Sewer spill spurs new call protocol
After the May 6 sewer spill, which contaminated North Fork Turkey Creek, between Founders Park at Campbell Station and Grigsby Chapel Road greenway, Town of Farragut’s staff revisited the way it handles reporting of emergencies.
At the time, there was concern that there was a breakdown in communications between the Town and First Utility District. As such, FUD reported it did not get notified until May 10.
“The Town of Farragut evaluated its citizen call routing process in late May and implemented an update to our processes routing citizen calls, concerns and reports to the appropriate department as quickly as possible,” said Chris Sheffield, Town director of public services. “As a general rule, Town staff will document concerns and notify the appropriate department immediately.
“For urgent issues, including matters of public safety and environmental concerns, the staff member receiving the call will notify the appropriate office by phone or in-person, not email only,” he said. “Additionally, the updated process that directs citizen calls also be routed to Town Administration when they concern the following:
• Public safety, environmental risk or potential harm;
• High-impact facility, roadway, park or service issues;
• Complaints involving leadership, employees or service failure;
• Board, elected official, attorney, media or outside agency involvement; and
• Repeated, sensitive or cross-department concerns.
