Saugerties Water Department Superintendent Mike Hopf reported at the Saugerties Village Board meeting on Monday, March 15 that “on Wednesday, February 24, with the help of the DPW and sewer department, we repaired a ring crack on an eight-inch water main on Hill Street. We closed Hill Street and diverted the traffic around East Bridge Street and Burt Street.”
The repair took approximately six hours to complete, Hopf said, and he thanked all the parties involved in the job; “everyone’s input not only helped, but it made the job go smoothly,” he said. “Though the break was at a busy intersection, the traffic moved smoothly.”
“We got more compliments on that,” said Mayor Bill Murphy. “The way you guys handled that and the traffic flow, it was really, really well done.”
Hopf credited the DPW for the suggested route for the traffic detour, and Murphy for suggesting that the crew hold off repairs until after 9 a.m. to allow commuter traffic to move through the area before closing Hill Street. “Everything ended up working out well, and it doesn’t always end that way,” Hopf added.
In another matter, Hopf reported that the monthly meter reading on March 5 revealed two active water leaks — one at 16 McDonald Street and the other at 46 McDonald Street.
Hopf explained that the owners of both properties were out of town and were not easily reachable. The water department coordinated with the police department and the fire department to gain access to the houses to get the water turned off.
“You said this was a monthly reading, so at the most these leaks were going on for a month?” Murphy asked. Hopf agreed, but the timing was “the worst that could happen,” as a warming in early February caused the frozen pipes to “let go. It was a few days after we read, we read at the beginning of the month.”
Hopf said that at 46 McDonald Street, the leak was in a broken toilet that froze and broke. The water made its way to the basement, seeping through the foundation, but it didn’t cause much damage. At 16 McDonald Street, “the break was on the second floor and there was extensive damage there – draining in the kitchen,” he said.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Murphy said.
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