Thank you to Clayton public works for your hard work

There are many pieces/parts involved when running a city or county government.

City of Clayton officials have been working hard on many projects both downtown and in city limits to improve quality of life for all residents.

In order to minimize disruption in water service to customers, public works crews work tirelessly in the cold and in the middle of the night to fix portions of the system to improve water flow and quality.

Clayton public works crews, led by Public Works Director Jason Waldroup, worked overnight Sunday, Nov. 13, to replace valves on Main Street as part of an ongoing process to replace valves and fire hydrants in the city. Waldroup said at a roundtable meeting with city officials Monday that crews worked more than 12 hours and overnight to repair valves and a fire hydrant in order to minimize disruption to nearby businesses.

During the process, a planned water outage was scheduled and roads were closed. A boil water advisory was put into effect when service was restored, but was lifted only a couple days later.

Although an outage with any sort of service disruption is inconvenient, Clayton Public Works should be commended for finding a solution to minimize disruption by working late at night on one of the coldest nights we’ve had lately.

Waldroup said crews are working on identifying faulty valves in the system and will continue to replace valves and some hydrants at night so the restaurants will be able to stay open. He said this will help the city shut off water in more isolated areas for repairs in the future.

“We’re trying to get these valves operational,” Waldroup said at the roundtable meeting. “We’re trying to disrupt as few people as we can.”

Sure, it’s the job of public works to fix problems as they arrive. But they don’t have to work overnight. They do that so businesses and restaurants can stay open during normal hours.

Mayor Kurt Cannon and City Manager Trudy Crunkleton commended Waldroup and his crew for their hard work and dedication.

“I appreciate all that you’ve done to make that happen,” Crunkleton said about repairing the valves.

Clayton Public Works should be commended for going the extra mile and working for the benefit of everyone to restore service and open roads up in time for business the next day.

At the roundtable, Waldroup highlighted other projects public works is working on such as replacing water lines as part of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), milling and paving city roads, and many other projects.

Clayton residents can expect to see crews out again, working overnight and odd hours to fix portions of the system and restore service with minimal interruptions.

Next time you see Clayton Public Works crews out and about, thank them for the job they do. They inconvenience themselves in order to make things more convenient for customers, and that should be remembered, commended and appreciated. The Clayton Tribune thanks you for all you do!