City replaces sewer lines off FM 2493
By Lori Mellinger Bullard Banner News

Far left, Bullard Public Works Director Mark Barker and crew member Shawn Osbourne survey the ditch dug on Courtney Street. Left,

The City of Bullard pulled its crew temporarily of the Lilly Lane water line expansion to deal with a sewer issue last week.

A resident on Courtney Street - just off FM 2493 - called the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality to complain about the street's sewer line.

City Manager Larry Morgan talked to TCEQ and agreed there was a problem, and the city had it on its short list to be addressed.

"Because of the phone call, we moved it up on the schedule," Morgan said. No formal warning was issued by the environmental agency.

The crew last week laid a new sewer line and made adjustments so the effluent will flow with gravity.

They also raised the existing manhole in order to accommodate the increased flow and fix the initial problem - which the line was built below sewer flow level.

The issue has been ongoing for about a month now, since two residents of the street asked the city to reimburse them for damages incurred when the sewer line overflowed.

Osbourne helps clear the spot to repair the sewer line.

At this month's council meeting, an item was tabled on the reimbursement.

Morgan explained how the overflow happened to the council.

"Recent heavy rains, coupled with a large amount of grease lodged in the drain, caused a rush of effluent," Morgan said. "The system was just not able to handle the volume."

Councilman Rodger Johnson suggested the decision to reimburse the homeowners should be tabled until the city's liability was examined closer.

Mayor Pro-Tem A.W. Hines said there was never an engineering study done on the subdivision where the homeowners live, and he believes the houses are below the sewer level.

City officials believe the subdivision was built about 10 years ago.

Morgan hopes to be finished in a few days - at which point the crew will resume laying larger water lines on Lilly Lane.