Five homes and one business on Farr Street lost sewer services on Wednesday following damage done to a sewer line following an active construction project.

The temporary loss of sewer service happened on a portion of Farr Street between W. Main and Columbia streets and lasted approximately 15 hours.

After Acting City Manager Sarah Eddy determined that the situation constituted an emergency, city staff coordinated with a contractor working nearby on a different city project. The contractor worked through the night to replace the approximately 300-foot section of the sewer main, and service was fully restored by 6 a.m. on Thursday. Trench restoration and paving operations began immediately thereafter.

“I want to express my gratitude to our city staff members and the contractor who worked through the night to get this done,” said Municipal Services Director Christopher Fisher. “Their dedication and teamwork allowed us to minimize the disruption of sewer service caused by this incident.”

“It's been crazy. I was running around trying to get hotel rooms for everybody,” said Councilmember Rebecka Monez (District 2) who worked behind the scenes to secure hotel accommodations in the city for the six families displaced by the break. “At first, we were looking at them being displaced for up to two weeks, but now everybody’s back in their homes."

The city stated staff is actively trying to determine the cause of the damage and will take appropriate steps to minimize the negative impact of this incident.

— Journal reporter Joe Cortez contributed to this report.