Ferndale Sets Sprinklers to Manual, Explores Installation of Rain Gauges

Ferndale has switched its automated sprinkler system to manual and is exploring the installation of rain gauges following a recent storm, when residents were irked to see the city's sprinklers watering the grass even as rain fell.

"I know my water bill is high, seems the city doesn't mind," Whitney S. Lemelin posted June 10 on the Ferndale Patch Facebook page, along with a photo of the sprinklers outside City Hall. "On for at least an hour today … raining the entire time."

Ferndale Public Works Department Director Loyd Cureton said the city has switched the system to manual, so the sprinklers now must be turned on by hand.

"We have to go over and turn it on because I certainly don't want to give citizens the wrong impression," he said. "It's just a matter of trying to automate as many things as possible (to save money on manpower)."

Cureton said he has asked Ferndale Parks & Forestry Supervisor Shaun Slocum to investigate the purchase and installation of rain gauges that measure precipitation and allow an automated sprinkler system to operate more efficiently and economically.

"Even a rain gauge doesn't work instantaneously," Cureton said. "So, if we have the sprinklers on and it starts raining, it's going to take a few seconds anyway before the rain gauge will register rain and cause the system to shut off."

Cureton said he is awaiting estimates on how much rain gauges would cost and any purchase would be made using funds from the Public Works Department budget under maintenance/repair. There is no timeline set for the rain gauges' installation, he added.