Repairs to equipment were two agenda items at Tuesday night’s Washington City Council meeting. The council discussed repairs to Well #6 and the street sweeper. JJ Bell, construction and maintenance superintendent for the City, and Zach Wibstad explained there are issues with the street sweeper and when they went to order new parts to fix it they found only the whole unit is available. The street sweeper is a 2010 model that the City purchased in 2013. At that time the City purchased a demo model and saved $50,000. The total to keep the street sweeper driving is $10,375. The council authorized purchase and repairs to the machine.

Well #6 repairs were also presented at the meeting. The well, one of Washington’s three wells, had a pump failure in July and has been out of service since that time. Rob Baker with FOX Engineering explained the steel casing from ground level to the pump was installed in 1956 and to recase the well and install a new pump will cost approximately $338,000. City Administrator Brent Hinson said they have to protect the city. The council directed staff to proceed with the re-casing and pump replacement, which will now go out to bid. The recasing is expected to last 25 to 30 years.