What a City commissioner said about vital pump station in his own district, it's "in pretty bad shape". No it's not. Was completely rebuilt in 2012.

Below is a short transcript of Lake Worth Commissioner Ryan Maier at the August 23rd Budget Work Session. I was unable to attend but was told there was much shaking of heads and curious looks in the Commission chambers after Maier made his comments.

Throwing out unsubstantiated and unfounded information to the public is nothing new for Maier. When a silly rumor began circulating that Siemens Corporation was taking over our Electric Utility, Maier tried to give it "legs" prompting City Manager Bornstein to say, "I'm picking up on something here" and, "That's just total bs." Read about that using this link.

After watching the video it's unsettling for several reasons: 1) How many of his constituents have been told a vital City facility in Bryant Park has "issues"; 2) What other infrastructure facilities does he need to be educated about? He's been in office now for 17 months; and most importantly 3), Who is advising Maier about important budget issues in this City?

Briefly, there are three wastewater lift stations and each of them has large pumps. The lift station in Bryant Park is a vital one and has four. In the transcript below is Brian Shields, P.E., the City's Water Utilities Director. The discussion is about budgeting in future years and being prepared: 

Brian Shields, P.E.: "They [lift stations] are very expensive, on the order of one-half million dollars each. We have three of those."
Commissioner Maier: "The one that's in Bryant Park, this is one of the units we're talking about?"
Shields: "That's correct."
Maier: "I remember taking a tour of that right when I was first elected. That's about a year and a half and it seemed it was in pretty bad shape then. Is this something that we're. . ."
Shields: "That station was completely rebuilt in 2012."
City Manager Bornstein: "How many pumps do we have?"
Shields: "We have four."
Maier: "So are there issues at that [lift] station currently?"
Shields: "No. It's in very good condition. It's just that pumps have a lifespan, of that magnitude maybe 7 years or so. It's starting to get up in age. So we do have to plan for their replacement. That's a vital pump station."
Maier: "Thank you."
Shields: "OK. Thank you."

Again, that's why elections are important.