Hello from St. Paul,
As you know, Blaine is once again dealing with a city water problem. The decreased water pressure was restored in less than an hour. But Blaine remains under a precautionary water boil advisory.
I just heard more from city leaders and wanted to share that information with you.
The initial investigation indicates the water pressure loss was due to an internal power supply failure at Water Tower #1, located in Aquatore Park. This power supply failure disrupted our utility communication system. As water demand increased during the day and into Sunday evening, the system was unable to activate additional pumps and failed to send out water tower level alarms to on-call staff.
The power supply has been replaced, additional steps are being taken and additional redundancies are being put in place. The City is working with outside experts to further audit our utility system for technology and security improvements.
The City of Blaine is working with a certified testing facility to complete the water tests. Results are expected around 10:00pm this evening. The water test requires a 24-hour culture before results are known. The precautionary boil advisory is still in effect until further notice. Please monitor the City’s website (click here) for further updates.
In other news, Blaine residents nearly packed the Cloverleaf Room at City Hall recently to discuss recent actions at the Blaine Wetland Sanctuary.
I joined dozens of constituents to hear about the City’s decision to cut down a significant number of trees for wetland restoration.
A number of citizens came forward with reasonable solutions and shared their concerns. The City responded by saying it plans to schedule another meeting in the very near future to share thoughts on these plans and to let residents know the next steps it plans to take.
It was good to see such a large turnout for this listening session. As soon as the City announces when the next meeting will be held, I will send out another email update and let you know. Stay tuned.
Talk to you soon,
Nolan