The City of Soldotna plans to use $20,000 to repair some of its faulty fire hydrants identified during this spring’s water main flushes. The Soldotna City Council approved the introduction of legislation during its Aug. 25 meeting that would appropriate the funds. The repair parts are the last element of the city’s current hydrant repair program.
The city’s utility department identified 15 hydrants that needed repair or replacement, out of a total of 319 city hydrants, according to an Aug. 18 memo from Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis to Soldotna City Manager Stephanie Queen. The city has two different types of hydrants in its system — Mueller hydrants and American Darling hydrants, which is the city’s new standard of hydrants, Kornelis wrote.
Soldotna’s utility department has already purchased three new American Darling hydrants to replace existing ones that could not be repaired, as well as repairs parts for hydrants that can. Those hydrants have already been repaired, Kornelis wrote.
The money, if approved by the council, will allow the utility department to purchase parts for the older Mueller hydrants. Kornelis said that the complete replacement of those hydrants would be ideal and would standardize the city’s hydrant system, but said that the logistics and cost of doing so would be high. That, he wrote, would be especially true for hydrants located along highways, which would require excavation work to be replaced.
“The repairs will be effective and provide long service life of the hydrant,” Kornelis wrote.
The legislation will have a public hearing on Sept. 8. The council’s full meeting can be viewed on the city’s website at soldotna.org.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
