DUNKIRK — Last week’s boil water advisory for the city of Dunkirk was “a fluke of an accidental nature,” according to Mayor Willie Rosas.
Rosas said Tuesday at the Common Council meeting that he wanted to dispel rumors about the reason for the order.
It was an accident due to the contractor, they drilled a 9-inch hole into our pipe, one of the main pipes at the plant and that caused a very big leak at the plant, what was the root cause of the issue.
There were rumors that there was a faulty pipe that broke down and that’s not what happened, so I just want to clear that up,” he said.
… I think this could have been a disaster, but we took care of it pretty nicely and professionally.” Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury also recognized the water treatment workers who dealt with the issue as quickly as possible.
Rosas said a temporary fix of the line was made by the contractor and also thanked Hill Engineer Gus Maas for helping the city to monitor the situation and Paul Snyder at the County Health Department providing insight on the process.
The contractor knows a more permanent fix must eventually be made, but Rosas said it will not hold up the North Chautauqua County Water District project.
Rosas noted this was a county order and therefore their responsibility to inform the public.
Resolution 41, a proposed local law on the sale of city-owned property, was amended and tabled for a public hearing on April 17 at 5:20 p.m. before the council meeting.
Communications from the public were also approved with contingencies placed on the request from WNY Renegades 12U Girls Travel Softball for more specific dates in July to avoid other field conflicts and the request for a water service from Debbie Carapella for requirements of the department of public works, the town of residence and the city treasurer’s review.