Municipal Manager Curt Warfield said he wanted to give a positive report for the water department during Tuesday night's meeting of the Trustees of the Village of Kingdom City.
Problems with a major piece of equipment meant he had bad news to deliver instead.
"It looks like we have a terminal problem with our well pump," Warfield told the trustees. "We'll have to replace the well pump and motor and 210 feet of pipe."
He said the problem is a bearing failure and "there's nothing we can do to get around it."
Warfield said the last time this happened - 10 years ago - it cost the city about $32,000.
"I hop for it to be close (to that)," he said.
Insurance agent Matt Speight, who was present to give an presentation on general liability insurance, suggested they look into whether their policy would cover all or some of the cost of those repairs.
"You've got equipment breakdown coverage," Speight said. "It's worth a shot."
Warfield said local water customers should not see a disruption in service while the pump is being replaced over Thursday and Friday.
Also during Tuesday night's meeting, Speight said he shopped around for insurance quotes for the village's general liability coverage because Kingdom City's current provider, Trident, increased its yearly rate by approximately $800 and also increased the deductible from $1,000 to $2,500.
Speight said Savers Insurance provided a quote that included a premium rate that is higher than Trident, but a $1,000 deductible.
"If you have a claim or two it saves you money," Speight said, noting the coverage plans were basically the same. "It's a gamble."
Warfield pointed out that Trident has been good at paying out claims in a timely manner.
"We had to replace that siren, and Trident took care of that sight unseen," he said.
With as few claims as the village generally files, Trustee Randy Hughes said he would prefer to stick with Trident.
"Someone we know is going to stand behind us is worth it to me," Hughes said.
The trustees present voted unanimously to continue with Trident.
In other business, the trustees discussed nuisance abatement issues at the property at 3034 County Road 226.
Warfield said he had sent a letter to the village's attorney after the trustees' previous meeting to determine what the next steps in enforcing the nuisance regulations, but the following day the property owners brought in a dumpster and started cleaning up the property, so he decided to wait before taking further action.
"I didn't push it, I wanted to see what they were going to do," he said.
Several board members agreed they also had seen some improvements, but it appears progress has ceased.
"Things were starting to get cleaned up, but it's come to a halt now," Hughes said.
After brief discussion, the trustees ultimately decided to table the issue until the July meeting in hopes the property owners would continue efforts to clean it up.
Following the nuisance property issue, the trustees also briefly talked about their desire to develop some sort of ordinance regarding trailer homes.
Suggestions mentioned included limiting the age of such homes and requirements for foundations and looking into what other area municipalities' policies are.
"I'll take these ideas to the attorney and say we're wanting to look at it again," Warfield said.