Updated Post as of March 27, 2017 by Mark Weaver

In spite of what it appears, please be assured that the City of Austin Water Department is executing to a plan to repair the leaking water meter & excavation at the intersection of Crossland Dr and Boulder Ln near Trailhead Park. The construction foreman is 95% confident that the repair work will start this Thursday March 30th and take no more than a couple of days to complete.

Since this meter services Trailhead Park, drinking water and restrooms at the park will be unavailable until the repair is complete. A Porto-O-Potty has been placed on site for your temporary use. Please remember to bring drinking water for your personal use and dispose of plastic bottles in their proper containers.

This repair required the coordination of several CoA departments. All involved have been cooperative and apologetic for the delay. At the risk of exposing the inner workings of the Water Department the following items contributed to the 8 weeks of delay for the repair.

The water meter initially belonged to Canyon Creek when we were in MUD #1 and was not in the catalog of CoA (nor Parks & Rec specifically) owned meters. When MUD #1 was dissolved, the existence of the meter remained lost in the system. Although water department personnel were aware of the leak, they could not initiate the repair order until the leaking meter was cataloged in the billing system. Apparently that took some time to get resolved.
A bit of time was lost trying to determine if the existing meter could be repaired. The leak is not from the meter connections, flanges or fittings, but from the meter body itself which is cracked. Nothing can be tightened to fix the problem, the meter must be replaced.
Since the water leak contains chlorine occurred near the storm drain an environmental assessment had to be made.
The design department had to come up with a construction plan to connect a flanged-style meter as the leaking threaded-style meter is no longer used. Unfortunately, this type of repair is a bit more complicated than fixing your sprinkler system with a handful of PVC parts and a can of glue.

Please slow down and be courteous as you drive past the crews working on Boulder Lane.

Also posted in Nextdoor.

Posted by Mark Weaver, HOA Board Member

Previous Post on March 9th

In spite of what it appears, please be assured that the leaking water meter & excavation near Trailhead Park is being repaired by the City of Austin (CoA) water department. This water meter feeds the Trailhead Park restrooms and water fountain. The leak was initially logged into the CoA records January 31st, escalated by me on February 15th and I have had a few calls with the Water Department investigator since then. The bad news is that water is being wasted at the CoA's expense. The good news is that the Canyon Creek HOA nor any residents are being billed for the lost water.

The delay in getting this repaired quickly is strangely convoluted but I will do my best to relay what I have been told by the CoA Water Department investigator:

The water meter initially belonged to us (CC) when we were in MUD #1 and was not in the catalog of CoA (nor Parks & Rec specifically) owned meters. When MUD #1 was dissolved, it remained lost in the system.
The connection from the water main to this meter was run through the storm drain conduit which may have been expedient but is strictly against code.
The leak is not from the meter connections, flanges or fittings, but from the meter body itself which is cracked. Nothing can be tightened to fix the problem, the meter must be replaced.
Before they can issue the design and repair work order, the meter has to be cataloged in the CoA Water Department systems. (This seems like an easy thing to me, but apparently not).
Once they have the meter cataloged, a solution designed that re-routes the pipe from the main to the meter, they will do the work.

I have been assured that the all of the appropriate parties in the CoA Water Department are aware of the problem. I will update this thread as I get new information.

Also posted in Nextdoor.

Posted by Mark Weaver, HOA Board Member