MURFREESBORO – As the old saying goes: when it rains, it pours. And when it pours, McDonald’s on Main Street in Murfreesboro has to shut down.

This issue was at the forefront of discussion at Murfreesboro’s regular Town Council meeting on July 12. During the public comment portion of the meeting, a representative of the local franchise went before the council to ask for assistance.

Ronald Moseley, the maintenance director, explained that the water lines of the fast food restaurant get flooded and backed up whenever it rains. They’ve installed a check valve with a manual shutoff, but it’s not a good solution, Moseley said. The manual shutoff stops the problem, but the restaurant still must close until the water recedes. A more permanent solution is needed, he said.

Moseley asked if there was anything the town can do to address the problem.

Mayor John Hinton turned the discussion over to Billy Theodorakis, the Public Works Commissioner, and David Lane, the new head of the Public Works department.

Theodorakis asked how much rain was necessary to cause the problem to occur. Moseley answered that in the past, it was only extremely heavy rains such as when a hurricane came through that would create an issue. It’s only been recently that rains as low as one inch of accumulation would force the restaurant to temporarily shut down.

Lane said he consulted with the previous Public Works director, and one solution would be to move the line to the manhole on Vance Street.

“I can’t speak to the cost of that,” Lane added, noting that it would be up to Council to figure that out.

Lane also pointed out that grease or debris in the line would cause the problem, but Moseley insisted there wasn’t any grease from McDonald’s being poured down there.

Further discussion included the question of who was responsible for fixing the issue. Moseley said he believed it was a town problem, while Hinton noted that it was not the town’s place to go on private property.

Theodorakis concluded the discussion by assuring Moseley that he and Lane would look into the problem to see what could be done.