CLINTON — Commissioner John Wise on Monday addressed what he referred to as “an ongoing saga” of water main leaks in town. Wise said the problem was not uncommon to small towns.

“Every city, every little community is having the same issue with infrastructure,” Wise told other city council members.  “It’s getting old; it’s been in the ground for a hundred years, and it’s stuff we keep trying to work on.”

The problem is common throughout the country as cities have trouble finding funds to upgrade infrastructure systems.

“I know whenever somebody does a new overlay to a street, it seems like within about a week people are out there busting a hole to fix a leak,” Wise said.

Wise said the city tries to do preventive work when money is available but there were areas that cause recurring problems.  One of those areas is along Bus Rt. 51 near Evans-Stone subdivision, he said.

Boil orders were recently issued in that area because of water main problems.

Wise said over the past weekend, city workers were chasing at least three leaks in that area.

He said there was a plan to replace a portion of that main in the spring. 

“That’s something we could do ourselves,” Wise said.  “I want people in that area to know we are concerned, and we are going to take care of it.”