Originally published in the Yellowstone County News print edition
HUNTLEY — The Huntley water depot was out of order again this week, leaving customers without water and Huntley water and sewer district employees frustrated.
District manager T.J. Mueller said Wednesday that he thinks the most recent outage at the coin-operated depot on North Canal Drive in Huntley was caused by a vehicle hitting the downspout, and breaking the supply pipe, probably at night, since the security camera didn’t catch it.
Mueller said he replaced the pipe with a brand-new one on Sunday afternoon, but it was torn off again Monday night.
“It’s kind of aggravating,” Mueller said. Whoever broke the newly installed pipe took it with them, he said, so he has to install another one, work he was hoping to complete on Wednesday.
He said received an angry text from Andrea McClenning, who got sprayed with water Monday night when she went to fill her tank, but said she is “not as mad as me.”
In fact, McClenning said Wednesday that she’s not angry at Mueller but she hopes that the water district can fix the depot so it works reliably.
“It’s really inefficient,” McClenning said. “They just need to fix it properly.”
She said the depot “goes in spurts, for a while it works great,” then it works about half the time. Since she gets water about three times a week, it would be nice to depend on it, she said.
“I just wish that they’d do a permanent fix,” McClenning said.
Huntley area rancher Jim LaFrance said Wednesday that the problems with the water depot cost him time and money. LaFrance hauls at least 2,000 gallons of water daily for his 100-plus cattle. But he doesn’t blame Mueller. He said the depot problems all are from vandalism.
“I think T.J. does an outstanding job with what he has to work with,” LaFrance said. “People are so vandalism prone toward that water depot. T.J.’s fighting an uphill battle.”
LaFrance estimated that over the past two years, he’s been blocked from getting water because someone put Canadian quarters in the coin slot despite a sign warning against using Canadian coins. He said he’s helped Mueller fix the water depot several times when it was something one person couldn’t accomplish alone.
“I’m totally satisfied with T.J.,” LaFrance said. “I’m distraught with the way the community handles that water depot…. I need it. I have to have it.”
He hauled water from Lockwood on Tuesday, but estimated he would need 4,000 to 6,000 gallons for his cattle by Thursday, so he hoped it would be fixed.
“The people that are vandalism prone,” LaFrance said, “they know who they are. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
The water depot was not working as of press time Wednesday. Mueller said he would have to get a new pipe, unbolt a bracket and replace the pipe.
Mueller tracked down and fixed the leak that had left the district without enough water pressure in late January.
He said that leak was under a vacant mobile home on Third Street and has been repaired. That pipe probably froze and broke, he said, and wasn’t caught right away since no one was living in the mobile home.
