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Home My WebLink AboutVIII-C-01 - Water System UpdateCITYCOUNCILMEMORANDUM To: MayorHicks & Councilmembers From: MelanieMeskoLee, CityAdministrator Date: October10, 2018 Item: WaterSystemUpdate CouncilActionRequested: None. Updateonly. BackgroundInformation: OnSaturday, September22, 2018theCityofHastingsissuedaBoilWaterAdvisoryforpartof ourwatersystemasresultofaconfirmatorywatertestofcoliform. TheCitydisinfectedthe impactedareaasdirectedbytheMinnesotaDepartmentofHealth, additionaltestsweretaken, andtheBoilWaterAdvisorywasliftedonMonday, September24, 2018. TheMinnesotaDepartmentofHealth (MDH) conductedaLevel2Assessment, andwhileit couldnotdetermineaspecificcauseofthepositivetest, ithasrecommendedtheCitygive seriousconsiderationtopermanentlychlorinatingthesystem. Currently, weareoneofthree municipalitiesover10,000populationinMinnesotathatdoesn’thaveapermanentdisinfection system. TheCityCouncilheldaworkshoponOctober1, 2018todebriefwithStaffandMDHonthe issue. Atthattime, animmediate (reviewthefindingsoftheLevel2assessment) andsome longertermissueswereidentified. UponreviewofthefindingsoftheLevel2assessment, and inlightoftheMDH’srecommendationtoexploreapermanentdisinfectionsystem, theCityhas implementedalow-levelchlorinationthroughouttheentiresystem. Additionally, wehave identifiedsomeopportunitiesinourcommunicationproceduresthatmayenhanceourability toeffectivelycommunicateinfutureurgentsituations. Wewillalsoundergoathorough internalreviewofourEmergencyOperationsPlan (EOP) todeterminewherewecanmake enhancements. Finally, wehavebegunthepreliminaryworktobringaconsultantonboardto assistwiththelongtermdisinfectionreviewandanalysis. Weunderstandtheconcernthathasbeenexpressedbythecommunityaboutthesafetyofour watersystem. Wetakethoseconcernsveryseriouslyandhavebeenworkingtirelesslyonthis issue. Throughoutthelastthreeweeks, wehaveprovidedavarietyofcommunicationmethods toshareinformationwehavewiththecommunity. Inadditiontoimmediatelycreatinga specific, robustpresenceonourwebsitededicatedtothisissue, weusedanumberofother methods. Thiswasaccomplished throughsocialmedia, localcable, radioandnewspaper, the Everbridgeemergencynotificationsystem, andmostrecentlyadirectmailingtoalladdressesin VIII-C-01 Hastings. Additionally, wehaveestablishedadedicatedhotlinetoanswerthecommunity’s questions. Finally, weareappreciativetothosecommunitymembersandpartnerswhostepped upandassistedwithgettingthewordoutandhelpingfellowcommunitymembersduringthese unusualcircumstances. AttheCouncilmeeting, weintendtoconciselywalkthroughtheworkthathasbeendonesince welastformallybriefedtheCouncilattheOctober1, 2018Councilmeeting. MDHstaffwillalso bepresentatthemeeting. Noformalactionisrequested. FinancialImpact: Acomprehensivefinancialanalysisofthesystemresponsewill bepreparedfortheCouncilinthenearfuture. AdvisoryCommissionReview: None CouncilCommitteeReview: None Attachments: None VIII-C-01