Drought to blame for Fort Oglethorpe water main issues

Fort Oglethorpe City Manager Ron Goulart

Drought has caused water main issues across Fort Oglethorpe, according to Mayor Earl Gray and City Manager Ron Goulart.

At last week's City Council meeting, Gray updated the public on the state of the issue, which began in late June and impacted businesses and residential areas on Battlefield Parkway between Cross Street and Stuart Road, among other areas, and requires some repaving.

"The first water leak was extremely bad because it was so deep," Gray said during the meeting. "It took a while, but they still managed to get [impacted area residents] back operating with water the next day. Hats off to [Fort Oglethorpe Director of Water and Sewer Department] Phil Parker and his guys for fixing it."

The second leak a week later required water company employees to work all night long to get water restored to residents by morning, he added.

"Hats off to the water company for working all night to get water restored. Unfortunately with these dry conditions you get a big busted pipe," he said. "Thank goodness we were able to deal with it."

And, Fort Oglethorpe isn't the only area to face these issues due to recent temperatures and the month's overall lack of rain, Goulart said. He explained that in a drought, the ground settles and contracts causing stress on the pipes, so the issue is not uncommon.

"Catoosa County Utility Authority is having the same drought issues causing their mains to break," he added, saying that several weeks ago the area had a major water line break at Highway 2-A and Van Cleave.

"It has been repaired and we have to restore it back to DOT specs," said Goulart. "We had two bids. One is from Faultless Paving for $26,095 and the other is from Talley Construction for $37,925. I recommend that you approve Faultless Paving at $26,095 to restore that back to DOT specs."

The Fort Oglethorpe Council approved Goulart's request unanimously.