Some serious problems have been discovered regarding Hampton’s water system, and the city’s top officials are taking major steps to correct them.

  On the heels of last month’s sudden firing of former public works director John Spraggins, city manager Alex Cohilas laid out an extensive report at the City Council’s December 10 regular meeting regarding an ongoing internal investigation of the department.

  Cohilas said that warnings by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division were not handled appropriately, and in some cases not at all. In response, he brought in an outside firm to operate the water system while the causes of the problems are dealt with.

  The EPD conducted a sanitary survey of the water system in December of last year and sent a non-compliance letter to the city in January, Cohilas said. The letter contained some recommendations and several deficiencies, some of which were significant and some which were previously reported at various times. There is no evidence that council members or other top city officials saw these notifications, according to Cohilas.

  One major problem was that the employee in charge of operating the water system lacked proper certification to do so. This was known by Spraggins but not shared with Cohilas or an interim city manager before him, and it was also not known by the council.

  The EPD sent a “notice of violation” to the city dated September 30 for failure to have a certified Class 3 operator in charge of the system – something the city had been put on notice about as far back as 2016, Cohilas said. This letter stipulated that the violation be corrected by October 31 or the city could face “further enforcement actions,” but Cohilas said he did not see the letter until October 29 for a variety of reasons.

  With only 48 hours left before that deadline, he contracted with Clear Water Solutions to operate the water system and got emergency approval from the council to do so. The city’s wells were shut down so that they can be retested, and three years of customer confidence reports about the water system were removed from the city’s website.

  “It was apparent to me from the beginning that this was a serious matter,” said Cohilas. “We have no greater duty than to provide safe water. We have taken all of the steps to ensure that what we are currently providing is safe and tested.”

  He added that there will be an ongoing process to ensure a “culture change” in the public works department that includes the addition of checks and balances to prevent this kind of problem from reoccurring without the city’s administration being aware.

  “In a properly functioning government, something like this should not exist and it certainly shouldn’t be kept from elected officials,” he said. “I pledge that this will never happen as long as I am city manager. If we have to tear down that department brick by brick and rebuild it, we will.”

  Cohilas recommended ongoing public meetings to update citizens on the progress of the city as the investigation continues. For now, the city is using water supplied by the Henry County Water Authority until testing is completed and the city’s wells can be turned back on.