HERMANN – The chief of Hermann Fire Company last week made a personal appeal to the Hermann Board of Aldermen for improved communications between agencies when the city deals with a situation such as the recent E. Coli water contamination that resulted in a week-long boil-order.

Dressed in full uniform, Chief Kevin Speckhals stood at the podium in the Aldermen Chamber to talk about what he called “continued communication issues” between the fire company and the city. Two weeks earlier, the board and city officials pledged to work toward better communications with the fire protection agency after Hermann Fire Company Lt. Dane Speckhals explained that the city draining a water tower as part of the contamination response effort – without informing the fire company – could have compromised firefighters’ ability to deal with a blaze in the city.

“We were not satisfied with the response we received,” the chief said at the board of aldermen’s (BOA) Sept. 28 session, emphasizing that the fire protection agency needs to be aware when the city takes steps that could reduce water pressure.

At the earlier board session, Public Works Director Jesse Geltz said even with one water tower drained, there remains an adequate level of water pressure. He disputed any claim that draining the tower put the city’s residents and structures in jeopardy if a fire had started. The city’s towers are drained regularly to allow inspections, he said, and the department’s protocols do not include advising the fire company when a tower is drained.

That could change, according to Geltz. He said the department will present city officials with a proposed policy for reaching out to other agencies during incidents such as this one.

“That’s something we can do in the future,” Geltz said. “It’s never been part of our protocols.”

It was noted at that session that the tower was drained at the direction of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, not from a decision made in City Hall, as part of the response to a single-source incident of contamination. Discovered through routine testing at the residence, the contamination set off a week-long period of confusion and inconvenience in the county seat community. Multiple water samples were taken – at the residence and at homes of residents who voiced concern that their water might also have been contaminated – and the water tower drained as an extra precaution proscribed by the state agency.

Indeed, the concern expressed by the Hermann Fire Company echo those of residents who learned of the contamination and resulting boil-order from some source other than city government. For many residents, that was the alert system used by the Gasconade County R-1 School District. As part of the post-mortem of the city’s response to the contamination, it was deemed important to enroll many more residents in the city’s Cod Red alert system.

City Administrator Patricia Heaney noted earlier that the city has about 1,500 registered water meters (with corresponding addresses) but the announcement issue through the Code Red system reached only about one-fifth of those addresses. As a result, city officials are promoting more participation in the alert system by residents, placing informational brochures with the next round of utility bills mailed to residents.

For the fire chief, that would be a move in the right direction, at least for the residents. But as for inter-agency workings, he said, “We need to move forward with better communications.”

Alderman Ash Geers asked the fire chief what type of notification would he like to have used.

“A simple phone call” would be sufficient, the fire chief replied.