Bluff City officials spent more than an hour discussing an emergency sewer repair after engineers identified a fractured segment and heavy water intrusion that is causing overflows near a pump station.

Austin Smith, an engineer with Meredith Craig who presented the contractor’s task-order amendment, said camera footage shows fractures and aggregate backfill where pipe sections have failed. “That section of line there, is at 0.2% grade,” Smith said, adding the line is very flat and holds water. He described grease buildup and root intrusion in other runs but said the crossing now forcing overflows is fractured and contains rock and broken pipe.

Smith told the board the consultant and town staff reduced the immediate scope from roughly 1,400 linear feet to a single crossing — about 180 linear feet — so the most urgent defect can be fixed without delaying the rest of the previously planned project. The revised engineering fee for that reduced scope is approximately $62,560, Smith said.

Board members pressed Smith and staff on alternatives to the full engineering procurement and on whether parts of the work could be combined or handled directly by contractors. “If that is the only piece of lawn that we’re replacing, they hypothetically could be raised,” Vice Mayor Adams said during questioning about manhole elevations. Smith and public-works staff explained lids and risers can be adjusted but the invert elevations cannot be raised, and that one manhole identified on camera “is 100% damaged” and will need replacement.

Staff and council also discussed procurement options. Smith said much of the preliminary surveying and CCTV is complete for the corridor but that the project touches a Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) crossing and will require traffic control in any construction budget. He and council agreed to consult Randy (staff counsel/administrator) about whether the situation could qualify as an emergency that would allow bypassing the full competitive bid process and instead using a direct solicitation to speed repairs.

There was no formal vote recorded on the task-order amendment during the meeting. Council members expressed unanimous urgency about moving the work forward quickly while balancing the cost of engineering for a short run of pipe. Staff said they will return with a recommended procurement path, refined construction cost estimates, and any required TDOT permitting steps.