County officials have been exploring for the reason a water line serving the clerk and recorder building froze. According to an engineer from Great West Engineering, the county’s consulting engineering firm, the water line was designed to be buried a minimum of six feet down. County officials said it is actually about five feet to five feet three inches down. Nevertheless, said officials, that should have been deep enough to avoid freezing, but it wasn’t. The clerk and recorder building is less than two years old and has been plagued now with frozen pipes both taking water in and taking sewage out. Last winter the sewer line froze and officials met with contractors and engineers to address the issue. That appeared to be resolved, but when the water line froze up for more than a week, the sewer line froze. Officials speculated that was due to a lack of flow in the sewer line.
