Power surges a problem for Yates City

By MOLLY COPHER
For The Weekly Post

YATES CITY – Power surges from a downed wire have created problems for the Village of Yates City.
On March 3 at around 5 p.m., a downed power line in Elmwood that also runs to Yates City produced power surges in Yates City, burning out the surge protector for the village well pump.
Two nights later, around 2 a.m. on March 5, more surges were produced.

“The surges went all the way to Galesburg,” Yates City Village President Mark Hostetler said at the March 11 board meeting. “Princeville ended up losing their reverse-osmosis water, too. It burned out our well pump so we got permission from the Illinois EPA to use the pump for the new well instead.”

A fire hose is currently being used to pump water into the reservoir, which is unchlorinated, resulting in a boil order for the town.

The solenoid for the well was also destroyed. The old pump was taken out on March 10, and the new pump was scheduled to be installed March 12. The well-pump replacement could cost up to $27,000 between parts and labor, and the solenoid could cost up to $2,000.

The Village Board does expect insurance to cover the costs due to the nature of the situation and approved up to $27,000 to be paid to Chris Ebert Company of Washington for repairs to the well pump.
A repair for the main-flow meter at the Public Works Building was also approved. Initially, a display kit was purchased for $239 in hopes that it would fix the problem. That did not work. A motherboard was required in addition to the display kit for success. One was purchased for $998.44 from Midwest Meter Inc. and the main flow meter is working again.

Repairs for the Public Works Building’s Generac were scheduled for March 18 by Midwest Equipment due to the generator not achieving automatic turn-on. It is not under warranty, but there is a maintenance agreement in place between the village and Midwest Equipment. It is unknown whether this issue was also caused by power surges.

Repairs on the south oxidation ditch paddle wheel at the treatment plant are scheduled to be finished by April 7. Test Inc. said repairs have taken longer because they are not charging for their employee’s time and repairs are being fit into his schedule for free.

The village is working on an inspection plan to mitigate this happening again and has contacted G.A. Rich & Sons, Inc. to help establish a plan.

Isolation valves for a water shut-off project are proving more costly than anticipated. Illinois Meter and Core & Main were contacted and both quoted nine isolation valves for about $22,000 plus $11,000 for labor to install them. Schulte Supply quoted about $15,000 before tax. Hostetler estimated the valves will cost about $26,500. No vote was taken.

A three-year service agreement with EcoWater Systems for the water-softener heads at the Public Works Building was approved for $7,414.82 with the understanding that the service has to be performed and putting it off for a year or two would probably just drive the cost higher.
The board also approved:

• Temporary closure of Illinois Route 8 on Aug. 22 for the Harvest Home Festival Parade.
• $750 toward Dumpster Day on April 18 to go toward the dumpster and the advertisement.
• An adjustment to the maintenance agreement with Elba-Salem Park District due to the consumer-price index increase of 2.4%, raising the agreement cost from $376 to $385.