FPUD honors ten employees

FALLBROOK — Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) honored ten employees for their outstanding dedication at the district’s board meeting on September 25.

At the new KB Homes housing development on Gum Tree Lane, a seemingly routine pipeline installation on August 1 required the scheduled shutdown of the 20-inch water main so the FPUD crew could tie in two 20-inch tees with valves. During this time, there were 17 customers without water, but the shutdown didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated. Valves were leaking, and once crews had the pipe cut and began fitting the tees to the pipeline, they discovered a discrepancy between the tees and the pipe size. This required them to tie in the tees using special “butt straps” instead of the dresser couplers they had planned to use. Further complicating things, once the shutdown and tie-in was started, crews could not stop until both tees were installed and the line was charged again.

Getting the job done so that customers would have water in the morning meant the crew had to work 20 hours straight, until 3:30 a.m. Ten FPUD employees worked nonstop through the night, demonstrating remarkable dedication that is to be commended. The employees are: Jeff Evans, Todd Golem, David Manring, Gilbert Ojeda, Tom Pecore, Josh Scott, Steve Stone, Troy Jones, Augie Morales and Bob Maghan.