'This is what small town living is all about': Community assists during northwest Minnesota water main break

Mar. 11—STEPHEN, Minn. — After water in the northwest part of Stephen, Minnesota, was out for nearly a week, the town's mayor says helpful community members from within town and the surrounding region were the key to finding a solution. While many in the town of 600 were affected by the series of water main breaks, others stepped in to help implement a temporary solution and provide for residents affected by the outage.

"This is what small town living is all about," said Mayor David McGlynn. "When there's an issue and a problem, people don't get mad and upset, they all want to be a part of the solution and that is the key."

Now, the water is back on and safe to drink in Stephen after difficulties repairing the damaged water main left one-third of the town's residents, Stephen-Argyle Central High School and multiple businesses without water for six days. In a temporary fix, an above-ground water line was installed to deliver water to the northwest part of Stephen until the ground thaws and crews can easily access the town's aging water infrastructure to patch it.

The water main initially broke on Thursday, March 2, leaving the northwest part of the town without water over most of the following weekend. It was repaired twice on Saturday, but a third break on Sunday night prolonged the water outage until Wednesday, March 8.

Throughout the week, city crews and contractors tried to dig to the damaged water main so it could be accessed for repairs, but the combination of the frozen ground and delicate water main led to further breakage down the line. Eventually, crews settled on building the temporary, above-ground line to bypass the damaged section and restore water for most affected properties in the area.

On Wednesday, students, staff and administrators from Stephen-Argyle Central High School and members of the volunteer fire department pitched in to help insulate the temporary water line with straw bales provided by John Peterson, a local farmer.

"I bet there were 30 people there," said McGlynn. "That would have made a lot of work for our city crew and the Spruce Valley guys, the contractors, and what better way to show community support and involvement?"

While the water was out, Marilee Marty, who runs the Stephen Community Center, organized the delivery of pallets of bottled water and water to residents that needed it. Stephen resident Todd Henrickson helped deliver water to some of the town's oldest residents.

The city contracted Spruce Valley Corporation from Middle River, Minnesota, to repair the water main. Subcontractor Greenway Environmental from Karlstad, Minnesota, aided in repair efforts with a heated water jetter to soften the frozen ground when digging.

While the exact cost of the repairs is still unknown, McGlynn estimates it will cost the town between $75,000 and $100,000.

"It's going to be a big bill, and here's the trouble — it's still not a permanent fix yet," said McGlynn. "We still have to fix that water break so we don't have to run this above ground line."

While the temporary line is in place, parts of Pacific Avenue in Stephen will have to be barricaded off.

"We're going to need a little bit of patience and I know everybody in Stephen and the surrounding areas will be very supportive of that because we didn't have another solution," said McGlynn.

Even when the ground thaws and the water main can be patched, it will still be a short-term solution to issues the town faces with aging infrastructure. In the long term, Stephen's water infrastructure will need to be replaced, McGlynn told the Herald on Monday, March 6. He says the city is working with its engineer to develop a proposal for a bond request to address the city's infrastructure needs.