Granville water main break frustrating for property owner

GRANVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A massive water main break in Granville spilled an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 gallons of water on Saturday.

The water main break happened at 297 Munson Street, a building that was built in 1914 as a water treatment facility. Keith Keegan owns the property now. He took over what was a workshop for old cars, particularly Mustangs, and turned it into a studio workshop and storage unit.

"It looked like a hurricane was hitting our building," Keegan said. "Rocks were launching and water was being sprayed right at this building. If it would have been a stick-built building and not such a fortress, I don't think it would be standing."

Keegan was first alerted to an issue when he received a notification from the security camera that showed a downpour. He knew something was wrong because it wasn't raining. That notification came to him at 9:13 p.m. When he got to the property, he saw a geyser spewing water more than 20 feet into the air, directly at his building.

"I didn't really know what to do," Keegan said. "None of us knew what to do or kind of waiting for somebody that knew what they had to do. It was just a huge amount of water coming out of the ground and now kind of panicked a little bit. That night, I'd pleaded with them to try. Please shut off that valve. What would it hurt to just try to shut it off and nobody would shut it off."

The police and fire departments were there within five minutes, according to Keegan and Village Manager Herb Koehler.

"Our water department employees who we have on call 24/7/365, I think our first guy was on the scene in about 15 minutes," Koehler said. "Another guy there in about 20. Our utility director was there within about 45 minutes. And I was there within an hour."

Keegan became frustrated when he saw water beginning to seep deep into the studio building, and water several feet deep rushing across the property.

"I don't know who's in charge," Keegan said. "I go to the police chief (who says) 'I can't turn it off.' I go to the fire chief, 'I can't turn it off.' I go, 'So, who can turn this off?'"

His friend and Granville Mayor Melissa Hartfield also showed up about an hour after the water main break.

"She said to me, 'I don't have the authority to turn this off,'" Keegan said. "And I just couldn't believe it. I said, 'If you don't have the authority, who does?'"

Koehler said he was on the scene about an hour after the situation started.

"I would attribute this largely to the freeze and thaw we've been experiencing this spring," Koehler said.

The particular piece of water main that broke was built in the 1990s, according to Koehler. He said that is not old for a water system and they had no reason to suspect that section would fail.

Koehler deferred the responsibility for exactly how to handle the water main break to Utility Manager Matt Robinette.

"There was an opportunity to shut down water to the entire village," Koehler said. "That wasn't a viable option in our minds because you're talking about a community of over 5,000 losing water in the middle of the night. That includes two assisted living facilities and the entire village of Alexandria."

After choosing not to shut all water off, the next step was finding the right valves to close so the water to 297 Munson Street would stop the still-gushing geyser. Koehler said that process was difficult due to the system the village uses.

"That took some time," Koehler said. "It took about six valves to do that. It's a loop system. One valve doesn't rule them all. Had we lost pressure in our entire system that could've involved a boil alert for all of our customers as well."

Keegan stood by and observed the actions of the water utility crew and village officials. He felt as if there was nobody taking the reigns on the situation. That's where the bulk of his frustration lies.

"If they want to own it and say like it was going to hurt, you know, an old retirement home or something where people really need independent water. I can handle that," Keegan said.

Koehler did explain that part of the reason they did not shut off the water was due to the assisted living facilities needing water supply. But that doesn't explain to Keegan why he was contacted by a representative for the Village's Insurance Company and told the village would not be held liable for any damage.

"Political subdivisions, which means a municipality or village like this is completely immune from liability," Keegan repeated from the message he received referring to Section 2744.03 of the Ohio Municipal Code.

Keegan knows he can rebuild, but is concerned about the growth the village faces with Intel nearby, and the potential for more issues.

"Everything can be fixed, everything can be rebuilt," Keegan said. "I'm not worried about that. It's just more of the concern for the future."

Keegan said he has no issues with the village officials.

When asked if the people of Granville and Alexandria who rely on their services can trust them to make the right decisions, he said they can feel confident.

"I think they can be confident that we're going to get onto the scene as quickly as possible and do what we need to do to maintain the system and service to our community," Keegan said.