Hillsboro Fire Chief Says Faulty Hydrants Need Attention

Hillsboro, WV – Hillsboro Fire Chief Charlie Wilfong asked Hillsboro Town Council Tuesday evening to move quickly to fix town fire hydrants that aren’t draining properly. At least one hydrant had frozen water in it this winter, says Wilfong. When hydrants are shut off, the water is supposed to drain out of the hydrants into a drain field. In at least one hydrant, this isn’t happening according to Wilfong and council members.

“I don’t want to wait until October and have nothing done,” Wilfong told council. “The liability is just too extreme for me, and for you all as well. If [you] don’t do it, I’ll make a couple of phone calls, and it will get done, and you won’t like it,” Wilfong continued. “I need to know what we’re going to do. My men are on me, they want it corrected. People in the community are finding out about it.”

Wilfong requested to be put on the agenda for the next council meeting.
Concerned about the cost of excavating and redoing the drain fields for the hydrants, Councilman Jim Johnson said he wanted to try pressurizing the faulty hydrants first, to try to force out obstructions in the hydrant drains.
Mayor Anne Workman, Johnson and town water and sewer operator Larry Simmons plan to meet Friday and try this method on the faulty hydrants.

Turning from water to sewer matters, Johnson reported on his research into having the Hillsboro sewer system smoke tested for leaks by the West Virginia Rural Water Association.

“They will do smoke testing for us no charge,” said Johnson. “There’s going to be some monies involved for, probably, smoke bombs and things like that. It’s something -probably months ahead before we get to that point,” Johnson added, “but it’s something we really, really need to do.”

Council approved a recommendation by Johnson to join the WVRW association for the annual fee of $75.

In other business, council tabled the approval of contracts with George Gladwell for town mowing and maintenance and for supervision of those serving community service sentences in the town. Johnson insisted that Workman seek an opinion from the West Virginia Ethics Commission, due to Gladwell’s relationship to council woman Sandy Gladwell. In the past Gladwell has abstained from votes on the contract.

Workman and new town recorder Gail Hyer were official sworn into their respective offices Tuesday evening. Hyer’s first official duty as recorder was to sign off on resolutions in support of the town’s grant application to the Energy Efficiency and Conservations grants program. The town is seeking funds to make improvements to the town office, such as new windows, doors and insulation.