HOGANSVILLE – Hogansville will soon have nine more fire hydrants, thanks to a city council decision on Monday to repair non-functioning hydrants.

The hydrants’ need for repair came to the attention of the mayor recently, and after determining the areas of greatest need, the proposal was brought before the council.

“(There are) fire hydrants in the city that need work that need to be repaired by our water department, and I asked (Joe) Vidal who is over water distribution systems to prioritize the work, and rate them one, two and three with one being critically important items that need immediate repair, two being needs repair and three being, we’ll get around to it,” Hogansville Mayor Bill Stankiewicz said. “He gave me a list of nine hydrants (that needed immediate repair) at a total cost of — not to exceed — $7,650.”

Mayor and councilmembers acknowledged the hydrants as public safety necessities that needed to be repaired as soon as possible.
“These are hydrants that are not currently functioning, or would not function in the event of a fire,” Stankiewicz said. “In most cases there are other hydrants, but that would have meant that the fire department would have to string hoses much further, a much greater distance which delays the process, and I think it is critical that we authorize this expenditure to fix these hydrants.”

The council discussed other hydrants in the city that may need to be repaired in the near future to maintain public safety and expressed a desire to not leave out needed repairs.

“There probably will be some additional hydrants when we consider this proposal,” Councilmember Theresa Strickland said.

Councilmembers requested the repairs be considered for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds since they will count as infrastructure improvements. However, it was not determined if that would be used for this specific project.

The Hogansville City Council is scheduled to meet again on June 19 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Hogansville City Hall.