot Springs to maintain his water operator's license.