Belgrade council ratifies emergency spending after two wells fail

Belgrade’s City Council unanimously authorized emergency spending June 1 after the city reported multiple well failures that have taken key water production online.

City Manager Cardwell told the council that Well 8 at Lewis and Clark Park "has essentially self destructed," describing sand and gravel ingestion that destroyed filtration and the pump and sent debris into nearby homes. He said the replacement pump is roughly a $250,000 "ish" unit and that repair will also require additional sand-filtration measures, describing one option as adding small glass-bead filter media to prevent future infiltration.

Cardwell said a second well, Well 5 near Yukon Lane and the water tower, has experienced a drop in water level that allows air into the system and currently makes the well unusable until a plan for remediation is developed. He said the council is considering retrofitting a variable frequency drive (VFD) to better manage the well’s output as part of longer-term solutions.

The city manager told the council the city has reserves in the water fund created under a 2024 rate resolution and proposed using that reserve to cover costs rather than immediately raising rates or issuing debt. He said the combined request tied to Well 5 and Well 8 represents about $600,000 in needs, and that the reserves currently sit "slightly over $3,000,000" and would fall just below $3,000,000 after the expenditures, which could delay other capital projects.

Council members asked for timelines and capacity estimates. Cardwell said some components (pumps) must be ordered and that repairs to Well 8 could realistically take a few months; he added that Well 9 may be brought online within weeks at reduced output while avoiding sand production. On whether aquifer changes might affect other wells, Cardwell said it was "too early to tell" and that exempt domestic wells in the area had gone dry this year; he recommended study of hydrology to better understand the risk.

The council approved a motion authorizing the City Manager to approve emergency expenditures related to Well 8 and Well 5; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Cardwell closed by urging residents to follow the city’s summer irrigation restrictions to reduce peak demand while repairs are underway.