MEDINA — Despite warmer temperatures over the weekend, winter weather continued to cause problems with the city’s water lines.
City crews worked on about a dozen breaks last week and three more have happened since Sunday.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, more than 30 homes in the city were under boil alerts.
A break in the 300 block of South Elmwood Avenue left five houses under an alert. Those homes are between 316 and 401 S. Elmwood.
Another break happened at about noon Sunday in the 900 block of East Washington Street near Medina Hospital. That break left 10 homes on East Washington — from 910 to 969, and all nine houses on Alber Drive — on boil alerts.
A third break occurred at 2 a.m. Monday in the 700 block of E. Smith Road, placing eight homes — between 751 and 801 — under a boil advisory.
City Service Director Nino Piccoli said crews were investigating another leak on Lafayette Road near South Huntington Street on Monday afternoon.
Piccoli said the hard winter has ruptured pipelines and damaged roadways.
“We’re feeling the effects of a truly harsh winter,” he said. “We’re not just seeing the trouble with water lines, but the potholes and degrading of the asphalt are showing up everywhere.”
Piccoli said city officials may elect to mill — or grind down — the roads to eliminate potholes, making for a rougher but safer ride until they can be resurfaced in spring.
He said they are likely to mill the roads around West Reagan Parkway and North Court Street next week.
“It doesn’t make sense to keep patching it, so we’re just going to mill it off and then deal with it in the spring.”
North Court Street, also U.S. Route 42, is scheduled for a state resurfacing project this summer, along with state Route 3. That project will be similar to the one that repaved state Routes 18 and 57 in 2013.
Contact reporter Dan Pompili at (330) 721-4012 or dpompili@medina-gazette.com.