When a main water line broke two weeks ago, it took all of the town’s public works staff an entire day to remedy the issue.

The town’s modest staff is made up of six employees — three in the roads and maintenance, three in the water and utilities.

Dealing with that emergency is a recent example of the ongoing need for additional staff and attention to utility needs within the town.

Coupeville Town Council is currently considering a new proposed stormwater utility charge that would cost each customer $10 a month.

The proposed rate would cover things like the cost of an additional employee.

“We’re stretched really thin,” said Kelly Riepma, Public Works Superintendent for the Town of Coupeville. “We haven’t had an opportunity to do a lot of maintenance.”

Riepma’s department handles all of the maintenance needs in town, from mowing right-of-way and repairing town property to digging up and fixing broken water lines.

Her staff is also responsible for maintaining the town’s stormwater drainage system.

Maintenance of this system includes mowing and cleaning ditches and culverts and using a vac truck to flush the system.

“We’re small, but we still have an intricate system because we’re so close to Penn Cove,” Riepma said.

Ditches are an environmentally-friendly way to clean stormwater before it gets to the cove.

They essentially act as a filter, collecting debris and soaking up potential pollutants as the water travels.

“Residents tend to overlook this part of utilities,” Riepma said.

It would help the public works staff if residents could be mindful that the ditches have a practical use.

They’re not for trash, yard waste clippings or even landscaping.

Riepma said she’s even dealt with instances where residents have filled ditches and landscaped over them.

“We need to help them recognize there’s not that many ditches between them and Penn Cove,” Riepma said.

As ditches start to build up, staff goes in and cleans them out and creates a fresh layer for absorption.

Because of the limited staff and the type of work, Riepma said it would take about five years to get caught up on all the maintenance needs in town.

The routine maintenance needed for the stormwater system isn’t a one person job, it requires the entire crew.

And when staff spend an entire day fixing a broken water main, that’s an entire day not spent working on those maintenance needs.

“We spend time working on emergencies because the maintenance wasn’t done,” Riepma said. “It gets to a point where it becomes more critical.”

With the potential addition of a new employee funded by the new utility charge, Riepma said she hopes to get to a point where staff can work on a different quadrant every year.