By Larry Barszewski
A broken valve has blocked the flow of water to the fire suppression system at the Villas of Ocean Ridge, which is now relying on human eyes to look out for potential fires until the town is able to repair the valve.
Town commissioners approved an emergency expenditure Dec. 21, estimated between $65,000 and $75,000. It covers the cost of the replacement valves needed to restore full water flow to the fire sprinkler system at 5900 Old Ocean Blvd., with its 26 condominium units in three buildings between State Road A1A and Old Ocean Boulevard.
While the individual units don’t have sprinklers, the three common parking areas under the buildings do. The sprinkler piping was replaced in the parking areas of two of the buildings in October, Boynton Beach Deputy Fire Chief Jake Brant, whose city provides fire rescue services to Ocean Ridge, said in an email to The Coastal Star.
Ocean Ridge plans to make the repairs by installing three valves, instead of just replacing the broken one. The extra valves will prevent a water outage during the repairs that would affect a larger group of residents along a half-mile stretch of A1A between Corrine Street and Woolbright Road, Public Works Director Billy Armstrong told commissioners.
Without the extra valves, “it could be a period of eight to 10 hours that every resident — which would probably affect a couple hundred residents — are going to be without water,” Armstrong said.
Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the problem was discovered during flow testing for the villas.
“It was discovered that the valve on our main that goes to their fire line had dropped its slug,” Ladner said. “The slug [the internal parts of a valve] is dropped and therefore the valve is in a frozen closed position, not allowing ample water through for fire protection. They are not able to get it to reopen and thus we are needing to go in and make a replacement in that area.”
Officials do not know how long the valve has been broken, but Boynton officials said they had received test results as recently as October showing the pressure to be fine. At the time of the meeting, the town was in the process of seeking bids for the valve repair work, which would be approved by Ladner on an emergency basis and brought to the commission’s Jan. 8 meeting for ratification.
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy asked if the work would be covered by a water main replacement project that the town plans to fund with American Rescue Plan Act grant monies.
Ladner said it could, but it is not in the northern area of town where those funds are expected to be used to replace aging water mains. Also, the town can’t wait on the grant, she said.
“We’re not going to be able to hold off because with this valve in the condition it is in now, that development has been put on what is called Fire Watch … because they don’t have ample water if something happens,” Ladner said.
Brant said “a Fire Watch is a temporary measure intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of a building, or portion of the building, by one or more qualified individuals for the purpose of identifying and controlling fire hazards, detecting early signs of fire, activating an alarm and notifying the fire department in the event of a fire.”
A Fire Watch is common, officials said, taking place whenever a fire alarm or sprinkler system is not operational in an occupied building. The villas were under a Fire Watch for two days in October when the previous sprinkler work was done, Brant said. The expense of the Fire Watch is covered by the development.
In a related matter, the town is in the process of seeking a state grant to find, fix or replace buried water valves in town. The grant would cover half the estimated $500,000 cost of the work.
At a July meeting, Ladner told commissioners the town had neglected maintenance on the hundreds of water valves in town and has difficulty finding the buried valves when needed. The town plans to pinpoint the location of the valves, exercise the valves so they don’t lock in the open or closed position, and install concrete collars around the valves that extend to ground level so the valves can be easily found.
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