“What we found happened is that the sewer actually collapsed first. It started taking soils down into that pipe,” said public works director Jon Haukaas.
From there, the water main above the sewer line ruptured and surfaced.
The city council declared a state of local emergency at this week’s council meeting to be able to speed up the repair process. For now, public works crews are on site 24 hours a day monitoring the above ground sewer bypass lines. This bypass is allowing the sewer system to still function while avoiding the broken part of the line.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns, because we’re moving fast,” said Haukaas. “We won’t have the road open until at least the first week or March.
For now, all residents and businesses have access, but getting around the area does involve detours.
