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Emergency sewer leak at Tupper Lake town office

Damage is extensive as ‘decrepit’ pipe bursts

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake town offices had a sewer leak incident on Monday night.

Town Supervisor Patti Littlefield said at Thursday’s board meeting that a pipe burst in the men’s bathroom due to plunging in the women’s bathroom, leading to quite a flood in the judge’s chambers. The town expects to complete the fixes in two-and-a-half weeks.

“There was water everywhere, flooding the floor and the file cabinets,” Littlefield said. “Thankfully, it was not the computers but dripping out the ceiling in all different kinds of places as water travels wherever it finds a way.”

She said town staff tore into the wall, finding old pipes that were cracked and broken.

“We found out the pipes were decayed and rotting,” town Councilman Michael Dechene said. “So they started digging the ceilings open and tearing down some boards, and found things were quite decrepit in there.”

Littlefield said she spoke to the state comptroller’s office about fast-tracking the repairs. If the renovations had been planned, the town would need a scope of work, project number and bid process.

“Because it was an emergency and we needed to get it fixed, as things were flooding, we were given permission by the comptroller’s office to bypass the bidding project.”

Littlefield also called the town’s insurance company, which will assess the situation and will provide the town with a scope of work on coverage.

She said insurance will cover damages to the floor as well as the subfloor, but not the pipes themselves as it’s maintenance. She anticipates getting a good share of reimbursement from the insurance company.

She said the town was able to save some of the wood, tearing it out carefully.

“I want to totally acknowledge the village,” Littlefield said. “The village water crew came up, under the direction of (Municipal Water/Wastewater Department Superintendent) Mark Robillard, and they saved us a giant mess by putting the VacCon hose into the bathroom and cleaning the pipe system right out.”

The town will renovate the restroom area, tearing out the men’s and women’s bathrooms, and cutting costs by putting in a single handicap-accessible bathroom.

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