Adair Water Superintendent Scott Martin told trustees Monday a six -inch waterline break had Highway 69 shut down for a time Saturday.

Heavy equipment working on the Dollar General building broke the line.

“We pretty much had a bad deal last month,” Martin said of the 23 percent water loss. He said bills were estimated because of all the flooding, and those estimates turned out to be low. On lift station is down getting two motors.

The town sewer main will have to be routed around the corner of the Dollar General building. The pad was poured on top of the line. When the sewer line was installed in 1964, the town failed to get an easement on that property. The builder will route the line around the end of the building, which will include three manholes, at a cost of $10,000. Every turn in the line must have a manhole.

Martin said he will be making two water taps at the Dollar General site. A fire hydrant will be set there.

Trustees approved adopted an automatic payment system for town utility bills (water, sewer and trash).

At the customer’s discretion, bills would be automatically deducted from a checking or savings account. Crawford said among other advantages, late charges would be avoided due to mail delivery.

The town is still waiting for its irrigation gun to disperse treated wastewater onto pastures. The gun has been ordered and the check has been sent. Martin said it’s loaded on a truck which is setting at Sulfur Springs, Texas. Martin said the gun will be needed soon. Will all the recent rain, the lagoons are filling fast.

Engineer Dwayne Henderson addressed the outstanding invoice to the sludge removal crew.

“The sludge is gone and the berms have been elevated but not sloped according to the plans,” Henderson said. “They would be too hard to mow and they’re too steep so they’re eroding. The side slopes have been seeded, but not on a three to one slope. It’s more like a two to one.”

Henderson addressed the concerns with the contractor, Stan Rice, but suggested the town pay part of the bill since no money has yet changed hands. He suggested the town pay 80 percent of the bill, or $175,000. The total contract is $210,000. Trustees approved the request.

The new water line is still waiting for Oklahoma Department of Transportation to move it. ODOT told the town the new highway construction would not begin for years, but just as the line was put in the ground, the state decided to begin the road widening construction on Highway 28. ODOT will pay to move the line, but right-of-ways must be collected, including the one from the  town of Adair, before the move begins.

The town is at a standstill until ODOT does its part. One half mile of line remains to be put in and all the six-inch lines must be run around town.

Trustees asked Henderson to get an estimate from contractor Rusty Frazier for the last half mile of line.