(KLZA)-- The Falls City Council approved the expenditure of nearly $87,000 Monday night to have the Wartsilla company that built the engine, capable of generating up to 9.3 megawatts of electrical power do a full audit of the engine, auxiliary systems and automation of the plant which has been recommended by the Board of Public Works.

With City Public Works Director Trevor Campbell gone to a meeting, City Administrator Gary Jorn outlined the proposal to the Council, noting that following the most recent extended power outage the decision was made to suggest moving forward with the audit.

The high cost is in part because the engineers doing the audit are from Wartsilla which is a foreign company and require their own personnel to do such work. Third party companies used by the City to do work at the power plant are not allowed to do work on the engine.

Getting the engine on line to produce energy has been an issue for the City. Jorn said he thinks there have been multiple issues that have contributed to the problems, including not enough exercising of the machine in the past as is done now, along with a lack of operational knowledge. Jorn said repairs could run into the range of $200,000.

The Council voted 6-0 to move forward with the audit. Council members Derek Leyden and Frank Killingsworth were absent from the meeting.