BELLE — The Belle Board of Aldermen approved repairs to Well No. 1 during its June 11 meeting after officials reported significant problems were discovered during a recent inspection.

Mayor James (Pudd) Mitchell said the city previously approved Flynn Drilling Company to pull the well and troubleshoot a vibration issue. During the inspection, crews found deteriorated pipe, electrical problems and issues with the pump or motor.

“What they did is, they come and they pulled it. A lot of the pipe is the black cast iron pipe, it’s got holes in it, the wiring that went down to the motor had a lot of dead shorts in it, so it was grounding out, and there’s either a bearing out of the motor or the pump,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell told the board the well is currently out of service and repairs are needed to restore its production capacity.

“If we approve it, he said it takes about a week to get everything in, and then we’d be top of the list to come back and get it going,” Mitchell said.

“We have to have it done. We can’t be without it,” Alderman Rebecca Withouse said. “It’s a necessity.”

Mitchell noted Well No. 1 provided critical service when Well No. 3 was previously offline.

“This well carried us when Well Three was down, and if we hadn’t had it, we would have been in trouble,” Mitchell said.

Alderman Jeanette Struemph made a motion to separately account for a $2,250 inspection bill and the $31,137 rehabilitation project with Flynn Drilling. The motion was seconded by Alderman Rebecca Withouse and passed 4-0, authorizing a total payment of $33,387 for work to be completed.

According to the proposal submitted by Flynn Drilling Company, the project includes replacement of the pump and motor, approximately 462 feet of galvanized pipe, electrical wire, stainless steel fittings, setting materials and labor associated with installation and testing. The proposal includes a one-year parts and labor warranty.