One of the most critical components of Dowagiac’s water system will be receiving some needed repairs.

The Dowagiac City Council approved $26,500 for a total rebuild of motor pump inside the city’s primary well. The work will be conducted by Peerless-Midwest, a water supply contractor based out Mishawaka.

“[The motor] has been in there for 30 years,” said City Manger Kevin Anderson. “To rebuild it will cost around $26,500, and to buy new would cost $35,000 to $40,000.”

According to documents provided to the city by Peerless, the existing pump has seen a great deal of wear and tear. As a result, many of the components are need of replacement, including the assembly unit and lineshafting.

The city elected to go with the cheaper option of repairing the motor rather than replacing it due to the fact that a new motor would likely have the same life expediency as a rebuilt one.

“We asked the vendor of the life expediency of new, and they said if well maintained it would be 40 years,” Anderson said. “For rebuilt, it would be 40 years if well maintained. So it makes sense in this particular case to do a rebuild.”

The vendor expects to have the motor and running within a week of being the repairs, they said in their quote to the city.

At the moment, the well is continuing to operate with backup pumps in place, Anderson said.

“It’s important to get this back up so we have full redundancy,” he added.

Other action taken by the council Monday:

• Authorization of the 24th-annual Rod & Roll Classic Auto Show, which will take place this year on Aug. 16.

• Passage of a resolution declaring a garage structure located at 305 Pennsylvania Ave. as a public nuisance.

• Approval of budget amendments for the fiscal year 2013-2014.

• Payment of outstanding bills and payroll, totaling $305,867.29.

• Approval of a request to rezone 415 E. Prairie Ronde from an I-2 Heavy Industrial District to a Planned Unit Development.