Non-Functioning Fire Hydrants

At a glance

What: a Fire Department informational communication (item 8.12B) from Fire Chief Martin Dyer on identifying, repairing and marking non-functioning fire hydrants.
Where it stands: referred to Public Safety. Five report orders were adopted.
Next: reports from the administration are pending.

Of about 6,084 hydrants, 39 were out of service (under 1%, spread across the city, usually after water main breaks or crashes).
Out-of-service hydrants get a black bonnet, are logged in the water department work order system and flagged on the fire response platform, so dispatchers and companies know the next-best hydrant.
Dyer said the system is built with redundancy, many hydrants deliver 80 to 100 PSI, and engines carry 500 gallons plus at least 1,000 feet of supply line.
Repairs often require shutting a water main, so they are coordinated with other road or water work and with parts availability.

Satya B. Mitra: asked for a website notice reassuring residents.
Luis A. Ojeda: hydrants near 5 May St., May and Silver Streets, Beacon Street and Main Street reportedly out for a year or more; wanted updates for residents.
Tony Economou: hydrant spacing, about every 500 feet in new developments.
Morris A. Bergman: pressure and winter snow-burial.
Gary Rosen: a shoveling ordinance for hydrants.
Khrystian E. King: maintenance data and risk tiering.
They questioned the Chief and Eric D. Batista; Fred Nathan urged immediate repair in public participation.

Mitra's website notice (13b).
King's maintenance and repair data sorted by level of need (13c).
Whether the 39 are tiered by risk (13d).
Ojeda's list of inoperable hydrant locations (13e).
King's report on speed cushions versus speed humps for public safety vehicles (13f; see Traffic-Calming Speed Hump Program).

About 38 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-09-29 - City Council	38

2026-10-13 - City Council — During the winter readiness item, Jose A. Rivera asked who would enforce his pending order on residents who do not shovel out hydrants; John K. Westerling said enforcement would come from Inspectional Services and DPW and stressed that clearing is the abutter's responsibility. See Winter Readiness and Snow Operations 2026-2027.
2026-09-29 - City Council — Chief Dyer presented; councilors questioned timelines for the 39 hydrants and asked for locations, tiering and a public notice. Orders 13b-13f adopted; communication referred to Public Safety.