The Byrdstown Board of Alderman approved an emergency expenditure of some $34,000 Monday night to rebuild the headworks at the wastewater plant.
Byrdstown Mayor Sam Gibson said the wastewater plant separates solid waste from the water with a series of chains, which have been damaged. Gibson said the plant is still in use, but failure to monitor it could lead to a backup or overflowed sewer.
“We tried to patch it up a little bit when it first happened,” Gibson said. “Now, it’s kind of gone haywire again, so we’ve just got to get it redone.”
Gibson said the headworks repair will prevent future issues with the sewer lines by addressing components like the gearbox and motors. Gibson said it is more important to keep an eye on the headworks since they are not functioning properly.
“This is right now the only area for people to dump, for individuals that pump people’s sewer out to dump into,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the timetable could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
“It’s hard to tell exactly when they’ll get in here and get that fixed and get all their parts,” Gibson said. “And that’s the big thing is when do people get their parts? Sometimes parts become a little bit of a factor of trying to get them in a timely manner.”
In other business, the Byrdstown Aldermen moved to keep TCRS contributions at 10 percent. Aldermen approved six-month reviews of two city employees, and revised water and sewer policies.
The Byrdstown Aldermen will meet again on June 2, for the first reading of next fiscal year’s budget.
