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Bertha Aguilar

A crude sign displayed on a bathroom door as another sign detours to working facilities.

Mondays are usually a drag, but for the grounds and maintenance workers, it was a hectic day. A water pipe burst around 9 a.m. Oct. 6 near the maintenance building.
“Old pipe(s) and … a heavy truck (parked) in here,” said Facilities Manager Russ Holt as to the cause of the chaos. A heavy truck was parked directly over the pipe that burst. Workers dug a hole where the pipe burst to facilitate the repair. “We spent the day getting it dug up, identified and patched,” said Holt.
The first floor bathrooms in the College Complex were the only ones fully operational, along with the restrooms located in the Math, Science and Library buildings. The restrooms on the other floors had a sign taped on the door, advising students not to use them.
There was a sign that read “No Water” above another sign that was displayed to let students know where they could locate a functional bathroom. The closures may have caused inconvenience for the students and staff, but this problem was quickly resolved. By 2 p.m. the water was working, but the restrooms were not open immediately.
This is not the first time a pipe has burst at LMC. “It happens from time to time around here, it’s a 40-year-old very fragile pipe” said Holt, adding, “A little shift in the earth maybe an earthquake or a beach can break it pretty easily when it grows underground.”
Monday was the start of the weeklong visit from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges so this incident couldn’t have had worse timing, but with the swift actions of Holt and the grounds keepers at LMC, this incident recovery was smooth as possible.