Milford Center officials are manually operating parts of the water plant until an issue can be pinpointed.
During Monday’s village council meeting, Mayor Virgil Ray Reisinger said a sensor that is part of the water plant is currently non-functional.
He said the “bad sensor” is preventing pumps from turning on and automatically pumping water to the village’s water tower.
The problem was first noted Friday evening, Reisinger said, and village officials and employees have been manually operating the plant since then.
“Right now, the whole system is on non-alert mode, so we’re just taking turns for two to three hours to keep water in the tower,” he explained.
Reisinger said issue has been compounded by several factors.
First, village officials and employees have been unable to determine which sensor is causing the problem. He said they are unsure if it is at the water tower or at the water plant.
Beyond that, he said the sensor uses older programming that current employees are not trained to use, so they are unsure how to reprogram it once it is located.
In an attempt to remedy this, he said the village will bring outside electricians to help solve the issue. But, the electrician who surveyed the problem was unable to find someone trained to fix the sensor over the Columbus Day weekend.
Reisinger said the village will bring in other electricians to completely solve the problem, but in the mean time employees have been able to manually maintain 15-16 feet of water in the tower.
Council member Jeff Parren asked how much the repairs are expected to cost, but Reisinger said they won’t have an estimate until the issue is located.
In other business:
– Council heard from Marysville resident Pam Hammond, who would like to help bring the Hope Center’s Fresh Produce Mobile Food Market to Milford Center.
She said she is interested in helping the community because she is a former Fairbanks teacher, her husband currently teaches there and her family attends church in the area.
Hammond said she believes the program would supplement the area’s current food pantry by providing Milford Center residents with perishable items.
The church she attends is not a suitable site for the market, she said, and asked council if the VFW or Fire Station would be a feasible option.
“I think it’s terrific, I think our community could use it and could benefit from it,” council member Dan Johnson said. “I would say the fire department would be a better option because it would be available much sooner.”
Since the VFW is being renovated, council recommended Hammond meet with the township, who controls the fire department.
However, council members agreed to support the project if Hammond needs other help.
– Council member Terri Kean shared an update regarding the replacement of non-functioning water meters in the village.
She said she has researched the grant application process through Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC), which is the same entity Plain City received a grant from when building its water plant.
Kean explained that the application deadline is in August, so council should set a goal to complete any necessary steps by then.
She said she has been in contact with a few organizations at the county level that will assist with grant-writing, but the village needs to gather information first.
Namely, she said they need to know exactly how many meters are in the village, how many are on commercial or residential properties and how many are in pits.
“If I have to go knock on doors, that’s what I’m going to do – It’s something that has to be done,” Kean said.
Council agreed to discuss ways to gather this information efficiently as they continue the grant process.