News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The new generator for the Sparta Water Department is in place and could be operational within days.
Sparta Public Works Director Dillard Quick said a purchase order was signed Thursday for contractors to connect the wiring and conduit for the machine. He said all of the materials needed to make the generator compatible with facility infrastructure have been ordered and are ready to be hooked up.
“Me and one of the guys that works for the city went up there with a tractor-trailer, picked the generator up, rented a crane, loaded it up, brought the generator here, rented another crane, unloaded it, bolted it down where it’s going to go, and it’s just a matter of getting it wired up now,” Quick said.
Quick purchased the generator from the city of Brentwood in an online government auction for some $650,000 less than its estimated value. Quick said the huge machine possesses the energy to power the entire water department in the event of an unexpected power outage.
“This is going to help us if we ever have any outages,” Quick said. “If we ever have an ice storm that makes the electric go off, you know, a tornado like hit Baxter a couple of years ago. If we have any issues to that nature, then it’ll enable us to continue to make water.”
The pad on which the generator will sit was already in place at the department. Quick said he hopes to have the $73,000 generator fully operational by the end of this week.
