Community feeds city employees as thanks for work during water crisis

It did not take long for Mike Cummings to know something had to be done to show appreciation to the city of Dublin’s water department.

Cummings began putting a plan in motion after he saw the photos of the two city employees, chest-deep in water, trying to locate the leak on the pipe that broke on Joiner Street last Tuesday.

“This was wonderful,” said Blake Soles, water construction superintendent for the city of Dublin. “I’m very thankful for our team, and everybody showing up and pulling together when it was needed the most. I’m very thankful that everybody sees it. It has been very appreciative. It was a hard time but the appreciation has been very nice.” 

Cummings is part of a supper club that meets every Friday. On Wednesday morning, when he saw the photographs on Facebook and knew their crew had been working all night to fix the water, he wanted to do something.

“I just called them and told them we needed to do something,” Cummings said. “Every single one of them said yes and to tell them what we needed to do.”

Some departments in the city are not thought of until there is an emergency.

“As long as the water is running right, you don’t think about it,” Cummings said. “The minute it goes sideways, you think we’ve got a problem and wonder who is going to fix it. These guys stepped in and did what they do. We wanted them to know that their work and effort did not go unnoticed.” 

Holy Smokes Barbecue and Catering, Southern Heritage Bar-B-Que and Williamson’s Bakery also helped with the meal. After lunch, the crews also received a $50 gift card from Piggly Wiggly. 

“You know how much all of us at the city appreciate what you do,” said Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight, who attended Friday’s luncheon with City Manager Josh Powell and City Councilwoman Tess Godfrey. “Sometimes it is good to hear from the public. This is community members showing appreciation. (Cummings) said that sometimes out of tragedy you can find some good things. What we have seen this week is how much the community appreciates what you are doing. If they did not appreciate it before, they do now.”

Around 8 p.m. on Aug. 18, the city was informed about a broken 16-inch water main near the intersection of Joiner Street and Marcus Street. Once arriving at the scene, Soles knew it was going to be a complex situation. They were able to mobilize and get to work pretty fast. Workers began digging and were able to repair it.

“We have a great group of guys,” Soles said. “There is an on-call rotation where people have to be called out, but in a case like this we needed more than who was scheduled to be on call that night. Everybody came together. Everybody has a job, everybody knows their job and it is very humbling and great that we have guys willing to do that.” 

Soles also appreciates the city employees from other departments who helped out or aided during this situation.

“Yes we did the digging and handled the repair, but we had good support from the police, fire department, public works, street department and others helped,” he said. “We had been out there all night, and we were tired. They came out and asked what did we need. I got that from the beginning all the way to the end. That meant a lot.”