Mapleton Water Woes
The Mapleton Water District issued a request for residents on their system to conserve water last week because they were facing difficulty producing enough water to meet demand. The problem, according to Julie Doran-Lee, was because a computer that regulates the system was not working properly. The water district was able to keep up until Thursday night when a leak was discovered.
“So what water we did have in our tanks drained all out in the leak, on top of us not producing water.”
Because that caused the system to lose pressure, it prompted a “boil water notice” due to possible contamination. Doran-Lee said they began distributing bottled water in front of Mapleton Food Share Friday.
“So we’ll have water available for people to come pick up, bottled water for drinking. We’ve also put out a request to our emergency mutual aid system.”
The Mutual Aid assistance is in the form of a tanker truck of water that residents could use to fill large containers for household use. The leak was reportedly repaired over the weekend, but it could take several more days of testing to ensure the water is safe to consume without boiling it. The leak has been repaired and the system continues to fill the water tank. Most residents should have some water pressure, but the boil water notice is expected to continue until later this week when results of the samples tested are returned.
Oregon Transportation Spending
Oregon ranks in the top five in a new report measuring how states spend on transportation. With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act, John Bailey with the Natural Resources Defense Council says transportation funds roughly doubled. His organization has evaluated how states are using that money, and ranks Oregon fourth in the report. He says while the federal government writes the check, states have a lot of flexibility in how they can spend the money.
“Congress has said to states, ‘You can go be innovative and creative about how you use this. You do not have to use this only for road construction.’ And so, Oregon uses a relatively high percentage of that money to support fixing bridges, funding transit, and safer walking and biking.”
Bailey says Oregon also passed clean car and truck rules. The N-R-D-C used 22 metrics for the analysis, including measures for states’ planning for climate and equity concerns. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in the country.
City Meetings
Tonight’s City Council meeting will begin a week of meetings for City committees and commissions. This evening the Florence city Council will consider the purchase of a new street sweeper that will cost approximately $425,000. They will also hear a request for a change of ownership liquor license for the Bridgeport Market located at 75 Harbor Street suite 100. That meeting will be at 5:30 at City Hall. Tomorrow the Planning commission will meet and continue a discussion on a Planned Unit Development for 25 townhomes along with an extension of 37th street. That meeting will also be at 5:30. On Wednesday the Environmental Management Advisory Committee will meet at 4pm.
