SPRINGFIELD — Someone broke into a city sewer lift station this month, causing about $42,000 in damages, city officials said Tuesday.
Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 5 someone — or possibly multiple people; police were unsure Tuesday — broke into the lift station at the end of Tram Road. The perpetrator damaged the backside of the fence, pried open the doors of both control panels and then removed the screws from each panel, facing about 400 volts of electricity in the process.
“We’re lucky somebody isn’t dead,” Mayor Ralph Hammond said. “When I first saw it, it was so bad I thought a bear had torn the fence down, but a bear can’t operate a screwdriver.”
Springfield Police Sgt. Thomas McCroan said the likely motivation behind the vandalism was theft. Hammond said it was probably for copper, but nothing was actually stolen.
“There’s not enough copper to risk your life,” Hammond said, adding that the smell emanating from the station would have been very strong.
City Public Works Director Lee French estimated the total damage to the control panels, one pump and the fence to be about $42,000. Hammond said the city has $5,000 of liability coverage but is hoping vandalism will be covered under the comprehensive portion of the city’s policy with Stanford Insurance.
Springfield police were able to lift prints from the scene but still are investigating with no suspects identified.
In other business Tuesday:
- The commission talked about a special workshop scheduled in February during which Animal Control will be discussed. The commission wants Bay County Animal Control officials to explain what constituted the 171 calls from the city in the fourth quarter of 2014. Code Enforcement Officer Allan Quigley said the city police department is prepared to field animal control calls, especially since the city’s noise ordinance is covered by the police.
- French offered his support for the water meter system that city officials analyzed in Bridgeport, Ala. He said the system, which links water meters and can be read from City Hall, is easy to use, particularly for technologically averse people like himself. He estimated the system to cost $1 million for all of the city’s 5,000 meters. The city will start preparing a request for proposal for the next meeting. The project would start with the around 100 meters in the Morris-Manor subdivision, for which they have received a $499,000 grant from the Northwest Florida Water Management District.
