The Meridian City Council on Monday approved a 30-day evaluation of its freshwater and wastewater systems as well as an emergency repair to the north water treatment plant as it works to address staffing issues at its water facilities.

Waggoner Engineering’s Scott Phillips said the 30-day “triage” of the city’s freshwater and wastewater treatment systems will include meeting with the city’s current staff, identifying issues, taking stock of resources and developing a plan to bring the city’s manpower up to speed.

The evaluation comes as the city works to beef up its staffing, which has been thinned by retirements and employees leaving for higher-paying jobs in the private sector. On Jan. 2, Phillips and Public Works Director David Hodge proposed hiring Waggoner to plug staffing gaps until replacements can be hired and to help train city employees.

Philips on Monday explained the city has good employees in both its freshwater and wastewater departments, but they lack the experience and training to keep the two systems operating without help. Without that experience, he said, small issues can go unchecked until they become big issues.

“Nothing by itself couldn’t be handled other than it wasn’t handled,” he said.

Waggoner, Phillips said, has the expertise and can share that knowledge with city workers while filling in where needed.

The 30-day evaluation will help both the city and Waggoner understand what all is needed to keep things running smoothly. From there, Phillips said, the council will be asked to vote on a contract authorizing the engineering firm to step in.

Councilman Dwayne Davis said he visited the city’s south water treatment plant on B Street recently and learned there were several employees who have been denied opportunities for advancement. Training city workers and promoting from within should be prioritized above bringing in outside staff to fill vacancies.

Phillips said he and Davis are on the same page, and the 30-day evaluation will include discussing further training and certifications with current employees.

Hodge said he is looking for an initial contract of about a year. After that, he said, the city can look at what progress has been made and decide how to go forward from there.

A prime example of small problems becoming bigger issues, Phillips said, is an emergency repair needed at the city’s north freshwater plant. One of of two mixers, which help remove iron from the water, has been inoperable for about six months, he said, and a critical seal on the second began to leak around Christmas.

Although the repairs themselves aren’t too complicated, employees didn’t know how to go about getting the mixers fixed and by the end of last week both mixers were out of commission.

“It’s just the lack of experience or training,” he said.