The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Members of the Elkins City Water Department stand before Elkins City Council Thursday night to be recognized for their hard work and dedication after dealing with multiple leaks this winter. Front row from left are Water Technician Crew Leader D.J. Shoulders, Water Technician Ben Curtis, Water System Technician Supervisor Eric Hiner and Water Technician Tristan Winans. Back row from left are water technicians Zach Bonnell, R.D. Walters, Michael Kane and D.J. Singleton.

ELKINS — The City of Elkins honored members of the City Water Department for their hard work this winter, especially during a “pretty bad” leak on Third Street in March where some of the crew worked for more than 24 hours straight.

During Thursday night’s Council meeting, Public Water System Chief Operator and Manager Wes Lambert addressed the council, recognizing members of his crew following a series of leaks and line breaks caused by freezing temperatures this past winter.

“Over the past few months, we’ve dealt with several water leaks, given that time of year and the severity of the cold,” Lambert told Council. “It’s not entirely unexpected; however, we did see areas that were frozen three deep in the ground. I talked to the guys. Very seldom do you see it frozen that deep.”

One incident that Lambert highlighted in particular was the Third Street leak that occurred in March, which led to a temporary, multi-day road closure on a section of Third Street in front of the Jennings Randolph Federal Building. The leak led to a water outage and a water boil advisory for nearby blocks.

Lambert told The Inter-Mountain earlier that the Water Department had been looking for that particular leak for around four months as they were losing approximately 800,000 gallons to a million gallons a day. As Lambert explained, this particular leak had found its way into the city’s sewer line after a hidden leak from an eight inch line caused a nearby four inch line to break as well.

“It took approximately three days to finally fix everything that was broken there,” Lambert told the Council. “We had to go back in twice because everything in that area where you see the blacktop’s missing… there was eight inches of concrete there and that water had basically just swirled around in there and ate all the dirt out, and the water sucked all the debris and and sediment down the sewer line.”

Lambert previously told The Inter-Mountain it was probably the worst long-term leak that he’s seen in the approximately 20 years he’s worked in this field. On Thursday night, Lambert informed the Council that some of his crew had worked on the leak site for “over 24 hours straight.”

“That’s why the mayor and I wanted to call them into this meeting today and recognize (them),” Lambert said. “I know everyone couldn’t be here tonight, but I’m so glad that a lot of them did come.”

Eight of the 18 members of the Water Department attended Thursday’s meeting and introduced themselves to the Council. The men received several rounds of applause from those in attendance.

“It’s hard for me to express how proud I am of these guys,” Lambert said. “They really dedicate their lives to this job. A lot of times it’s behind the scenes… It’s hard on the outside looking in to really see what goes into being in this field, but there’s calls all hours of the night. They’re away from their family a lot… These guys really nailed it. They’ve hit it out of the park. They’re true public servants.”

Water Department employees attending Thursday night’s movie included Water System Technician Supervisor Eric Hiner, Water Technician Crew Leader D.J. Shoulders, and water technicians Tristan Winans, R.D. Walters, D.J. Singleton, Michael Kane, Zach Bonnell and Ben Curtis.

Mayor Jerry Marco spoke highly of the Water Department crew, thanking them for their efforts, especially for the hard work they put into chasing the leak for four months and then fixing it.

“These guys worked, like Wes said, 24 hours. Never complained,” Marco said. “They worked in the cold. They worked in the heat… They’re out in the mud and the muck, and, as Wes said, they provide a service, a vital service, to our community. So that we give fresh water to our citizens, and without these guys, we don’t have that.”

City Treasurer Tracy Judy also praised the crew.

“I think the working relationship between my office, Wes and many of you all has come a long way, and since I’ve been with the City, it’s the best that I’ve seen,” Judy said. “I appreciate the interaction, the help… everybody that works with anybody in my office, I appreciate that.”

In a social media post Thursday night after the meeting, city officials once again thanked the Water Department for all they do for the City and its residents.

“Elkins is fortunate to have this group of employees. This is not easy work, and they keep on showing up,” the post stated. “We’d continue to gush, but it’s safe to assume they’ve had enough gushing, literally, over the past few months. Thank you again, gentlemen.”