During a special Purcell City Council meeting on Monday, Water Supervisor Michael Minor debriefed the council on how the water outage in the municipal water system developed in early July.

At the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on July 1, Minor told the council the water system was “in a crunch” because of the unrelenting heat. As a result, City Manager Sam Demel announced he, Minor and Kenny Sullivan, a consulting engineer, would meet on July 3 to discuss potentially going to odd-even outdoor watering restrictions.

However, on July 3, several earthquakes struck the Purcell area, and Minor believes they were the cause for the water leaks in the system.

One of the leaks fed straight into the Purcell City Lake, which caused hiccups in the water testing process. Out of an abundance of caution, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality issued a boil advisory on July 5, but it was lifted by July 8.

To aid in dealing with any potential future municipal water system issues, Demel informed the council that he and Minor are putting together a status system.

During final comments at the end of the special council meeting, council members congratulated Water Supervisor Michael Minor and his staff on getting the water system back in shape despite all the setbacks.

“I just want to say great job on the work on the water outage,” Council member Greg Wheat said. “I mean, that’s a tough situation, and you’re never going to be able to please everybody. You did your best. I think you guys did a great job.”

Monday’s special council meeting was mainly held to discuss and consider the city’s labor contract with local Fraternal Order of Police lodge for fiscal year 2024-25 in executive session. The council approved it, ending a series of special council meetings throughout the first half of July.

The council had already discussed, considered and approved its labor contract with the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters for fiscal year 2024-25 during a special council meeting held on July 10.