While fishing on the pier last evening many dead mullet could be seen floating by. By this morning many fish had collected near our breakwater. I have no idea where the birthday balloon came from, but I'm sure the the red tide did not get it too. I did find breathing difficult on the pier though and did not stay out very long.
The dead mullet piled up on the HEB beach and by afternoon hundreds could be seen.


I have been hesitant to write much about the owners meeting so as not to preempt the official owners’meeting minutes, but due to several calls regarding the status of the lift station I will give a lengthy story as to where we started, where we are at and how we got here. Our board, and me in particular, have expended an inordinate amount of time in trying to resolve this issue and at least a few owners have hinted that we have not given proper attention to this. Even the following description is not in the fullest detail. If anyone reading this blog can locate a Flyte Grinder 9.4 HP Model MF3127.170 and have it delivered in less than two months, please let us know. Even an older 5 HP with the same model number would work.
The lift station was installed in 1993. Urban Engineering of Corpus designed it and PEECO installed it. Historically the control panel has been problematic. For as long as we can remember we have had electrical issues. We have had start capacitors that failed on a very regular basis (almost monthly). We have had a number of companies look at it and work on it over the years, but no one had been able to solve the problem. Mechanically we have had very few problems. The pumps have run well. Problems have nearly always been electrical issues in the control panel. We did have a pump problem in January of 2010 that JR took care of, but I can recall no others.
In January of 2011 the red light came on, on the lift station control panel. This indicated that the system had malfunctioned in either an electrical or mechanical manner. First I called the people who maintain the lift pumps for the City of Rockport. They came out at no cost, but could not identify the problem. I called out PEECO (pump/lift station company) from Corpus. They determined that one of the pumps was bad. They gave us a quote for a new pump ($6,625.50 – 8 to 10 week lead-time) and repair ($6,069.50) with same lead-time as the parts were not available locally. Our pump system is an extremely rare 230V single phase. The replacement pump can only be obtained from Sweden and this was confirmed by checking other sources.
The board approved the purchase of a new pump from PEECO. PEECO was notified immediately, they accepted and we then waited for our pump to arrive in 8 to 10 weeks. After a month of waiting, I called them to check on the status and they informed they me they had not ordered it because they were waiting on our payment. They had never mentioned that. This was the beginning of the single most frustrating, yet extremely important project, that the board and I have dealt with all year. I called ITT of Corpus who is a Flyte dealer and talked to Doug Walthall. He wanted to replace our whole system for about $30k. One problem is that we don’t have three-phase power except half way down our entrance road. I called AEP and Eric came out, but would not give me a cost to extend three phase to our lift station. Even then we would need a whole new panel. Later in February I contacted Main Tech International, LLC who assured me they could supply a Hydro-Matic pump in only 4 to 6 weeks for $4,300. This would save us $2,300 and cut the lead-time in half verses PEECO. The pump arrived at the end of March and was installed the first week of April. It failed to function properly due to unknown issues. After several weeks’ investigation and four different electricians we finally found one who could solve the issue. The issue was determined to be the panel. It was reworked and everything ran correctly for 6 to 8 weeks.
At the end of May the red light came on and it was determined the new pump failed for another unknown reason. Under warranty, Main Tech pulled the pump and took it to their supplier, Odessa Pumps. They sent it back to the manufacturer in Ohio. We waited six weeks for a new pump to return. When the pump arrived at Odessa Pumps from the manufacturer in Ohio, it failed the required bench test. They sent it back to Ohio and we had to wait another six weeks. It is now late August and the third pump arrived. It was installed and it performed well for one and a half days. By now we are all frustrated beyond belief. We have tried desperately to avoid large expenditures/assessments ($20K+) by repairing what we have, but things are not working out.
Main Tech pulled the pump again. They returned it to Odessa Pumps and now the people in Ohio said they would not warranty the pump since they did not supply the control panel. It is now September and Main Tech is trying to locate a different brand pump that will meet our unique specifications. In mid September, as we were emotionally reaching the boiling point, we decided to switch directions. Main Tech had been extremely helpful through all of our troubles and they were struggling to locate another option. The board decided since these pumps were so rare, we would try another avenue to see which would lead to a solution faster. Scott took, what PEECO said was our original pump, from PEECO to Houston to get a price to have it rebuilt or replaced. Tracy with PHI in Houston started working on the pump and found what they had given us was not our pump after all. PEECO had given us the wrong pump. They gave us a different customer’s pump. Just another crazy turn in this crazy story. So PEECO said they would ship our original pump from their shop in Corpus to PHI in Houston and they would pay to have PHI ship the wrong pump back to them. I called ten days later and they had not shipped it, but now promised to deliver it in one of their trucks. Tracy received it on November 16th, but said it was in pieces. He said in all his years this was only the third pump of this type that he had come across. He is now working on a price for a replacement or for a rebuild. The day that Tracy received our pump Jane’s(711) brother called from Corpus to say that he has a pump repair facility and there was not a pump he could not fix. If he needed parts, he could fabricate them, another cruel twist of fate in the timing.
Current status: Over the past year we have spent approximately $1,400 on parts and labor for the various calls on connections and disconnections of the pumps and reworking the panel. Included in this are several spare panel components. We have not spent any money on pumps. Main Tech has not yet asked us to pay since we do not have a working pump from them. They are stuck between us, the end user, and Odessa Pumps the supplier. They have already paid Odessa for the pump, but do not feel right billing us, as they have been unable to help us solve our problem. They are still pursuing a replacement pump. The Sunday after the owners’ meeting Olaf (707) came over and wrote down the specs for our pump and is trying to find one that might have been pulled from the naval station in Ingleside.

Future: If we do not get this resolved by the end of December, we will most likely go to the owners with an assessment for an entire new system. This will be somewhere in the range of $30K, but will bring us up to a more modern system with more readily available parts or replacements.