FARMVILLE — The ruptured water line that drained water tanks in May has given Farmville’s Town Council pause for thought about the condition of other lines.

“There’s nothing you can do about the pipes that are in the ground,” Town Manager Gerry Spates said at last Wednesday’s council meeting.

A broken water pipe behind NAPA overnight May 17-18 led to the loss of 1.5 million gallons of water in the neighborhood. The telephone alarm failed on the system on the new tank, so no one knew of the problem. Since the incident, the Town has improved the alarm system using two systems of notification, so if any of the tanks lose water again, multiple officials will be alerted.

“The only way we knew it is people ran out of water,” Spates said. “And when people started calling about water on the east end and they called about water on Milnwood Road, we knew something was wrong. …But now, we have a system in place where if that tank drops two to three feet unexpectedly in the middle of the night, we’ll be notified.”

Tracking the age and construction dates of water lines is a challenge for any municipality. Longtime Director of Public Works Robin Atkins reported that Farmville has made improvements over the years, including removal of a lot of galvanized lines.

“I was wondering are there any grants out there to replace miles of piping at a time,” Mayor David Whitus said.

Grants and loans are available, staff members responded, but it’s difficult to know where a water line might break ahead of time. New lines can also fail.

Budget Approved

Council, following a public hearing the previous week, approved the Town’s budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

The $16,983,315.64 million budget includes a $386,439 contingency fund, a 3 percent raise and Christmas bonuses based on salary (those making more than $40,000 per year would receive $250, those under, $500), and keeps the real estate tax rate at 12 cents per $100 of assessed value, a personal property tax rate (for businesses only) at $1.50 per $100 of assessed value and a 27-cent per pack cigarette tax.

Some Interest

The Town has been entertaining proposals for the Mottley Lake property, a 147.11-tract west of town that includes a house, a cabin, 17 mobile home hook-up sites and the 35-acre lake. The Town, however, would reserve exclusive water rights to release water in extreme periods of drought. Spates reported that two parties are interested in the property.

Dog Park Update

Council was presented with an update on the dog park project and agreed to move forward with the first phase to clear the Virginia Street site and to put up fencing.

Fencing will cost $13,500 to $13,800, though one more price was scheduled to come in, officials said.

“We’ve already got $15,000 donated towards the park, which should cover the fencing, and once we get the final bid, I’d like go ahead and get started on grading for the dog park and getting some of the area ready to go,” Spates said.

He said the town would probably go ahead with the concrete entrance and expressed hope that others would donate items for the park.

In Other News…

* Council held a public hearing and, with no comment, approved a request to abandon a 10-foot-by-40-foot alley off Redford Street (between Griffin Boulevard and Race Street) to Longwood University.

* Council members, following some discussion, agreed to cancel the scheduled July 1 work session.

* Council authorized the creation of a joint local emergency planning committee, merging the Town’s and Prince Edward County’s efforts. The Town had its own committee, which Spates said has been inactive for the last two years. The county had taken similar steps to approve a joint committee, which provides support for emergency management planning for chemical/hazardous materials and provides public access to information about possible chemical hazards in the community. It can also serve in an advisory capacity for all hazards emergency management planning.