Public Works employees were slowing traffic on Pontiac Street during the course of the past week to undertake some general maintenance of the Pontiac sewage lift station to address some issues, said Public Works Director Joe Leach.

Although residents likely didn’t notice any problems with their sewage, the lift station was experiencing chronic problems behind the scenes. City Council members authorized $17,000 to address the problem back in January but as Public Works popped the top, they realized there were bigger problems.

“We discovered the problem was bigger than we anticipated and it’s causing an issue with how the pumps function,” Leach explained at the job site.

It was discovered the ground wasn’t properly compacted when the lift station was installed, which was causing a tripping hazard on the surface.

As employees researched the problem, they discovered some broken pipes as well.

However, Leach said, since the system was installed in the early ‘80s, replacing broken pipes is considered general maintenance and not all that surprising.

Leach said if all went as planned, the repairs should be finished by sometime this week.