by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Oct. 15 meeting, the Sewanee Utility District Board of Commissioners grappled with a request by Maple Street customers to reactivate a capped off fire hydrant, stymied by parts availability and line size issues. The board also took up a request from Monteagle to supply the town with 150,000 gallons of water per day.

Representing Maple Street residents, Bruce McMillan and Beeler Brush presented a petition asking to have the capped off hydrant turned on. SUD manager Ben Beavers explained repair parts were not available for the hydrant installed in 1957 and current regulations required at least a six-inch line for a hydrant, when the Maple Street water service line was only four inches.

“The hydrant not working there may not be as big a threat as you perceive,” said Board President Charlie Smith, who has 41-years of service as a fire fighter. “If the fire department can’t knock down a fire with the water on the truck, your place is in jeopardy regardless.”

“What if there are two fires going on at the same time?” asked McMillan.

“The most cost-effective solution would be a hydrant at the corner of Kentucky Avenue and the highway,” said Beavers. For Maple Street residents, a hydrant located there would satisfy insurance requirements for a hydrant within 1,000 feet of a home to earn a rate reduction. A hydrant would cost $5,000. Locating a hydrant on Maple Street would include the cost of the hydrant plus the cost of a larger service line, $200 per foot. “The Kentucky Avenue option would be good for downtown, as well,” Smith observed.

Providing background on Monteagle’s request for water, Smith described Mayor Greg Maloof as “panicked” by the town’s water shortage. In response, Monteagle has closed the interstate rest areas and initiated other water use restrictions. Smith cited several obstacles to granting Monteagle’s request.

“Opening the tap at the Monteagle-Sewanee connection is a lot more involved than I knew it to be,” Smith acknowledged. “They would have to flush both sides of the line. And we couldn’t get much more than 40,000 gallons a day without drawing down pressure in Midway.”

Smith also pointed to a more immediate difficulty. SUD’s water plant is presently working overtime to keep up with demand due to a kink in the Lake Jackson intake pipe caused by drift of the line. Beavers has arranged for divers to straighten the line and correct the kink, costing $5,000, provided no repairs are needed. SUD is on a waiting list to have the kink issue corrected.

“Right now I think we have too many impediments to pump any water to Monteagle,” Smith said. “We’re not in a good position to do anything.”

Beavers commented Monteagle had access to water from another lake, but there was no connection to Monteagle’s water system.

“We’re within a month of the wet season beginning at the end of October to mid-November,” Commissioner Doug Cameron said, pointing to historical data.

Reporting on the federally required lead and copper survey, Beavers said SUD has no lead service lines. However, the survey found more galvanized lines than expected. If galvanized lines are dug up, they would need to be replaced back to the main, Beavers stressed, since they likely had lead fittings. A sampling of water for lead and copper at 20 sites found traces of lead at two sites, but below the threshold limit. Amounts of copper fluctuated depending on the location.

The board may have an extra meeting in November to discuss budgeting. Beavers said the increase in prices would likely necessitate an increase in fees and rates.