HomeMy Public PortalAboutMcCall, Idaho: Public Works - SewageShows which land in district
. .1 Map clarifies Rio Vista sewers
McCall now has a
map showing which
pafts of Rio Vista are
within the Payette
Lakes Water and
Sewer District, City
Attorney Robert
Remaklus wrote in a
letter to Boise attorney
Alien Derr, who
represents Perc
Shelton, developer of
the .subdivision.
council meet with the
sewer board to see if
an arrangement can-
not be worked out that
will alleviate the situa-
tion.
"As you know, there
is the suit against the
city wherein the sewer
district maintains the
city is using excessive
sewer lagoon
capacity," Remaklus,
McCall has not who is on vacation un-
issued a building per- til Monday, wrote.
mi't in Rio Vista since Mayor Jim Lyons
last summer, Building read the letter at the
Insppector Paul Trahan council's April 5
said Monday. The city meeting.
stopped letting people
outside the city limits In other business,
hook up to the city's councilmembers :
sewer because of the -- Authorized Lyons
sewer district's to sign an agreement
lawsuit against the ci- with Frank Volk, mak-
ty, former Mayor Bill ing Volk architectural
Evans said in October. consultant for the fire
In his letter to. Derr, station addition.
Remaklus wrote he State code requires
would recommend that an architectural stamp
the mayor and city on all public buildings
that use public money.
Trahan told coun-
cilmembers he asked
for bids from the two
architects in McCall.
One architect said he
would do his own draw-
ings and charge the ci-
RemaklUS, a or
went on vacation, told
her he does not believe
the people claiming
back taxes from the ci-
ty are entitled to a re-
fund.
"He will research for
Property owners ask
city for tax refund
ty between $1,200 and
$1,500, Trahan said.
Volk, Trahan said,
will charge not more
than $500 to supervise
addition drawings
prepared by Trahan
before putting his
stamp on the plans.
- -Took no action on a
notice of claim from 10
couples owning lots in
the 19th Hole Estate
Subdivision. City Clerk
Margaret Fogg said
proper action and
report back," Fogg
said. "He said not to
panic."
In the notice, the
claimants state the ci-
ty in 1976 annexed land
that included their pro-
perty. The annexation
ordinance, they con
tend, was not filed wit h
the county assesso r
and county recorder o r
the Idaho Tax Com
mission within the re
a result, the Payette
Lakes Water and
Sewer District is conti-
nuing to tax them.
The property owners
also contend McCall
h h r ed them city
- -Voted to make Alta
Pierson, city and im-
pact area planning and
zoning secretary, a
permanent city
employee with a raise
from $4.32 to $5 an
as c a g hour.
taxes since 1977.
They want the
money they have paid
in city taxes since 1977
and are also asking for
a sum equal to the tax
liability they have in-
curred to the sewer
district from 1977 as
well as any money they
will be liable for in the
future. The group is
petitioning the sewer
board to be released
from the district.
-- Tabled action on
recommended changes
in the permits and ap-
plications chapter of
the impact area or-
dinance until the city
attorney reviews the
proposal.
Fogg said Pierson
completed her six -
month probation
period last month and
her work has been
highly satisfactory.
"She is regarded as
a valued employee by
all who work with
her," Fogg said.
"Employees of Alta's
calibre are few and far
between."
-- Authorized Fogg to
attend the Association
of Idaho Cities
workshop Wednesdayf>
April 28, that will con-
centrate on the impact;
recent legislative a ,a
tion had on cite
revenues. i
Through huckleberries and quicksand, sewer nears completion
By Tom Grote
The Star -News
Construction on the s,:wer
system around Payette Lake has
been going on for almost four
years, but at no time has the work
been so visible than this summer.
Of course, anyone who lives
within the Payette Lakes 'A ater
and Sewer District does not heed
to be told that fact. All surr mer
long, backhoes and dump tricks
have been rumbling down the
narrow side streets, and sections
of sewer pipe and pieces of
manholes have littered the area.
But the dust should be sets ling
soon, according to sewer district
officials, who say the latest :)ro-
jects should be completed by
mid - November.
The completion of this `sum-
mer's work will mark the finish
of the entire 30 -mile sewer system
around the lake, which has cost
$13.9 million and has been the
goal of sewer district officials
ever since voters formed the
district in 1971.
Sewer lines have been going in
around the lake since the end of
1980, but most of the work has
been along the shoreline of
Payette Lake in laying main Ii nes
or interceptors.
The year's projects have teen
on "upland" lines, or lines a �vay
from the shore that feed sewage
into the interceptors to be carried
to the treatment plant on the
south side of McCall.
The upland lines have reached
into every subdivision aro ind
and near the lake, causing traffic
disruptions and temporary
messes.
Also, the upland work is more
noticeable because it is being
done in the summer, whereas the
shoreline work usually was done
in the spring and fall when ake
water levels were low, said sewer
district coordinator Rick
Mallory.
But sewer district residents
have been taking the incoive-
niencf�s in stride, Mallory said.
"People get excited when they
.don't know what's coming," he
said. "A lot of people vho
started off with complaints have
called back to say it (the w irk)
was not as bad as they had ex-
pected."
Building a sewer system
around a lake has been a unique
and challenging task, not only for
the sewer district's engine( ring
company, J.U.B. Engineers Inc.
of Boise, but also for the two
companies that have received the
contracts to build the lines. They
are HK Contractors Inc. of Boise
and Shunn Construction Inc. of
"Subsurface conditions along
the shore ranged from sand to
rock to sensitive silt to clay, much
of which was difficult to
stabilize," said George Wagner,
the project's engineer for J.U.B.
Water from trenches dug along
the lake shore had to be piped
away from the area so as not to
pollute the lake with silt, Wagner
said.
Workers also have to slog
through three to four feet of
snow in sub -zero temperatures
during wintertime work.
Sometimes they would become
mired to their waists in quicksand
and would have to be pulled from
the trenches by their co- workers,
Wagner said.
Nearly as difficult a task was
satisfying the about 350 property
owners through whose land the
sewer district received permission
to lay the lines, Wagner said.
According to their contracts,
workers could not declare a sec-
tion of work finished until the
property owners signed a state-
ment saying he or she was
satisfied everything was put back
the way it was before the
pipelines were put in.
"One man's debris is another
man's treasure," he said. "If we
took out an old log, the property
owner said it was his favorite log
to sit on."
On another parcel, workers
had to dig a trench for a power
line by hand because the property
owner did not want a huckleberry
patch disturbed, he said.
Other complaints have ranged
from scratches on a favorite
rock, rocks being put back in the
wrong place, rocks disappearing
completely and new rocks ap-
pearing that the owners said
weren't there before, Wagner
said.
"They would say that there
was a rock there, but it wasn't
that rock." he said.
Figuring out tastes in trees also
was a challenge, with property
owners wondering why a tree was
cut or left standing, according to
the situation.
The result was a sewer nne
route that is not a straight line,
Wagner said. "The route is not
the shortest, but one that did the
least damage," he said.
Among other accommodations
to aesthetics was in the placement
of manholes, which in many
spots along the lake shore have
been obscured by rock jetties.
Also dotting the shoreline are
28 pumping stations that house
equipment in 30- foot -deep tubes,
of which only the top few feet are
visible.
Equipment in each pumping
station regulates the temperature
and humidity of the tube. Should
anything go wrong with any of
the pumps, an automatic alarm
will flash at the sewage treatment
plant, Wagner said.
If the problem happens when
the plant is not manned and the
alarm is not answered, an
automatic telephone system will
begin calling home telephone
numbers of maintenance workers
and a computerized voice will tell
the location of the problem, he
said.
Sewer pumps
Bids opened despite protest
The Payette Lakes Water and
Sewer District board on Friday
continued with plans to buy
emergency pumping equipment
despite a protest of the purchase.
Board members examined bids
for the six gasoline pumps and
for two diesel generators, but put
off any actior. until the district's
engineers cou: d more closely ex-
amine the bid;.
Bids for tl.e equipment were
sought to hive equipment on
hand to move sewage along the
district's sewe system in case of a
power outage or in case of failure
of one of the :,8 pumping stations
located aroun 9 the lake.
The purchase has been called
unnecessary by Ted Dodge,
owner of McCall Rental and
Sales, who has said the equip-
ment would b.- rarely needed and
could be rented instead of bought
for much less cost.
Dodge repeated his concerns
before board members on Friday,
but board mcnibers rejected his
claims.
"This operation has been con-
sidered and studied," board
chairman Peter Wilson said.
George Wagner of J.U.B.
Engineers of Boise, which design-
ed the sewer system, said a fail -
safe system of responding to
breakdowns was necessary to
avoid a spill )f raw sewage into
Payette Lake.
Having to rely on finding ren-
tal equipment on short notice
"puts anothf r uncertainty into
the enuation ; hat I don't think is
acceptable," 'Wagner said. "This
(the purchase) provides back -up
for a reasonable expenditure."
Low bids for the pumps and
generators totaled $69,500.
Dodge said that there were
alternative ways of obtaining
backup equipment. He said he
could guarantee 24 -hour access to
rental equipment in his business
and that the equipment could be
kept on reserve for the sewer
district.
In addition to the cost of pur-
chase, Dodge said district tax-
payers also will have to foot the
bill for storage and maintenance
of the pumps and generators.
But Wagner said that the costs
of purchase versus the retainer
fees that would have to be paid to
Dodge likely would total about
the same.
Board member Miles Willcutt
said he also had questioned the
purchase of the equipment, but
said he finally agreed with the
plan because of the complexities
and size of the 30 -mile -Payette
Lake system.
Sewer district coordinator Rick
Mallory told Dodge that his
arguments sounded hollow in
light of the fact that Dodge has
refused to pay hook -up fees to
connect his home to the sewer
district system.
Dodge said the hook -up issue
was unrelated to his complaint
about the bid purchase.
In other action at the board's
meeting on Friday, board
members hired the McCall law
firm of Killen and Pittenger to
serve as the district's legal
counsel.
The Killen firm replaces
former board attorney Charles
Nicholas, who resigned after
serving as counsel for four years.
Nicholas and his wife are now
living in France, where they are
pursuing business opportunities,
Wilson said.
Killen and Pittenger will charge
the sewer district $60 per hour for
their services. The rate is the
same that was charged by
Nicholas, Wilson said.
The Star-News 5/22/85
McCall says
hookups OK
By Randall Brooks
The Star -News
McCall's loss of a $1 million
state grant that would have cured,
more of the city's lagging sewer`
problems triggered a wave of
speculation this week about the
city's ability to issue sewer
hookup permits.
But any fears on the issue were
put to rest Monday night when
McCall City Adm,nistrator Jim
Smith told the McCall City
Council that an am ale number of
sewer permits could be made
available beginning Tuesday
morning.
Smith said 52 permits were cur-
rently available, a number which
he said more than meets current
demand.
Builders, includi ig developers
who plan to erect a Sprouse -Reitz
variety store along Idaho 55 this
summer, had been :old early this
spring that no additional
hookups to the sever could be
permitted until results of the
Eastside Intercepter sewer pro-
ject were calculated.
Those builders worried that
permits would not be available
this year, which leJ to specula-
tion by some that a building
moratorium was in place in Mc-
Call.
But at Monday's meeting,
Smith said he had the assurance
of interceptor de iigner Ralph
Kangas that the city would be
able to begin granting sewer
hookups as of Tuesday morning.
The problem haJ come to a
head Monday afternoon at a
special meeting between city per-
sonnel and several community
members.
Council member Larry Craig
and others aired fears that special
conditions of a grant obtained
last fall to fund th1: Eastside In-
terceptor could stall building con-
struction this season.
Smith explained one of several
special conditions agreed to by
the city concerned attachment of
new homes to the city's sewer
system. State offici ils had deter-
mined that any sewage flow from
newly attached homes should be
offset by an equal reduction in
groundwater Ieakage into the city
sewer.
Leakage of groundwater into
McCall's aging sewer collection
system was identified during a
study in 1975 as the primary
source of McCall's sewer pro-
blems.
Smith said he had written a let-
ter last fall to John Schwartz, the
state water quality engineer in
charge of McCall's interceptor
project, to find out what
assurances the city would have to
make that it had complied with
erms of the grant.
Since no actual requests for
sewer permits had been received
since last fall, Smith said he had
been waiting to verify the actual
amount of leakage reduction
before making a determination
on how many hookups were
available.
On Monday, Craig and McCall
Area Chamber of Commerce
President Kay Larson said they
were under the impression a
building moratorium -was in ex-
istance in McCall.
Following those comments,
Kangas did some preliminary
figuring Monday afternoon bas-
ed on information from improv-
ing the collection system with the
interceptor line.
He also reviewed a city pro-
gram initiated last fall to reduce
sewer leakage by indentifying and
eliminating water sources such as
roof drains and sump pumps,
which allow groundwater and
rainwater to enter the sewer.
Kangas said those figures
showed at least 100 new hookups
would be allowed under the con-
ditions of the grant agreement.
However, the city also must
abide by the terms of an agree-
ment with the Payette Lakes
Water and Sewer District that set
up a formula based on gallons of
sewage each government could
add each year to the shared
sewage lagoon facilities.
Last year, McCall was allowed
16,500 gallons, or 29 hookups
ua�Cu wi a ngure of ).0 gallons
per day per household. The
figure jumps to 17,050 this year,
or 31 residential hookups.
Only eight sewer permits were
issued last year, leaving total of
52 permits available this con-
struction season, Smith said
Tuesday.
At Monday's meeting, Craig
said the city should begin a pro-
gram of using its own money to
slowly improve the system rather
than rely on federal or state grant
monies, which may not be
available next year to cities under
federal budget plans proposed by
President Reagan.
By using $100,000 a year that
the city collects each year from ci-
ty residents for fixing sewer lines,
Craig said at least the city would
be making some progress towards
solving its own sewer problems.
Kangas pointed out that the
Eastside Interceptor had started
three years ago as a locally -
funded project, but had quickly
grown larger than the city could
handle.
If the city had recieved the
Community Development Block
Grant it had requested, approx-
imately 20,000 feet of lines would
have been replaced. It would take
10 years to accomplish the same
job under Craig's proposal.
The Star-News 4/10/85
Sewer equipment purchase
By Tom Grote
The Star -News
A McCall roan says that plans
by the Payette Lakes Water and
Sewer DlstriCl to spend $100,000
on emergency equipment is un-
necessary.
Ted Dodge, owner of McCall
Rental and Sales, said that the
equipment being sought by the
sewer district likely will be used
rarely and tha: similar equipment
could be rented quickly for little
cost.
A sewer district spokesman
said the equi-::)ment was necessary
to be preparf!d for the worst pro-
blems that could develop in the
district's server system around
Payette Lake.
Dodge's complaint centers
around a ca1 for bids from the
sewer district for six gasoline
pumps and two diesel electrical
generators.
The equipment would be used
to keep the sewer district's pump
stations runr.ing in the event of a
power outage or in case one of
the 28 pumping stations fails, ac-
cording to the bid documents.
Bids for the equipment are due
to be opened on April 19. The
district has estimated the pumps
and generat ars will cost about
$100,000, district coordinator
Rick Mallory said.
The equipment will be purchas-
ed with 90 percent state and
federal grant money and 10 per-
cent sewer district funds, Mallory
said.
Dodge said in an interview that
the sewer district should save tax-
payers dollars by renting the
equipment whenever it is needed
instead of buying the equipment
and spending additional money
for storage and maintenance.
Dodge said three of the pumps
sought by the sewer district could
be rented for $45 per day from
his business and two of the
pumps could be rented for $60
per day.
What equipment is not
available in McCall could be
quickly rented and brought up
questioned
from Boise, he said.
Also, power outages occur so
rarely that the purchased equip-
ment would sit in storage most of
the time, he said.
Typically, electrical power
outages caused by storms do not
last more than 1 %z hours, said
Dale Krumm, manager of Idaho
Power Co.'s McCall office.
Longer outages are possible,
Krumm said. A severe storm in
1981 knocked out power in some
areas of McCall for between 12
and 15 hours, he said.
Mallory said he understood
Dodge's complaint, but disagreed
with ,it. "I hope he's right,"
Mallory said of Dodge's claim
that outages rarely occur.
The equipment is being pur-
chased because of federal En-
vironmental Protection Agency
requirements that the sewer
district has plans to deal with
emergencies, Mallory said.
Mallory said that a spill of raw
sewage into Payette Lake could
occur within a couple of hours if
a pump station failed and could
not move sewage through sewer
lines.
"When we do need them, we
have to know we have the equip-
ment available," Mallory said.
"If the failure happens at 2 a.m.,
it is difficult to get rental pumps.
"By the time you realize you
have a problem, you don't have
the luxury of time, he said.
Dodge responded by saying ar-
rangements could be made so
that the sewer district could have
access to his pumps any time of
day.
Dodge said he was not seeking
to make money for his business
by his complaint, but rather that
he was speaking as a resident of
the sewer district and as a con-
cerned taxpayer.
"I saw it could be done dif-
ferently and less costly," he said.
"Waste is waste."
The Star-News 5/20/87
Sewer district sues to get back $38,627
The Payette Lakes Water and
Sewer District has filed a lawsuit
against an Ontario, Ore., con-
tractor claiming that the contrac-
tor was paid twice for the same
work, but that the contractor
refuses to give back the overpay-
ment.
- The lawsuit, filed in Fourth
District Court in Cascade, says
that the sewer district paid Shunn
Construction $38,627.98 in four
payments around Feb. 11, 1986.
That payment was for work
laying sewer lines as part of the
district's sewer project around
Payette Lake.
The suit goes on to say, that
Shunn was paid the $38,628.98 The payment was made twice
again in a single check around during a time when Whiteman
Sept. 17, 1986. was assuming his post from
Shunn officials were told of the former coordinator Rick
overpayment and acknowledged Mallory.
receiving the funds, the suit said.
However, Shunn officials refused
to refund the money, saying they
had no funds to cover the over-
payment.
The suit seeks repayment of the
funds, with interest, plus court
costs and attorneys fees.
Sewer district coordinator Ted
Whiteman said Monday that the
double payment was an error on
the part of the district.
"We were trying to keep cur-
rent on a bunch of contracts fly-
ing through at the time,"
Whiteman said. "We discovered
that we had given Shunn some
money that didn't belong to
them."
Telephones at the Shunn Con-
struction offices in Ontario as
well as at the home of Shunn
President Gell Shunn have been
disconnected.
The Star-News 3/25/93
Plan would take sewage
out of N. F. Payette River
' BY TOM GROTE
7 be Star -News
A public hearing will be held
tonight before the McCall City
Council on a plan to take the city's
treated sewage out of the North Fork
of the Payette River and let it seep
into the ground instead.
The hearing on the city's pro -
posed sewer facility plan is set to
Begin at 8 p.m. tonight during the
council's regular meeting in the
lower level of McCall City Hall.
The plan, written by J -U -B
Engineers of Boise, suggests vari-
ous ways to deal with the high
levels of phosphorus that exist in
the city's treated sewage.
Treated sewage from McCall
flows downstream into Cascade
Reservoir, which has serious water
duality problems directly related to
phosphorus. The substance en-
courages the growth of algae, which
in turn chokes off oxygen -in the
reservoir to fish.
The McCall sewer plant is esti-
inated to contribute about 11 percent
of all phosphorus in the reservoir,
;something that the Idaho
Department of Health and Welfare
ikely will not tolerate much longer,
the J -U -B report said.
J -U -B's study recommends treat -
ng the sewage with the same meth -
ods now used at the plant and then
pumping the treated wastewater to a
series of storage basins on land that
is able to quickly soak up the water.
The soil would serve as a natural
filter to screen out phosphorus and
other chemicals, leaving the result-
ing water clean enough to meet state
groundwater standards, the plan
says.
About 60 acres of land would be
needed to handle the treated sewage,
and the engineers say that soil types
located about three miles southwest
of McCall would be suitable for
rapid absorption.
The cost of the plan is estimated
at $2.5 million, which includes
buying the land, building the ponds
and running a 12 -inch pipeline from
the sewer plant to the disposal site.
The plan was found to be the
most workable and least expensive
of other alternatives, according to
the J -U -B study.
Using the treated sewage to grow
-rops on farmland during the sum-
mer was studied, but the short grow-
ing season in the McCall area would
limit the effectiveness of that
method, the study said.
The city would have to acquire
about 750 acres of land to make the
farming option work, including a
51 -acre storage lagoon to store the
wastewater during the winter. Cost
of that plan was estimated at nearly
$5 million. A combination of the
farming system and the land- absorp-
tion system also was studied, with
the estimated cost set at $4.4 mil-
lion.
The study also looked at using
advanced treatment methods to re-
move the phosphorus before it was
dumped into the North Fork. The
cost to build such treatment was
moderate, about $3.6 million, but
the annual operating cost approached
$1.5 million, due mostly to the
price of chemicals.
The good news in the report is
that the existing treatment plant, lo-
cated at the end of Boydstun Street
in southwest McCall, does not have
to be expanded to meet the expected
growth over the next 20 years, the
J -U -B study said.
The plant is now handling peak
sewage flows of 1.79 million gal-
lons per day, and projections call for
those flows to increase to 2.37 mil-
lion gallons per day in 20 years.
The numbers assume growth of two
percent per year.
The sewer plan does not address
how the city would pay for the
sewage improvements, but the cur-
rent $12.50 per month bill paid by
city residents likely will increase,
McCall City Administrator Bud
Schmidt said.
The city council could ask voters
to pass a revenue bond that would
be paid back totally with user fees,
Schmidt said. Or, the city could
seek low- interest loans from the
state's Water Pollution Control
Fund.
An outright grant from state or
federal agencies also is possible, but
less likely, Schmidt said.
The Star-News June 11, 1993
Maki plan
gains appeal
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star-News "I think we did enough
The public outcry over McCall's
proposed Maki Alternative has qui-
eted, but concerns expressed during a
public hearing last week show some
area residents are still not convinced
of the plan's merits.
A public information session and
public hearing was held May 24 at the
McCall Golf Course Clubhouse to
address public concerns overMcCall's
plan to apply treated sewage on farm
and pasture land west of Lake Fork.
McCall revised that plan -- called
the Maki Alternative — following a
public meeting in February. Public
testimony at that meeting, and written
comments received later, showed
strong opposition to the project.
The major proposed change to the
plan is the location of a 300- million
gallon storage lagoon which would hold
the effluent during the winter when the
water would not be needed for irriga-
tion, according to kick Mallor} of J -U -B
Engineering of Boise, the city's engi-
neering consultant.
Plans now call for the lagoon to be
located adjacent to the city's current
lagoon system at the south end of
Boydstun Street on a 25 to 30 acre site
officials tentatively plan to purchase
from Clearwater Concrete and Gravel
of McCall.
Testimony during last week's
meeting resulted in a show of support
for the Maki Alternative by both Mike
Smith of the Department of Health
and Welfare's Division of Environ-
mental Quality and Cascade Reservoir
Association President Wayne
VanCour.
The CRA recently threatened to
file a lawsuit against the City of
McCall if an agreement could not be
homework this time. "
– Rick Mallory, J -U -B Engineers
reached for removal of the city's
treated effluent from the North Fork
of the Payette River.
"There are no concerns brought up
which are insurmountable," Mallory
told those gathered for last week's
public meeting.
Public concerns over the Maki Al-
ternative were addressed by a panel
which included representatives from
J -U -B Engineering, the Department
of Health and Welfare Division of
Environmental Quality, City of
McCall and Payette Lakes Water and
Sewer District.
Issues addressed in depth included:
• Possibility of surrounding well
water contamination.
• Agreements with Will and Jake
Maki and Harry Bettis; the owners of
farm land where treated effluent will
be used for irrigation.
• Sprinkler system operation and
maintenance.
• Status of the land application
permit required from DEQ.
• Location of the 300 million gal-
lon storage lagoon.
"Many of the issues brought up
(by the public) were more fully clari-
fied," Mallory said. "With each step
of the process we get more clarifica-
tion. It helps the public when they see
more detail."
Mallory said issues brought up by
the public are not taken lightly. "We
address them as best we can from a
technical stand point," he said.
"Then the City of McCall needs to
make a decision if they feel the issues
have been adequately addressed,"
Mallory said.
McCall then will "pass it on to
DEQ for their concurrence," he said.
"I think we did enough homework
this time that we pretty much antici-
pated the issues that would be dis-
cussed," Mallory said. Those attend-
ing last week's meeting were told
ground wells would be put in place to
monitor water quality.
"We have enough data from other
land application systems ... even
though we will put in monitoring
wells, we're comfortable we won't
find anything in them," Mallory said.
And although letters of intent have
been signed by both Maki and Bettis,
more formal agreements will need to
be negotiated if the Maki Alternative
goes forward, Mallory said.
The letters of intent indicate the
farmers would be willing to accept
the City of McCall's treated effluent
for a 20 -year period if the water does
not "adversely impact" their opera-
tions, Mallory said.
The permit for' a land application
operation is in the draft stages now, he
said.
A permit has been issued by the
Idaho Department of Water Resources
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers allowing construction of a pipe-
line to carry effluent across the North
Fork of the Payette River. The cross-
ing will likely be built during the fall,
Mallory said.
Loretta Florence, whose family
operates a seed potato farm in the
Lake Fork area, has repeatedly told
officials she is concerned with plant
pathogens which could potentially
devastate their business.
"We've researched it enough, so
we don't think it's going to be an
insurmountable problem," Mallory
said. "But its hard to give a 100 -
percent guarantee with projects like
these."
ty s
The Advocate 8/18/93
McCall looks to ship wastewater "over the hill"
MCCALL — The McCall City Council is
looking for a site in Adams County on which to ap-
ply treated wastewater from the city's sewage treat-
ment facility.
The proposal to ship the wastewater `over the
hill" was discussed at Thursday's meeting of the
Council as council members decided on an amend-
ment to an engineering agreement with J -U -B En-
gineers to evaluate sites in the Little Salmon River
drainage for a high rate land application site.
What bothered Council Member Gary Van
Komen was paying J -U -B for doing some of the
basic groundwork on the proposal.
"Why can't we make inquiries and then send
the engineers out there," he said. That would save
the city some money, he said.
"I don't feel comfortable having the engineers
go out to do something any of us could do," he said.
But City Administrator Bud Schmidt said that
the engineers have maps with the appropriate soil
types, and they would be able to rule out some ar-
eas immediately on that basis.
"The main issue will be the cost of the pipeline
and politics," he said.
Schmidt said that unlike the North Fork
Payette River drainage, there are no limits on phos-
phorous in the Little Salmon drainage. And he said
it won't be necessary to pipe treated effluent very
far to be into the Little Salmon drainage, only as
far as the Little Ski Hill area will be sufficient, he
said.
But Council Member Cindi LeBrett objected
to putting sewage effluent into any water source.
Van Koinen said he thought the study was a
good idea, but that city staff should do some of the
preliminary work.
The city is seeking someone with 225 to 250
acres they'd be willing to sell for a high -rate appli-
cation system, or if land suitable for high -rate isn't
found, then the firm will look at slow -rate applica-
tion opportunities, which would require 600 to 800
acres.
The slow -rate application system would also
require a storage reservoir of some sort.
Schmidt said there are some multiple uses of
the treated water. He said reservoir storage could
be used by firefighters to provide a periodic land
application through fire fighting efforts.
He said Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus wants some-
thing done about the situation in Cascade Reser-
voir. That, so much so that Idaho DEQ is provid-
ing increased funding for looking at the Little
Salmon alternative.
In a letter to McCall Mayor Larry Smith dated
July 20, 1993, Andrus applauded the City of Mc-
Call's efforts to remove city effluent from the
North Fork River and from the total Payette River
Basin.
The city's effort "... shows a strong commit-
ment to helping solve the problems in Lake Cas-
cade," Andrus wrote.
"If all other nutrient sources in the North Fork
Payette River Basin take responsible actions as you
are, we will be able to address the water quality
problems in the lake."
Schmidt said Andrus is being lobbied hard by
the Cascade Reservoir Association to resolve the
problems with the lake.
"At the same time we can't bankrupt everyone
in the city with $150 a month water and sewer
bills," Schmidt said.
J -U -B will evaluate the Little Salmon River
drainage and if a suitable site is available, the firm
will prepare preliminary designs and cost esti-
mates. If the cost estimates for a high rate applica-
tion system in that drainage compare favorably
with a similar system in the North Fork drainage,
then J -U -B will complete a facility plan.
The amendment to the agreement calls for the
firm to be paid $11,986 for analysis of a septage
treatment facility, and $22,407 for analysis of a
high rate land application system in the Little
Salmon drainage.
Should it be necessary to evaluate a slow -rate
application system in the Littlz Salmon, the cost
would increase by $16,626. And should no suitable
site be found for either type of site, a pilot plant
study for a high -rate system in the North Fork
drainage will be done fora cost of $56,473.
In the end the council voted for the agreement
by a vote of 3 -1 with LeBrett casting the lone "no"
vote.
Schmidt assured the Council that city staff
would do everything they can to hold down the
costs of the studies.
Sewer ponds progress at
Payette River subdivisions
Photo by Shari Hambleton
Geor¢e Bezates works on sewer ponds that will serve Payette River No. 2 and No. 3 south o c a
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star-News
A new sewage treatment plant dc-
signed with a capacity to serve li5
new homes in Payette River Subdiv i-
signs No. 2 and No. 3 south of McCall
is nearing completion.
The system - designed by
Toothman -Orton Engineering in
Boise — passes under the Payette
River encased in cement to a lift stet-
tion on the river's east bank. The line
then continues down an existing rai -
road grade to an extensive lagoon
filtration system.
Current homeowners in nearby
Payette River Subdivision No. I hav a
voiced concerns in the past regardin;
further development in the area.
Three main areas of concern by the
residents focus on:
• The capability of the area's water
table tohandletheinfluxof new homes
and the effect the anticipated growth
will have on their domestic water
supply,
• The effectiveness of the new sew -
age system to protect water quality ii i
both their wells and the Payette River.
• The fact that a portion of the nev, r
development falls within a designated
flood plain, requiring fill dirt to be
brought to elevate building pads.
Jim Ball, managing director of th(:
Payette River Subdivision project fo :-
L.B. Industries in Boise, said the sew.
age treatment system is one of the
most technologically advanced sys-
tems available.
Ball said it has been designed to be
expanded in the future to accommo-
date development at Blackhawk
Ranch and Blackhawk Lake — two
other L.B. Industries projects.
Ball added that road paving in the
area has begun and will be completed
by the end of the year.
As development of Payette River
Subdivisions No. 2 and No. 3 have
progressed, Ball said a myriad of gov-
ernmental agencies have been in-
volved.
"When you're dealing with an en-
vironmentally sensitive area like this,
it's much better to get all agencies
involved during the land planning
process," Ball said.
Agencies such as the state Divi-
sion of Environmental Quality, Idaho
Department of Fish and Game, Val-
ley County Planning and Zoning and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
have been extensively involved to
insure issues over the flood plain,
water supply, sewage treatment and
wetlands preservation are being ad-
dressed, Ball said.
He said he has also met with
homeowners in Payette River Subdi-
vision No. 1 — a development not
directly associated with his company
— to discuss their concerns.
Those homeowners said they were
originally told by real estate agents
that land in Subdivisions No. 2 and
No. 3 would remain open and unde-
veloped.
"I'm not sure what they could have
done, short of not building at all, that
would have addressed our concerns,"
said Susan Dempsey, a homeowner in
No. 1.
In addition to the numerous envi-
ronmental issues involved, Linda
Glass said her home in No. l — which
has been built up to half capacity —
has been on the market for about a
year and a half.
"Realtors are happy about the new
subdivisions going in but they can't
sell what's here," Glass said. "And
until we get (the issues) resolved out
here, if it were me, I wouldn't buy any
vacant land."
Ball said two factors contributed
to the swift sale of lots in No. 2:
• The strict covenants, conditions
and restrictions in place for the devel-
opment, and the fact that much of the
property was purchased by invest-
ment companies and individuals solely
for resale, with no intention of building.
Ball said 63 of the 92 lots offered
for sale beginning in August 1992
were sold within two months. Now
many of those lots display real estate
sale signs.
But Dempsey said homeowners in
No. l are still concerned, and commu-
nication with both L.B. Industries and
governmental agencies has been lim-
ited and difficult.
"I guess we're relying on our tax
dollars to do much of our research,
watch out for us and protect the public
good," she said.
`Personally, I just hope that the
agencies are here to protect the envi-
ronment and the public, and that
they're doing their job," Dempsey
said
Long Valley Advocate 12/22/93
McCall
treatment
facility not
to blame for
reservoir
problems
Ray Stout
Staff Writer
MCCALL — Comments from Cascade
that McCall sewage is largely responsi-
ble for the water pollution of Cascade
Reservoir are unfounded, said members
of the Payette Lakes Water and Sewer
District at a meeting here Friday.
In spite of occasional failures at the
facility, no raw sewage is ever discharged
from the McCall treatment plant into the
North Fork Payette River, said board
member Hank Hall. The river is the main
source that feeds the reservoir farther
downstream.
Moreover, according to Chairman Ted
Whiteman, the sewage that does go into
the river is adequately dealt with before-
hand.
"What's going into the river is treat-
ed effluent that's been treated according
to Department of Environmental Quality
standards," Whiteman said.
Attorney Bill Killen, the district's legal
counsel, said much of Cascade's mis-
conception probably stems from the knowl-
edge that the treatment plant releases
nitrates into the river, which is permis-
sible.
"Nitrates are going into the river, there-
fore (they think) `raw sewage is going
into the river, "' he said.
Whiteman said the plant is not designed
to treat nutrients such as phosphorus and
nitrogen, although it can accommodate
a small amount. Rather it is designed to
treat bacteriological and organic matter.
Board members also discussed the
problem created by the contribution of
septage to the city's treatment facility,
and the City of McCall's increasing of
fees that are charged to dump septage.
Board Chairman Harvey Bergstrom
said he likes the idea of land application
of treated effluent, which on farmland
can benefit the growing of crops. But he
questions restrictions on applying it in
winter, when its frozen condition wouldn't
seem to do anv harm, he said.
One possible site for direct land -appli-
cation, directed by the DEQ to be stud-
ied, is an unspecified region somewhere
beyond the western boundary of the water-
shed. However, delivery would have to
cross national forest land, which Payette
National Forest Supervisor David
Alexander told him would draw strong
opposition, resulting in cost and access
problems.
Bergstrom said he had also talked to
Bill Petzak of Idaho Dept. of Lands, who
told him there is no land available for
direct application west of the river but
plenty on the east side.
However, Bergstrom said he didn't
like to have to purchase land for septage
disposal when the material has a definite benefit to
crop farmers.
"That water has nutrients in it," he said. "A lot
of people want it, and they should be able to have
it."
Whiteman pointed out that (here are two differ-
ent methods of land application: the slow rate and
the high rate. The more expensive slow rate involves
sprinkler irrigation of farm land and storage facili-
ties for use in winter. The high rate, preferred by
most people, depends on a specific type of soil which
can<xeceive the septage and allow it percolate through.
Bergstrom also expressed concern that engineers
may not be looking at all public grounds that have
potential for land applieationd
The board then moved to direct Whiteman to
study the public grounds for land - application poten-
tial.
The Star-News 7/25/94
Failure
spills
sewage
BY TOM GROTE
7 he Star -News
A failure in a back -up generator at
a McCall sewer pumping station last
Thursday resulted in 300 gallons of
raw sewage being spilled into the
North Fork of the Payette River.
The spill occurred at the city's
sewage pumping station on Mather
Road near the McCall Fish Hatchery.
The station pumps sewage through a
pipe across the North Fork toward the
sewage- treatment plant.
The incident began when a power
failure in the area knocked out the
pumping station, Public Works Di-
rector Bill Keating said. Normally,
the back -up generator is supposed to
start up during a power failure in
order to ensure the pumps continue to
operate.
Last Thursday, however, the gen-
erator failed to turn on and sewage
backed up into the station. A radio
alarm notified public works crews to
scene, but crew members were unable
to get the generator started for 40
minutes, Keating said.
In the meantime, sewage filled a
manhole near the river and spilled
over for about two minutes before the
generator was started.
Keating said the spill contained no
solids and was not considered seri-
ous. The McCall office of Central
District Health Department and the
state Division of Environmental Qual-
ity were notified of the.incident, he
said.
The failure of the generator was
blamed on its age. The unit is a 40-
year -old generator purchased as sur-
plus from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Keating said.
The city's maintenance program
calls for checking all pumping sta-
tions as well as back -up generators
three times a week. The generators
are started and run twice per month,
Keating said.
In a memo to McCall City Man-
ager Gary Shimun, Keating requested
$35,000 be added to next year's bud-
get to replace the generator at the
Mather Road station.
The spill could have been worse
had the failure occurred at night, when
city workers have gone home, or dur-
ing the winter, when access is more
difficult, Keating wrote to Shimun.
The Star-News august 4, 1994
Developer agrees to
extend sewer line
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
A developer has agreed to pay
for installing a new sewer line in
order to allow 10 condominium
units to be built, the McCall City
Council was told last week.
Andre Fernand of Laguna
Beach, Calif., and McCall, has
agreed to pay up to $30,000 to
build a new sewer line to serve his
property, which is located at Fir
Street and Mill Road near Sports
Marina, according to Fernand's
builder, Patrick Phillips of McCall.
On July 14, council members
approved Fernand's plans to build
five duplex condominium units on
the site, but told Phillips the build-
ings could not be connected to the
city's sewer system until an out-
dated pipe serving the site is re-
placed.
The city has no plans to replace
the sewer line, so the developer
offered a plan in which $21,000 in
water and sewer hook -up fees for
all 10 units would be paid in ad-
vance if the city council agreed to
allow the new line to be installed
this year.
Also, Fernand will pay an addi-
tional $5,000 to ensure there is
enough money to have the line in-
stalled, and he will share any over-
runs in the project until his total
contribution has reached $30,000,
Phillips told council members last
Thursday night.
The new sewer line will hook
into a new line and pumping station
being built by Shore Lodge owner
Douglas Manchester through the
former McCall sawmill site, which
has been made into home sites.
In other action last Thursday:
• Gravel Request: Council
members turned down an informal
request by McCall smokejumpers
to donate gravel from the city's
gravel pit across Mission Street
from the McCall Smokejumper
Base.
Smokejumpers wanted to use
the gravel to rebuild the driveway
of Holly Thrash, widow of Jim
Thrash, a Meadows Valley
smokejumper who was killed ear-
lier this month in a Colorado wild-
fire.
The request was turned down
because it is illegal for the city to
make donations of money or mate-
rials to private individuals, espe-
cially if they live outside the city
limits, council members said.
Long Valley Advocate August 3, 1994
McCall sewage spill prompts Central District Health
warning on [primary water contact sports in North Fork
Reeling from enough bad publicity already,
those who live around, play on and in Cascade
Reservoir took another body shot last week
with a warning from Central District Health
that recreationists avoid primary contact sports
such as swimming and water skiing in the
North Fork of the Payette River from McCall
down to West Mountain North Campground.
The health advisory followed last Thursday
evening's spill of about 2,000 gallons of raw
sewage from the McCall sewage system into
and about 2,000 gallons of untrmit-
ed sewage was spilled into the
North Fork of the Payette Riv °r
below the lake's outlet at Lardo
Bridge.
Ironically, at the time Keating
was working to fix the problem
with the generator, he was to have
been making a presentation to the
McCall City Council requesting
that they budget a replacement for
the 40 -year old generator into the
1994 -95 fiscal year budget.
Last week's spill took place at
about 8 p.m., Keating said.
Central District Health
Department and the Division of
Environmental Quality together
issued the health advisory to the
public.
Testing was to have been done
over the weekend and until the
results are back, health and envi-
ronmental officials said contact
Cascade Reservoir. That spill followed by
about a week a July 21 spill of about 300 gal-
lons.
Both spills came about from the same thing,
according to Bill Keating, McCall's Public
Works Director, a faulty generator that pow-
ers one of the sewage lift stations in the event
of a power outage.
After the earlier spill, Keating said the sys-
tem was checked out, and they believed they
had the problem with the old generator resolved.
with the water in the affected area
should be avoided.
Low water flows will hamper
the river's ability to flush the con-
tamination, according to Joy Palmer,
of DEQ's Southwest Idaho
Regional Office.
Palmer said DEQ staff will con-
duct an inspection of the McCall
sewage facilities to determine the
cause of the accidental spill.
In a letter to the Council fol-
lowing the first spill, Keating said
the last time there was a sewage
spill from that location was about
six years ago.
He said the 100 kilowatt gen-
erator is a surplus U.S. Corps of
Engineers model built in 1955. It
drives two 40- horsepower pumps
at the lift station that pump alter-
nately when under normal loads,
and that both kick on when the
loads require it.
It was tested, he said, and when Thursday
night's outage hit, city personnel responding
to the problem checked all five of the gener-
ators involved in the area of the outage, and
found them all running.
But, he said that after making the first round
of all the generators to ensure they were oper-
ating, city crew members returned to find the
generator at lift station 7 no longer operating.
It wasn't running for 15 -20 minutes, he said,
j -d itch plan latest alternative for McCall sewage effluent
CASCADE -- The latest plan being looked at
for getti ng McCall sewage effluent out of the North
Fork of the Payette River is going to require the
cooperation of farmers and ranchers who live south
of McCall and who get their irrigation water from
the J -di :ch.
George Wagner, of J -U -B Engineering, which
is desig ling the system for the City of McCall, told
those a tending the first meeting of the Cascade
Reservoir Coordinating Committee here, that the
J -ditch proposal is the one they're studying now.
The proposal involves lining the J- ditch, one
that flo ,vs south of McCall for about three miles,
with a pipe that will be used to carry treated efflu-
ent to those irrigated lands for application.
He said the J -ditch delivers irrigation water to
about 3,000 acres of land. The proposal they're
now ex )loring would involve delivering the treat-
ed effluent under pressure to those irrigators. That
would save them money in that they wouldn't have
to pum ) it. One of the drawbacks of the alterna-
tive is t iat it will cost an estimated $1.2 million to
build tle pipeline.
But there are a number of pluses,
• Irrigation water now drawn from Little Payette
Lake wouldn't be needed.
• The city would build the necessary filters,
pump stations and the pipeline.
• There would be a significant lengthening of
the irrigation season with the proposal.
• Pumping costs would be reduced.
• There would be reduced operations and main-
tenances costs for the irrigators as they wouldn't
have to maintain ditches.
• Nutrients would be delivered with the water.
• Overhead sprinkling, which would be possi-
ble with the system, is more efficient than using
the existing ditches.
• There would be no land_ acquisition required
for the alternative.
"I like the alternative," Wagner said. "It's an
elegant way to dispose of the wastewater from
McCall."
But he also said it would require a 20 -year com-
mitment from irrigators, and it would have to be
accepted by the property owners. ;
McCall sewer:
spills draw
DE
Q warning
BY TOM GROTE
The Star-News
Swimmers and others were urge
to avoid direct contact with the Nor1
Fork of the Payette River betwee
McCall and Cascade Reservoir at lea
until Friday following a spill of rai
sewage into the river last week.
About 2,000 gallons of untreate
sewage spilled into the North For.
last Thursday after a back -up electri
cal generator failed at a pumpin
station operated by the city of McCal
The spill was the second in a wee
at the same station and city official
have been ordered by the state Divi
sion of Environmental Quality t
replace the generator.
Results of testing from water
samples taken Saturday from the rive
found levels of harmful bacteria to b
within health standards but far above
normal levels, said Tom Turco, envi-
ronmental health director for the
Central District Health Department
in Boise.
More water samples were taken
Tuesday and the results should be
known Friday, Turco said.
The main threat from the spill was
to human health if someone were to
drink or otherwise come into contact
with water contaminated by the spill,
Turco said.
Those going fishing or canoeing
should not cancel their plans, but they
should wash their hands after coming
out of the river and all fish caught
should be well - cooked, he said.
The spill will have minimal effects
on fish habitat unless it causes oxygen
levels in the North Fork to drop, he
said.
The incident began about 7:30 p.m.
last Thursday, when a power failure
knocked out electrical service to sev-
eral sewerpumping stations, including
the Mather Road station.
A back -up generator in the same
station failed to turn on during a simi-
lar power failure in July 22. In that
incident, about 300 gallons of sewage
backed up in the station and spilled
out of a manhole before city workers
could start the generator.
The Mather Road station was the
first one checked after last Thursday's
"It's a mystery. We don't
really understand the
problem. 11P
— McCall City Manager
Gary Shimun
g
1• outage and the back -up generator was
k working fine at that time, McCall
s City Manager Gary Shimun said Tues-
- day.
o After the city workers left to check
the other stations, the generator some-
how how failed and shut down, allowing
r the sewage to back up, Shimun said.
e An automatic alarm altered crews
to the failure and they returned to the
station, but were unable to restart the
generator immediately, Shimun said.
Sewage flowed into the river for
between 20 minutes and 40 minutes
before,the pump station was put back
into action, he said.
The 40- year -old generatorhad been
inspected and tested after the July 22
incident was pronounced in good
working order, Shimun said. "It's a
mystery," he said. "We don't really
understand the problem."
Shimun met Monday with repre-
sentatives from the DEQ, during
which Shimun agreed to put replace-
ment of the generator into the city's,
1994-95 budget year that starts Oct. 1.
The project should be completed this
winter, he said.
Meanwhile, the DEQ officials said
a temporary back -up generatorneeded
to be put into the Mather Road station
until the permanent replacement was
installed. A search for a short-term
replacement was continuing this week.
The DEQ considered the spill tote
serious, said Dewey Worth, a water
quality analyst with the DEQ's office
in Cascade. "We don't want it to hap-
pen again," Worth said.
The city could have been subject
to fines for polluting the river, but the
DEQ would rather see the city devote
the money toward fixing the problem,
Worth said.
Health advisory still in effect
for North Fork Payette River
Central District Health Department officials hope
this week's water samples and testing will clear a
stretch of the North Fork Payette River from McCall
to Tamarack Falls for contact recreation.
Since a sewage spill at McCall on the evening of
July 28 that dumped an estimated 2,000 gallons of
untreated sewage into the North Fork, a health depart-
ment advisory was issued warning citizens against
primary contact recreation activities like swimming
and water skiing in that stretch of river.
Tom Turco, with Central District Health, said
Monday that his agency would be taking more sam-
ples along the stretch of river later this week.
But based on the samples taken and the tests done
last week, he said the advisory is still in force.
"It's laying in there a lot longer than we expect-
ed it would," he said of the contamination that result-
ed from the spill. Turco said the low water flows are
likely contributors to the slow progress the river is
making in cleaning itself of the spill.
Though fecal coliform bacteria counts were not
terrifically high in some areas of the river, he said
that knowing the source of the bacteria gives them
good reason to maintain the advisory.
He said the recent counts ranged from as low as
2 organisms per 100 milliliters of water at the Tamarack
Bridge to a high of 360 per 100 ml water at the Sheep
Bridge.
While the standard for any single sample is 500
organisms per 100 ml water, consistent levels of
lower amounts can also bring about the advisory, he
said. Levels of 10 to 20 organisms per 100 milliliters
is about normal for the river, he said.
But he emphasized that since they know the source
of the contamination, city sewage, it makes the health
warning all the more advisory.
Health & Welfare technicians will also draw sam-
ples from above the No. 7 lift station, which mal-
functioned after a power outage on consecutive
weeks, to determine what the natural levels in the
river as it exits Payette Lake might be.
That lift station includes a nearly 40- year -old aux-
iliary generator that failed to kick on when the power
failed. The spill of the week prior to the July 28 inci-
dent resulted in about 300 gallons of raw sewage in
the river.
Gary Shimun, McCall City Manager, said city
officials have met with DEQ officials and DEQ has
required them to construct an earthen berm around
the lift station.
But he said that prospect has raised some objec-
tions from a neighboring property owner.
The city has also agreed to put a second backup
generator for the lift station, and will, over the next
few months, pursue the acquisition of a new gener-
ator to install at that lift station.
Shimun said DEQ officials have said they're sat-
isfied with the steps the city has taken to ensure that
a repeat doesn't take place.
North Fork of Payette
River is OK: for
recreational use,
health officials say
Statesman staff
The North Fork cf the Payette
River is again safe for recrea-
tionalists to use.
A July 28 sewage spill prompt-
ed health officials to issue a
health advisory. They lifted the
advisory Friday, after they re-
ceived test results from water
samples.
Tom Turco, environmental
health director at the Central
District Health Department,
said the levels of fecal bacteria
in the river are down "signifi-
cantly" from last veek.
"The surface water is back to
normal," he said. "There is no
reason at this time to keep peo-
ple out of the river."
safe again
A health advisory against
swimming came after the water
became contaminated when raw
sewage spilled out of a lift sta-
tion for anywhere from 15 min-
utes to an hour.
Swallowing the contaminated
water could have resulted in in-
testinal illness.
The sewage spill was caused
by a power outage. The emer-
gency generator worked for a
while, then failed. People still
flushed their toilets, but the
stalled pump didn't keep the
sewage moving through the sys-
tem, and it overflowed into the
river.
The affected area included the
North Fork of the Payette be-
tween McCall and Tamarack
Bridge on the Cascade Reser-
voir. Payette Lake was not con-
taminated.
The advisory never prohibited
fishing, although people were
advised to cook thoroughly
what they caught.
There were no clean -up costs
because the river naturally
flushes itself. The only costs
were the river testing and man-
power to collect the samples.
Turco said those expenses are in
the health district's operating
budget.
Due to forest fires in the Pay-
ette National Forest, officials
have closed off a 500,000 -acre
area of it.
The closure area is north of
the reopened river segment.
Area affected by spill'
North
Fo ( McCall
rk b
Payette
River
Cascade
Reservoir Cascade
A
Boise N
McCall to explore effluent option that could
solve nutrient problem for Mud Creek watershed
MCCALL — Yet another option is being stud-
ied for resolving McCall's sewage effluent prob- s
still be costly, he said. That pre- C
Council members agreed to that,
lem, which has been pegged as a major contrib- l
borhood of $8.5 million, according c
cient funds still available from money
p t
to J -U -B s numbers. a
already granted the city by DEQ to
would see the city pipe its effluent to settling B
increase the number of beneficia- o
options the city has looked at. In
T<om where it would be pumped to irrigators in r
ries, he said. That makes it much a
addition to the J -ditch alternative,
:
the drainage, has to potential for dealing not only m
sources of money to pay for the pro- r
rate land application.
with the effluent point source of nutrients com- s
ject could be attracted, he said. T
The high -rate land application
in from the sewage treatement facility, but also j
t
proposal seemed the most feasible,
to deal with the non -point sources within the J
members that the project takes a b
but was rejected by DEQ as there
entire 18,000 -acre Mud Creek drainage. m
major step from just one of dealing w
was not a high enough degree of
The proposal would be an alternative to the m
with the point source problem pro- c
certainty that there would be a zero
J -ditch that was discussed by George Wagner of v
vided by the waste water treatment c
contribution of nutrients to the reser-
J-U-B Engineers at a meeting last month of the f
facility to one of watershed man- v
voir by the proposal.
Cascade Reservoir Coordinating Committee. J- a
agement. T
The slow -rate land application
U -B is the Boise engineering firm selected by T
That wider scope will provide a
alternative was generally believed
the city to do the upgrade to the sewer treatment m
more opportunities for outside fund- t
to be too expensive, mostly because
facility. i
ing, however, he said. About $1 mil- o
of the high cost of the roughly 1,000
That plan would have the city l
lion is now available through a state a
acres the city would have to pur-
lay a pipe down the J- ditch, an irri- a
appropriation t
chase.
south out of McCall. Treated efflu- i
indication that the Soil Conservation a
alternatives would have to involve
ent would be mixed with water and S
Service might be willing to grant a t
the cooperation of almost all, if not
then sprinkled on irrigated croplands s
similar amount. a
all, of the landowners whose prop -
But concerns about whether the E
Environmental Protection Agency b
by the gray water.
for food crops and seed potatoes a
as would other agencies and orga- m
much cropland, and is most flood -
grown in that area made the pro- n
nizations i
irrigated grazing land, that would
In addition, J -U -B's preliminary i
if the innovative project could be l
landowners to buy into, J -U -B offi-
estimates of the cost of that pro- s
shown to be a demonstration pro-
But in almost all cases with the
how much of the cost could be born i
in t
J -ditch property owners Vickers dis-
by outside funding sources, also e
ent pollution, there might be some c
to see the idea developed more before
that the proposal would prove fea- M
Money might also become avail- t
they made a decision on whether or
sible. a
able should it be possible to form a n
Wagner told members of the s
sort of "wetlands bank," whereby
A part of both alternatives would
at their meeting last week, s
some of t
t the construction re additional
s
ground to further study that proposal s
sate for wetlands that have been s
water would be stored during the
drainage. h
he said.
winter when no irrigation takes place.
McCall to ask farmers
to use treated sewage
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
A plan that would take McCall's
phosphorus -laden sewage out of Cas-
cade Reservoir and placed onto
farmers' fields was given the go -ahead
for more study last week by the McCall
City Council.
Council members authorized J -U-
B Engineers of Boise to study two
different plans for diverting McCall's
treated wastewater out of the North
Fork of the Payette River and into an
improved system of irrigation ditches
west of Lake Fork.
The plans carry an estimated price
tag of between $8.4 million and $10.8
million. But engineers were hopeful
the project could be heavily funded
by grants because of high public con-
cern over cutting pollution in the
reservoir.
The city's treated sewage now
meets all federal standards for pollut-
ants, but phosphorus leftover from
the treatment process has been identi-
fied as a significant polluter of the
reservoir. Current estimates say 11
percent of the phosphorus that goes
into the reservoir comes from the
McCall plant.
The reservoir is struggling to sur-
vive as phosphorus pollution feeds
algae blooms, which in turn chokes
oxygen out of the reservoir.
The two alternatives to be studied
would send treated wastewater down
pipes to farmland and ranchland
served by either the J -Ditch or by
Mud Creek, George Wagner of J-U-B
told council members at their regular
meeting last Thursday.
The wastewater would irrigate the
".and during growing months and then
be stored in a 40 -acre reservoir during
the winter.
The option would not only cut pol-
lution in the North Fork, but irrigators
would save water, power and mainte-
nance costs by using the treated
sewage, which is acceptable quality
for irrigation, Wagner said.
Also, run -off after irrigation would,
be conserved and new wetlands would
be created under the plan, he said.
The plan would be less expensive
than other ideas studied over the past
few years to take the treated sewage
out of the North Fork, Wagner said.
One idea would have used the water
to directly irrigate crops on land to be
acquired by the city, but the high cost
of the estimated 800 to 1,000 acres
needed ruled out that plan, he said.
Another plan would have piped
the wastewater out of the Payette River
basin altogether and into the Little
Salmon River basin in Meadows Val-
ley, but concerns over effects on
salmon runs nixed that plan, Wagner
said.
The J -Ditch and Mud Creek plans
cannot work unless land owners that
would use the water agree to the idea,
Wagner said. For that reason, he em-
phasized the next step was planning
only, and no option would be selected
before land owners were consulted
and all of their concerns addressed, he
said.
"We're only talking about some
ideas, and nobody is doing anything
but studying alternatives," Wagner
said.
The 1994 Idaho Legislature ap-
proved $1 million for the city of
McCall to remove phosphorus from
the North Fork, and Wagner said an-
other $1 million has been applied for
by the local U.S. Soil Conservation
Service office for ditch improvements.
Those funds could be used for the J-
Ditch or Mud Creek options, he said.
Also, the state Division of Envi-
ronmental Quality has a program that
could provide 50 percent matching
funds for the project, he said.
If the city had to bear some of the
cost, the price tag would be passed
along in monthly fees to city sewer
customers. For example, financing
$4.4 million of the project would add
an estimated $11.28 to a customer's
monthly bill, according to J -U -B esti-
mates. Local financing of $7.4 million
would add about $19 to monthly bills.
The largest costs associated with
the plans would be for the miles of
pipeline that would need to be laid.
The J -Ditch plan calls for pipes as
large at 42 inches in diameter plus
thousands of feet of smaller pipe.
Building a winter storage reser-
voir to hold 255 million gallons of
treated sewage would cost $3.6 mil-
lion alone.
.se " l: "q4--
L6AI ValleLf Ad116c2i7".( _C)rj5Iyq
The various alternatives will be discussed in more depth at com-
ing meetings of the Joint Powers Board that oversees the district, and
also at either the Oct. 13th or Oct. 27 meeting of the McCall City
There may be help available.
McCall
Whiteman said district and city
officials, along with representa-
tives of J -U -B Engineering, of
sewer
Boise, the city's engineers on the
project, are searching high and
low for every possible outside
source of money to help pay for
solution
the project.
Included in that is the poten-
tial for the Bureau of Reclamation
to fund up to half of the cost of
the project, Whiteman said. The
Idaho Department of Health and
be c o s t
l y
Welfare's Division of
Environmental Quality has already
MCCALL — Fixing McCall's
pledged more than $1 million
sewage effluent disposal system
toward the project.
But that something will be done
isn't going to be cheap.
Preliminary cost estimates dis -
and soon is a given, according to
cussed at a meeting last week of
McCall City Manager Gary Shimun.
the Cascade Reservoir /Payette
He said Tuesday that the cost of the various alternatives i0ugh;
Lake Watershed Projects Technical
but the city will pursue a project of some sort because "It's the right
Advisory Committee meeting here
thing to do."
put the cost of the cheapest alter -
The Maki alternative is the most feasible one from a "let's get some -
native at nearly $8.9 million, and
thing going" perspective, he said. From the aspect of getting the widest
the most expensive at nearly $14.8
possible involvement of other agencies, however, the Mud Creek alter -
million.
native would be the one to pursue. he said. Such a broad project would
The alternative that is getting
greatly increase the potential to obtain "demonstration grants."
the most interest is one being called
that alternative could ultimately deal with the water quality prob-
the Maki alternative and which
lems of the entire Mud Creek drainage, besides solving McCall's
would see treated effluent being
sewage effluent problem, officials have said in past meetings on the
applied to agriculture land locat-
matter.
ed south of Lake Fork in the Maki
While the price tag will be high, Shimun said city and district res-
Lane area.
idents might go for a bond of a couple of million if necessary. That,
"It's very hefty, you've got that
even in what everyone agrees is a rather dismal environment in McCall
right," Ted Whiteman, director of
in which to try to pass a bond of any sort.
the Payette Lakes Water & Sewer
"In the climate that there is right now, I don't look very favorably
District said this week.
to a bond issue," Whiteman said.
"I think it will all hinge on fund-
But, "People also realize we have a responsibility," Shimun said.
ing availability," he said.
Shimun said that he Wants people to also be aware that if for a
"As we said up front, the dis-
drainage -wide project to be feasible it will require lots of cooperation
trict and city don't have the
from landowners, and that could be the biggest hurdle to get over.
money," Whiteman said. The sys-
That still will be an issue with the Maki proposal, but with not as
tem is and would be cooperative-
much land involved, the problem won't be as acute.
ly operated by the district and the
"We're working in good faith," Shimun said. The city recognizes
City of McCall.
it is part of the problem and is working toward solutions, solutions
"We want to be a good neigh-
that could even go beyond the city, he said. There are other areas in
bor and get the discharge out of
the district and near the district now using septic systems that could
the (North Fork of the Payette)
potentially be brought in and sewered, he said. The city is looking at
river, but we're going to need
some of that, he said.
help," he said.
The Maki option, which Whiteman said is probably the most viable,
Effluent from the McCall
would basically involve delivering treated effluent to about 1,100 acres
Sewage Treatment Plant has been
of ground where it would be sprinkled.
identified as the largest single point
But that would be a peak amount of land needed in a wet year.
source contributor of phospho-
Dryer years would require less land, according to Kirby Vickers, of
rous nutrients to Cascade Reservoir.
J -U -B Engineers.
Estimates are that 10 to 11 per-
And the ultimate cost of the Maki project "might be less, Vickers
cent of the annual nutrient load
said, as there is $1.5 million built into that $9.7 million figure for
entering the reservoir comes from
improvements to the city's present treatment facility that may or may
the McCall facility.
not be necessary. `
The various alternatives will be discussed in more depth at com-
ing meetings of the Joint Powers Board that oversees the district, and
also at either the Oct. 13th or Oct. 27 meeting of the McCall City
PSWSD selects
treatment ftacility plan
MCCALL — The Payette Lakes Water and Sewer District
Board selected a wastewater treatment facility alternative to
recommend to McCall City Council during a board meeting
last Friday.
The treatment facility alternative selected, known as the
Maki Alternative, will require an upgraded treatment facility,
the effluent from which will be applied to farmland at agro-
nomic rates, according to George Wagner, vice president of
JUB Engineers of Boise.
JUB presented three alternatives to board members during
Friday's meeting, alternatives that were recommended to the
PLWSD Board by the Joint Powers Board of City of McCall
and PLWSD officials, which share oversight of the sewer sys-
tem.
The two other alternatives included a "general slow rate land
application," and a "general high rate land application." After
outlining all three alternatives, members voted to recommend
the Maki Alternative to McCall City Council.
According to PLWSD manag-
er Ted Whiteman, the Maki
Alternative was chosen mainly for
three reasons.
"Ease of implementation was
the main reason, timing was the
second, and finally cost," he said.
According to Whiteman, if all
goes well, the plan could be in
effect as early as the spring of
1995, with the total first cost, or
construction cost, of the plan being
$9,949,282, which is between
$300,000 and $1 million lower
than the other alternatives pro-
posed.
Whiteman also said the Board
chose to recommend the Maki
Alternative even though there were
some reservations about land own-
ership. Two members expressed
interest in owning the land, rather
than leaving ownership to a pri-
vate individual.
Under the Maki Alternative,
the 1,100 -acre site just south of
town is owned or leased and active-
ly farmed by the Maki family, with
an additional 160 acres owned by
Harry Bettis. According to
Whiteman, both parties appear
willing to participate although no
contracts have been signed.
"It's still preliminary, no con-
tract has been signed yet with
Maki," Whiteman said.
The Maki Alternative plan,
which is estimated to cost about
$1.2 million annually to operate,
would involve pre- treating sewage
effluent at an upgraded treatment
facility, followed by slow rate
application to the Maki's farm-
land through sprinkler irrigation
during the four and a half month
growing season. According to JUB,
application would be at "agro-
nomic rates allowing for uptake
of nutrients by crops and grass-
lands."
Besides the ability to imple-
ment the plan quickly, timing, and
cost, the Maki project had other
positive aspects the Board liked.
For instance, the Maki's have
expressed interest in a 20 -year
agreement for the plan, something
the Board says it needs. Also, the
size of the land parcel and storage
facility would allow more flexi-
bility throughout "most of the
design life."
JUB told the Board that the
Maki Alternative could be a reli-
able, long -term answer for efflu-
ent disposal if designed properly,
and that the final project will
remove 100 percent of Mc.Call's
effluent, something the Board said
it wanted. With just the "bare
bones" of the project implement-
ed, Whiteman said 50 percent of
McCall's effluent would be
removed.
According to a cost evaluation
by JUB, if the Maki Alternative
was implemented, McCall resi-
dents' monthly PLWSD costs
would go down as much as ten
dollars. Wagner said the monthly
cost to McCall users could be as
low as $11, and nine dollars a
month for PLWSD.
A grant from DEQ of $1 mil-
lion has been approved, and if
grants from the Bureau of
Reclamation and the Soil
Conservation Service come through,
monthly costs would become even
lower.
Under some fairly recent fed-
eral legislation, the Bureau of
Reclamation could participate in
up to half of the cost of the pro-
ject, but that would require a line
item appropriation that would have
to be approved by Congress.
One of the main downfalls of
the project is that the system would
require a land application permit,
allowing for certain governmen-
tal and time constraints to be in
effect. Wagner said the permit
process could be "long and ardu-
ous," but that the Idaho Department
of Environmental Quality had
assured him the permit would be
a "high priority."
Whiteman said the issue could
go before the McCall City Council
as soon as the Council's regular
meeting scheduled for this com-
ing Thursday.
"It's the beginning of fast -paced
development," Whiteman said.
"We will be actively seeking solu-
tions in the next few months
towards final selection of an alter-
native."
Va tlei/ Advocate
McCall Council opts for
$9'.9 million Maki alternative
Kim Pearson
Staff Writer
McCall City Council gave the go
ahead for a wastewater treatment facil-
ity alternative that was recommended
to the Council by the Payette Lakes
Water and Sewer District.
The alternative, known as the Maki
Alternative, wqs selected last week by
PLWSD board members and brought
before the Council at last Thursday's
meeting, where members unanimously
decided to approve the alternative.
JUB Engineers of Boise presented
all three alternatives initially being con-
sidered by PLWSD, from which the
Maki Alternative was chosen, to coun-
cil members.
George Wagner of JUB said he con-
sidered the Maki Alternative to be a
"very good alternative." Out of all three
alternatives considered, the Maki is the
easiest to implement, with the fastest
results, according to Kirby Vickers of
JUB.
"Of all the alternatives we looked at,
it's the one that we can get the quick-
est response to get phosphates out of
the water," Vickers said.
The Maki wastewater treatment plant
would be located on a 1,100 -acre site
just south of town that is owned and
leased by the Maki family, and of which
a 160 acres parcel of the proposed site
is owned by Harry Bettis, whom JUB
said would be a willing participant in
the plan.
The Maki Plan would involve pre -
treating sewage effluent at an upgrad-
ed treatment facility, followed by slow
rate application to the Maki's farmland
through sprinkler irrigation during the
Nov -)3, /,?Vl
four and a half month growing season.
According to JUB, application would be at "agronomic rates allow-
ing for uptake of nutrients by crops and grasslands." Although no con -
tract has been signed between the parties involved, Wagner said the
Maki family seemed interested in the agreement.
However, not everyone at the meeting was as enthusiastic about
the Maki alternative. Residents living near the Maki farm voiced con-
cerns to the Council and JUB pertaining to odor, and other aspects of
living near a wastewater treatment facility. Vickers said that there
would be no guarantee the facility would be odorless.
Some residents said they were upset because they were not even
notified that the alternative was being proposed. Council assured
everyone that the matter would go before a public hearing before any
steps were taken.
Wagner said JUB needed City Council's approval of the alterna-
tive before approaching Maki with a contract or agreement. Depending
on Maki's repsonse, the alternative could be in use as early as next
summer. If the Maki Alternative falls through, the Council agreed to
initiate a second alternative chosen by PLWSD board members, known
as the `general slow rate land application" alternative.
Vai&, at,_�t,,�&
McCall Council sends Maki
plan on to DEQ for approval
MCCALL — The McCall City Council Thursday
night voted to send on to Idaho's Division of
Environmental Quality for approval the city's plan
to dispose of its treated sewage effluent by land appli-
cation on agricultural ground south of Lake Fork.
The so- called Maki Alternative would have the
city's treated effluent piped from the city's treat-
ment plant to land owned by Will and Jake Maki
and Harry Bettis, where it would be sprinkled on
agriculture ground.
But that plan may not be the project that is ulti-
mately built as Councilors acknowledged the work
done by the Valley Soil & Water Conservation District
to bring about the J -Ditch alternative.
That idea was discarded last year by the city and
its wastewater treatment plant engineering firm, J-
U-B Engineers of Boise, as having too many road-
blocks. J -U -B and city officials felt that getting the
half -dozen land owners who draw irrigation water
from that ditch to all agree to the plan was insur-
mountable.
However, Berry Albert, a VS &WCD soil con-
servationist, has been working to get those landown-
ers together. And last week it was announced that
he had mostly been successful, with only Simplot
Farms not entirely on board yet. Simplot manage-
ment needed to further study the idea to see if the
irrigation with treated and diluted sewage effluent
fit into their crop rotation schedule.
"My personal sense is that alternative is worth
continuing to track to see if it is viable," Council
member Bill Killen said.
But because of the other factors involved — includ-
ing the threat of a lawsuit from the Cascade Reservoir
Association over its continued discharge of treated
effluent into the North Fork of the Payette River —
"I wouldn't want to delay the Maki proposal," Killen
said.
"At the present time, the Maki Alternative is ripe
for review by (Idaho's Division of Environmental
Quality)," he said. "We've been going at this for two
years."
George Wagner, of J -U -B Engineers, told the
Council that the facility plan for the Maki Alternative
addresses land application over a wide area. Should
DEQ issue a Finding of No Significant Impact on
the Maki proposal, that finding may not be incon-
sistent with the J -Ditch alternative.
"It's a credible alternative," Killen said. "Though
it's still an infant where we have a robust teen -ager
in the Maki Alternative."
If that alternative were to work out and the efflu-
ent could be removed from the river using the J-
Ditch, and at a lower cost to boot, "We'll die and go
to heaven," he said.
The Star-News 3/2/95 Page #1 of 3 Pages
McCall City Council delays
Maki sewer plan
BY SHARI HAMBLETON Ma s
The Star-News
The McCall City Council last week
put on hold for at least a year a plan to
irrigate crops near Lake Fork with But officials and engineers must
treated sewage. INSIDE first work through and address public
The delay in the project was as- concerns presented both during the
sured when the council voted last N. Idaho finds sewa eon farms works. public meeting earlier this month and
Thursday to put off the initial phase of g those submitted in writing, before
the project which would have -laid a —Page 3 progressing any further.
pipeline across the North Fork of the An "Environmental Information
Payette River. Sewer plan faces state scrutiny. Document" is being compiled and
The pipe would have carried treatei 1� y' will be available to the public soon
effluent from the McCall sewagetreal- —Back Page e which will answer those concerns,
ment facility to farm and pastureland Wagner said. That document should
near Lake Fork. But the neighbors of likely be completed within the next
the farmland have expressed opposi- lower bid for the construction in the declining water quality in the reser- month.
tion to the proposal. fall of the effluent line and a water voir. Other items discussed during
Bids for the river crossing were line. But engineers had hoped to speed By delaying the project beyond the-rhursday's council meeting included:
considered at the council's regular up the process, piping effluent to the spring low water level of the river, • Franchise Fee: The council re-
meeting Thursday. But the two bids Lake Fork site by this summer. "we've basically delayed the project .-onsidered a recently approved
received — one for $78,000 and a That would have prevented another year," McCall City Manager�mergency ordinance establishing a
second for $133,400 — were both McCall's phosphorus -laden treated Gary Shimun said. three percent franchise fee on Idaho
rejected because the council believed sewage from flowing into the North "That's going to upset the folkspower Co.
negative public reaction to the plan Fork of the Payette and downstream down in Cascade who want to see Council member Bill Killen ques-
indicated closer scrutiny was neces- to Cascade Reservoir. Officials say McCall's (effluent) out of the river, 'tioned the legality of the ordinance in
sary• McCall's sewage contributes td the he said. tight of a requirement preventing such
A public meeting held Feb. 16 to
gather public comments on the plan,
called the Maki Alternative, turned
nasty as Lake Fork land owners re-
peatedly told the council they wanted
to know more about the proposed
land application plan and a large stor-
age pond.
To delay construction of the river
crossing any longer would delay the
project at least until next fall when the
water level in the river drops again,
the council was told by George
Wagner, of J -U -B Engineering of
Boise, which designed the plan.
To attempt construction during the
summer would mean escalated costs,
Wagner said.
The city had previously received a
an ordinance from being passed on
the day of its introduction.
• Downtown Plan: The council
approved the Downtown Master Plan
Outline submitted by the Downtown
Planning Subcommittee.
The outline will now proceed to
the design stage although Killen
stressed the fact it was being accepted
by the council as a series of recom-
mendations.
"I want to make it clear we haven't
endorsed the end result," he said. A
copy of the outline is available for
public review.
• Sick Leave: Changes to the city's
personnel policy were discussed in-
cluding a section addressing
performance appraisals, employee
health insurance and the possibility of
initiating a "sick leave bank," to which
employees could donate accumulated
sick leave for rise by other employees.
The Star-News 3/2/95 Page #2 of 3 Pages
Use of treated sewage on farms
found safe in N. Idaho project
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star -News
Using treated sewa ge to grow crops
is not a new idea and has been found
to be safe in at least )ne other Idaho
community, according to an engineer
who has worked with the method.
Neighbors west of Lake Fork are
not happy with the McCall City Coun-
cil over a plan to irrigate farmland
near their homes with treated sewage.
The project, called the Maki Alter-
native, would take treated sewage now
being dumped into the North Fork of
the Payette River and use it to grow
crops.
Neighbors are concerned about
how the plan would work and whether
there are any environmental risks. But
much can be gleaned from the experi-
ence of others who have blazed the
scientific trail of land application.
Land application of sewage has
been around awhile, said Jim Kimball,
an engineer presently working on a
similar project in the Hayden Lake
area in northern Idaho.
Kimball has been working on a
pilot land application project for the
Hayden Sewer District.
That project is situated directly
over the Rathdrum aquifer, the sole
source of drinking water for three
major populated areas; Spokane,
Wash., Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho.
While the three -year pilot project
involved an 18 -acre test plot and cost
$60,000 to complete, the full -scale
project will encompass 470 acres re-
cently purchased by the Hayden Lake
Sewer District, Kimball said. The re-
sults of the three -yoar study were
worth the wait.
The pilot project confirmed that
applying municipal effluent actually
will have less effect on water quality
of the aquifer than conventional agri-
cultural irrigation methods, Kimball
said.
Hayden's test plot, which con-
tained blue grass sold for commercial
seed, hay and wheat, was irrigated
continuously during the growing sea-
The pilot project
confirmed that applying
municipal effluent
actually will have less
effect on water quality of
the aquifer than
conventional agricultural
irrigation methods.
son with treated wastewater.
During the non - growing season,
the sewage is treated at the main treat-
ment plant with an alum process which
binds the phosphate, and the resulting
sludge removed and the water re-
turned to the Spokane River.
"People in those areas were pretty
concerned about activity over the aqui-
fer," Kimball said. "They didn't want
the water quality degraded."
But the study, which involved both
a land application plot and a conven-
tional agricultural irrigation plot, con-
firmed that crops were able to use
nutrients from the effluent more effi-
ciently and more completely because
of the slow rate at which they were
applied, he said.
Conventional agricultural methods
use large amounts of inorganic fertil-
izers applied once or twice a year,
Kimball said. Much of that runs off
into the subsurface water because
crops can't use it all.
But land application is not a cure -
all, Kimball said. Careful analysis of
soil types, topography and subsurface
water flow patterns and consideration
of site crops, are important to the
success of the project, he said.
"Using grazing cattle can be a prob-
lem," he said, "because sometimes
they'll trample down the site," com-
pacting the soil which would interfere
with the absorption of the effluent
water.
Crops grown on the land applica-
tion site are important, Kimball said.
"You want to get maximum utili-
zation of the effluent nutrients," he
said. "While the acreage could be
used to graze cattle, it would be better
to remove the crops grown on the
land, planting new crops which would
absorb a greater amount of the nutri-
ents supplied by the effluent."
All areas are not alike, each requir-
ing an in -depth look at soil types,
length of the growing season and other
factors which would affect how much
of the water, and the nutrients in that
water, an application site could handle,
Kimball said.
That's one of the chief concerns of
the family of Loretta Florence, who
spoke to the McCall City Council in a
hearing on the Maki Plan last month.
The Florences operate the Rain-
bow Ranch, where seed potatoes are a
major crop. Florence told the council
the Lake Fork area was well suited for
seed potatoes because of its isolation
from other agricultural areas, and
potato diseases which might other-
wise contaminate their crops.
Now they want assurances appli-
cation of McCall's effluent will not
destroy their livelihood.
The Florences also are concerned
too much water might be applied dur-
ing Long Valley's short growing sea-
son, causing runoff conditions for
surrounding neighbors to the site.
"Our main concern is that they are
planning to apply too much water ...
for the amount of acreage and the type
of soil we have," she said.
Kimball agrees that's a valid con-
cern, and said the rate at which certain
crops take up and use the water should
be carefully studied.
"A critical factor for (the McCall
project) would be the ability of the
soil to absorb phosphorus," which is
"the whole reason you go to land
application," he said.
"You have to do your homework
and it costs money to do the detailed
studies and it takes public input to
look at the process and become com-
fortable with it," Kimball said.
News -
3;�5195,-
g47,p J� 3 7 f 3 pars
Sewer plan still needs OK from state
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star-News
Before McCall's treated sewage
can be used to irrigate Lake Fork
farmland, the plan first must pass the
desk of Dick Rogers.
Issuing land application permits is
Rogers' job with the Idaho Depart-
ment of Health and Welfare's Divi-
sion of Environmental Quality.
DEQ has been closely associated
with the study of the Maki Alterna-
tive, McCall's plan to use treated sew-
age to grow crops near Lake Fork
instead of dumping it into the North
Fork of the Payette River.
The DEQ's work includes footing
he bill forthe majority of the $300,000
;ost of the study, but the permit "isn't
i done deal," Rogers said.
The permit would take into ac-
,ount, and actually dictate, the way
affluent is applied and at what rate,
togerssaid.
Although engineers and scientists
ire convinced of the overall safety
ind effectiveness of land application
echnology, it is the finerpoints which
seed closer scrutiny.
Grazing cattle on the land right
after its been watered is one of Roger's
concerns. "That may be a problem up
in (the Lake Fork) area," he said.
Rogers said about 125 land appli-
cation permits have been issued with
projects in operation around the state.
Donnelly has been operating a land
application program, but on a much
smaller scale, since about 1979,
Rogers said. The city of Boise also
applies treated effluent to acreage near
Gowen Field.
But each area has unique charac-
teristics which need to be considered.
Rogers said Lake Fork residents who
are concerned how the Maki Plan
would affect their seed potato crop
need careful consideration.
"I understand that concern,"
Rogers said. "I know how important
it is to maintain the purity of their
seed. I've just never seen it before as
a concern in a land application
(project)."
"I can't believe it's an unknown,"
he said. "There are a lot of seed potato
operations downstream from land
application projects now."
He said concern over drift spray Rogers said. "It would behoove the
reaching crops might be addressed by city of McCall to slow down right
incorporating a vegetative buffer 35 now and spend some time dealing
feet to 50 feet deep. with the public ... or it's going to be
While the public has been told the an `us and them' situation."
Maki Alternative is only in the first "If it's another six months then it's
stages of approval, "engineers have a another six months," he said. "It'll
been talking about it for some time," :)e money well spent."
Roger said. . • Other proposals need to also be
"The land application has been on --onsidered, like going to the west of
the table for quite awhile," he said. the Maki site, he said. He said interest
DEQ received a permit application in a larger regional waste treatment
from McCall Feb. 10. site should also be studied.
But the public was not informed of Rogers said effluent could be ap-
the specific proposal until recently, plied to the McCall Golf Course, a
causing an uproar at a recently held practice common in other areas across
public meeting. the region.
"I'm a big believer in educating The University of Idaho currently
the public," Rogers said. "When you has a land application permit to apply
don't keep them informed ... we get seated effluent on portions of the
the response we had at the meeting." Vloscow campus, he said. Depending
While McCall's plan to use land )n the level of effluent treatment,
application technology makes sense, and application is safe and "quite
the "public perception" is what has icceptable," he said.
thrown the project into a tail spin, he Rogers said a proposed 300 mil -
said. ion gallon pond used to store effluent
"The education process is needed s another consideration. It is also a
and I think people need to feel like najor point of contention for those
their opinions are being respected," vho live adjacent to the site.
News 4p'-If b 1 gv5"�
Star -News Photo by Shan Hambleton
This gravel pit near the McCall sewage- treatment plant is the latest candidate for a storage reservoir.
McCall considers gray. pel it
for .45tora g a of treated sewage
BY SHARI WLMBLETON
The Star-News
The sewer a igineers for the City
of McCall are considering an alterna-
tive location for reservoir ponds asso-
ciated with the Maki Alternative.
The Maki Alternative calls for re-
moving McCall s treated effluent from
the North Fork of the Payette River,
transporting it io the Lake Fork area
and applying it to farm land.
City officials are negotiating the
purchase of 24 to 30 acres of land
owned by Clearwater Concrete and
Gravel adjacent to the city's sewage
treatment lagoons at the end of
Boydstun Street.
The comfany, owned by J.P.
Seubert of Cot:onwood, is now used
to excavate gravel, McCall City Man-
ager Gary Shimun said.
Lake Fork residents, in a public
meeting in February, told city offi-
cials they were upset over not being
informed of the: Maki Alternative ear-
lier. They were especially angry over
the proposed location west of Lake
Fork of a huge reservoir which would
hold treated effluent over the winter
m3nths.
.As city officials and engineers ex-
amine the latest idea, they want the
public well informed.
Rick Mallory of J -U -B Engineer-
ing, the Boise firm representing the
city, will be visiting residents near the
proposed pond site at the sewer la-
goons Saturday and Sunday.
"Plans are to meet with nearby
property owners this weekend,"
Mallory said. "For people who aren't
home, I'll leave information."
Mallory said area residents are
welcome to call and set up an appoint-
ment at his office in Boise. Those
interested should call 343 -3923 or
376 -7330.
Shimun said initial plans to locate
the holding reservoir in the Lake Fork
area adjacent to where the treated
effluent would be applied met with
such opposition, city officials decided
to look elsewhere.
"The key issue (to the opposition)
that we discovered in the meeting was
opposition to the storage reservoir in
the Lake Fork area," Shimun said.
"So we started looking at alterna-
tive potential sites," he said. "It was J-
U-B who came up with Seubert's
property."
That property is zoned for indus-
trial uses and already has gravel pits
there, Shimun said. Seubert did not
return telephone calls to his Cotton-
wood office.
Shimun said, although " Seubert is
interested" in selling the property,
negotiations cannot proceed before
an environmental impact document
regarding the Maki Alternative is com-
pleted and submitted to the Idaho
Department of Health and Welfare's
Division of Environmental Quality.
The completed document would
also be available at the McCall City
Hall for public review, he said.
Also integral to the Maki Altema-
tive plan is $5 million in potential
grant funds from the B ureau of Recla-
mation for the construction of the
reservoir system, Shimun said. That
involves timing.
Those funds would not be avail-
able until 1997. The city currently has
a permit to proceed with the first
phase of the Maki Alternative —
crossing the North Fork of the Payette
River with the pipe which would cant'
the treated effluent to the Lake Fork
area.
"We have a permit that allows a
12 -inch pipe," Shimun said. "But if
the storage (reservoir) is on this end,
the line has to be a 20 -inch pipe."
The issue of where the reservoir
will be located has to be established
before the city can proceed with the
river crossing, he said.
"There's also a dramatic differ-
ence in cost from a 12 to a 20 -inch
pipe," Shimun said.
lie, Std- NeWS it-If 13 /99�
ei ghbors told of sewer pond idea
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The star -News
Engineers working for the City of
to property owners was to let them
know what was going on early in the
ing too awfully big ... to think you
could connect the proposed Riverfront
McCall want to make sure area resi-
process, listen to their concerns and
Park (located across Mission Street
dents are informed before getting
incorporating them, if possible, into
from the McCall Smokejumper base)
rious about a new plan for a holdinng g
the overall plan.
If the reservoir is constructed adja-
with bike and hiking trails."
"It may mean a little more effort up
reservoir for treated sewage.
The reservoir — part of McCall s
cent to the city's current lagoons, it
front, but there are benefits derived in
Maki Alternative for disposing e
will be located on about 25 to 30 acres
the long term," Morrow said. "Let's
be
city's treated effluent he coulld d be
of land McCall officials are consider-
plan for 20 years of high quality of
constructed adjacent
purchasing rom Clearwater Con-
a
life."
t lagoons at the .
rent sewage treatment lagoons at the
cre and Gravel, owned by J.P.
Suggestions like Morrow's,
end of Boy, n Street.
Seubert of Cottonwood. That prop-
Mallory says will be given serious
plans
Initially,ted
erty is now used to excavate gravel.
consideration as plans for the con -
in the Lake Fork
located in the Lake Fork
The holding reservoir would be
struction ofthe reservoirbecome more
area, adjacent to farmland where ef-
areto ja
about the same size as the city's cur -
firm.
fluent will likely be applied to crops
rent treatment facility, Mallory said.
Although the holding reservoir is
and pasture.
McCall City Manager Gary
part of the second phase of the overall
But Lake Fork residents, during a
Shimun said negotiations for Seubert's
project, city officials mustfirstdeter-
public meeting in February, opposed
property have not officially begun,
mine where it will be located before
the plan, asking city officials to keep
but Seubert has said he would be
moving forward with the first stage
their effluent closer to home.
interested in discussing the sale.
— constructing pipe from the treat -
Many also said they were angry
Rob Morrow lives close to
Seubert's excavation pits, and said
ment plant across the North Fork of
the Payette River to the land applica-
overnot being told earlier of the plans
to construct a holding reservoir in the
construction of holding lagoons could
"win
tion site in Lake Fork.
Lake Fork area.
be a -win situation for every-;
If the reservoir were located in
City official, andJ -U -B Engineers
one," if it's done right.
Morrow and two other nearby
Lake Fork, a smaller diameter pipe
could be used because effluent would
of Boise don't want to make that
mistake again.
homeowners met with Mallory Satur-
be pumped gradually throughout the
J -U -B hired former McCall resi-
day to discuss the proposed holding
year.
dent Rick ry tothead a public,
reservoir project.
"We'd like to see it done in a
If the reservoir is located in McCall,
the pipe would need to be larger to
information program
residents about proposed design and
manner where everyone could get a
pump effluent to farmland just during
construction plans for the project.
Positive benefit out of it rather than
the irrigation season, Mallory said.
Mallory is a former coordinator of
have it be just another industrial use,"
While a larger pipe would cost
the Payette Lakes Water and Sewer
Morrow said.
significantly more, the overall project
District, which operates the sewer,
Aesthetics are high on Morrow's
cost would be about the same because
plant jointly w ith the City of McCall.
list of concerns. "We'd like to see it
a second chlorination plant would not
Mallory said he personally visited
bermed and landscaped with maybe
be necessary if the reservoir is located
with 17 property owners last week-
some bike and hiking trails.. . so it's
a positive experience rather than a
in McCall, he said.
The effluent will be treated twice
end and left information for about 40
others who were not home.
scab," he said.
"There's
before application to farmland, and
in
He said his whole intent in talking
a lot of opportunity out
"It's
the process could be accomplished at
there," Morrow said. not think- ;
the city's chlorination facility already
in use at the present plant, he said.
One voice
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star-News
McCall City Council member Bill
Killen said McCall needs to answer
challenges to the city's sewage treat-
ment facility plans with one voice.
That voice should come from City
Manager Gary Shimun not by ban-
tering correspondence from City At-
torney Ted Burton, Killen told other
council members, Burton and Shimun
during the council's regular meeting
last Thursday.
"You're takin; some jabs at them
here (Cascade Re servoir Association
attorneys)," Kilk n told Burton in re-
gard to a recent letter he sent to the
Boise law firm of Carter, Brock &
Hinman.
The Cascade Reservoir Associa-
tion last month filed a 60 -day inten-
tion to sue McCall for violation of
the federal Clean Water Act if an
agreement could i iot be reached over
the city's sewage - disposal plans.
But city officials say they intend
to pursue the path they hope will
resolve the controversial dumping of
treated city effluent into the North
Fork of the Payette River by imple-
menting the Maki Alternative.
Through the Maki Alternative,
treated effluent would be transported
to farmland in the Lake Fork area and
applied to crops and pasture land
there.
urged on
Burton's letter to CRA attorneys
did not sit well with other council
members, including Ralph Colton.
"The tone of the letter ... it gets us
deeper and deeper. It's like getting in
a contest with a skunk," Colton said.
"We just need to stay the course,"
Killen said. "We don't have any rea-
son to hide or apologize for what
we're doing or not doing. It's the
community that we're responsible
to."
McCall sewage treatment plant
supervisor John Lewinski compiled
a letter to the council addressing spe-
cific claims by the CRA.
In that letter, Lewinski said many
of the alleged violations CRA attor-
neys point to as violations of the
federal Clean Water Act did not go
unreported, as the CRA claims and
many did not occur at all.
Lewinski's letter addressed CRA
CRA threat
claims which included McCall's fail-
ure to monitor flow levels, pH viola-
tions and fecal coliform violations.
"The vast number of violations
listed in CRA's complaint occurred
when the flow meter was returned to
the factory for repairs or during a
construction period when McCall had
a variance in its discharge permit to
make necessary repairs," Lewinski
concluded in his letter.
Only one violation — for violat-
ing fecal coliform levels once in 1990
— "generated the only letter of rep-
rimand or warning for our plant dis-
charge ... sent loy a state or federal
regulatory official," Lewinski said.
"I was quite pleased to see Mr.
Lewinski's letter," Killen said. "It
should go out to everyone who is
involved here. It's important infor-
mation. It needs no editorial com-
ment. It speaks for itself."
Hearing set.
on revised
Maki p
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star -News
The Maki Alternative sewer plan
for the City of McCall will once again
be under the microscope of public
scrutiny Wednesday during an infor-
mational meeting and public hearing.
The meeting will be held at the
McCall Golf Course Clubhouse. An
informational meeting is set to run
from 5:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. Public
testimony will be heard beginning at
7:30 p.m.
The revised plan is available for
review at McCall City Hall, the
McCall Public Library and the Pay-
ette Lakes Water and Sewer District
office in McCall.
The Maki Alternative is the plan
McCall officials have set their sights
on to resolve the city's sewage -dis-
posal dilemma.
The city's treated effluent currently
flows into the North Fork of the Pay-
ette River, which flows downstream
into Cascade Reservoir. The Maki
Alternative calls for the effluent to be
transported to the Lake Fork area and
applied to crops and pasture land there.
A public meeting held in February
resulted in a public outcry over the
project. Many property owners said
they were not told about the project
even though they would be affected.
Because of that public opposition,
McCall City Council members and
the city's consultants, J -U -B Engi-
neers of Boise, stepped back to address
public concerns.
J -U -B compiled a Facility Plan
Report which includes a response to
those comments. That document is
available for public review at the
McCall City Hall and Payette Lakes
Water and Sewer District office ii,
McCall.
The winter storage lagoon planned
for the Lake Fork area was a concern
for many who raised their voices in
protest during the public hearing in
February.
As a result, alternatives sites for
the reservoir have been explored.
McCall officials are now considering
purchasing 25 to 30 acres of land in
McCall owned by Clearwater Con-
crete and Gravel. The property is
located adjacent to the city's current
sewage treatment lagoons.
One Voice
Urged on
aki Vii'
But plans to transport the effluent
to the Lake Fork area for application
across farmland is still the main focus
of the project, said Rick Mallory of J-
U -B.
"The major change is the potential
for the storage lagoon to be moved,"
Mallory said. "Other than that there
are no real changes in the project. We
are looking at a sprinkler system that
would reduce wind drift of spray with
.. low pressure nozzles directed
toward the ground rather than up in
the air."
After concern was expressed by
growers of seed potatoes that their:
crops might be contaminated -,by the
nearby land- applied effluent, Mallory
said plant pathogen specialists from
the University of Idaho were con-
tacted for advice.
Reference and research material
was also reviewed, Mallory said.
"From an engineering standpoint,
we feel like we've looked far enough
... and we're confident this is not
going to be a problem," he said. "But
it's something no one can guarantee."
About $300,000, mostly in state
funds, already has been spent to study
the Maki Alternative, which calls for
McCall effluent to be applied to farm-
land owned by Will and Jake Maki
and Harry Bettis.
The landowners have signed let-
ters of intent indicating they would be
interested in continuing negotiations
over the proposal. If the project is
approved, they would use the treated
waste water to irrigate alfalfa and
other pasture land grazed by cattle.
According to the plan, $2.1 mil-
lion would be spent this year to build
a five -mile long pipeline from the
city's sewage treatment plant, located
at the south end of Boydstun Street, to
about 870 acres of farmland.
During winter months, when it
would not be needed for irrigation,
the treated waste water would be stored
in a lined holding pond designed to
mdy 18, /495
contain 300 million gallons of efflu-
ent.
The pond would not be built this
year and no funding has been found to
finance it but a location must be deter-
mined so the correct size pipe ca m be
installed.
McCall City Manager (iary
Shimun said the public hearing pro-
cess will continue until public 4 -on-
cerns have been addressed.
"DEQ (the Idaho Departmer it of
Health and Welfare's Division i of
Environmental Quality) has tol( J us
we will continue to do this pro cess
until we have satisfied the public h Bar-
ing process or at least until wt I've
satisfied them (DEQ) that we've sat-
isfied the public hearing process,"
Shimun said.
"Either we have honestly addre: ssed
public concerns or they (the put )lic)
will use the process to raise additit )nal
concerns and run the process forewer,"
Shimun said.
A panel will be available to ans :wer
questions during the public infoi ma-
tion session, Mallory said. That p anel
will include representatives f rom
DEQ, J -U -B Engineers, the Cit y of
McCall, Central District Health De-
partment, and Valley Soil and Water
Conservation District.
"We'll go over a brief discussion
of what the project is and how we plan
to implement it," Mallory said.
After the initial orientation, spe-
cific topics such as water quality is-
sues, aesthetics, farming concerns and
property values will be addresse, d he
said.
Formal testimony will be heard
beginning at 7:30 p.m..
S1.a r
McCall likes
Maki P lan
for sewers
Proposal sent to state officials
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
TteStar-News
The McCall City Council last week
formally sent the proposed Maki Al-
te mative sewage disposal plan to state
o'ficials for approval, although coun-
ci 1 members said they are willing to
uke a closer look at another proposal.
The decision was made at the
council's regular meeting last Thurs-
day in light of a second proposal by
tl e Valley Soil and Water Conserva-
ti :)n District to replace the Lake
Irrigation District's trouble -prone
open ditch system with a pipeline and
fl god irrigation methods with sprin-
kl ers.
The soil district's proposal also
cells for extension of the pipeline to
include more acreage outside the
present Lake Irrigation District bound -
ai y. That extension would allow more
la ndowners to apply for inclusion into
the district and make more acreage
available for application of McCall's
effluent.
Barry Albert, conservationist for
the VSWCD, said treated McCall ef-
fluent could then be mixed — four
pkrts water to one part effluent —
with irrigation water the district gets
from Little Payette Lake. The pipe -
line would save about 25 percent of
th e water lost through filtration which
cc uld then be piped to other farmers
needing irrigation water.
While the proposal was one of the
al .ematives originally considered for
dealing with McCall's effluent, it was
sidelined in favor of the Maki Alter -
nz.tive.
In the Maki Alternative, McCall
of fluent would be transported via pipe-
line to the Lake Fork area where it
would be applied to farm and pasture
laid there owned by two large land
owners.
The Maki Alternative was likely
chosen over the J -Ditch Alternative
— the name given the Lake Irrigation
District alternative — because more
land owners were involved with the J-
Ditch Alternative, Albert said.
But now, five of the six land own-
ers "have agreed in principal to request
funding for a pipeline that would re-
place the J -Ditch and also accept
effluent from McCall," Albert said.
The undecided land owner — J.R.
Simplot — owns the largest portion
of acreage involved in the J -Ditch
proposal. Although Simplot represen-
tatives have not declined to participate,
they told Albert they are concerned
over the effect effluent could have on
the company's seed potato crop.
Albert said the J -Ditch proposal
could either be an alternative to the
Maki Alternative or a separate project.
The 2,500 acres in the J -Ditch plan is
west of the land slated for the Maki
Alternative but east of the North Fork
of the Payette River.
While council member Bill Killen
said the J -Ditch proposal "certainly is
a credible alternative," he also said
the Maki Alternative "was ripe for
review by DEQ (Idaho Department of
Health and Welfare's Division of En-
vironmental Quality)."
1, for one, am not prepared to
back away from that proposal (the
Maki Alternative)," Killen told other
council members.
George Wagner, of J -U -B Engi-
neers of Boise — the company which
designed the Maki Alternative sys-
tem — said a review by DEQ officials
and subsequent approval of the land
application system, could possibly be
"valid if a different site is chosen."
The council approved the Maki
Alternative for submission for review
by DEQ.
Ne_ W G JL, ;I e 151 l 9 f 5
McCall gets m' axed
signals over sewer
treatment plans
BY SHARI HAMBLETON
The Star -News
McCall City Council members feel
they are receiving two different mes-
sages from state health officials re-
garding the city's plans to dispose of
its treated sewage.
A July 5 letter from Joy Palmer,
regional administrator of Department
of Health and Welfare's Division of
Environmental Quality said she was
concerned "about delays in McCall's
implementation of Phase I ... of the
Maki alternative for upgrade of the
city's wastewater treatment facilities,"
City officials plan to use the Maki
alternative to remove the city's treated
effluent from the North Fork of the
Payette River. The phosphorus -rich
effluent flows downstream to Cas-
cade Reservoir where it compounds
water quality problems there.
At completion, city effluent would
be transported through a pipeline to
the Lake Fork area where it would be
applied to farm and pasture land as
irrigation water.
Palmer's letter asked McCall City
Manager Gary Shimun why funding
and construction had not begun on the
initial phase of the project. Phase I of
the Maki Alternative calls for the "re-
habilitation of existing sand filters,
construction of a new sand filter, and
installation of fine screens and flow
meter."
McCall City council members last
Thursday decided to fund construc-
tion of Phase I as an "ordinary and
necessary expense," which does not
require an approval by voters.
Because the sand filters — and the
addition of another sand filter — is
considered necessary for continued
operation of McCall's present waste
water treatment plant, the expense is
allowed under the law.
The "ordinary and necessary ex-
pense" designation stems from the
state constitution... and allows mu-
nicipality to incur debt beyond its
current year budget: without budget
approval if the expense is deemed
"ordinary and necessary," McCall
City Attorney Ted Burton said.
According to the Facility Plan
Report compiled by J -U -B Engineers
of Boise, the second phase of the
project includes construction of an
effluent pump station, construction of
the pipeline to the Lake Fork farm-
land, and construction of the irriga-
tion system.
Shimun told McCall City council
members he spent several hours last
"We're getting nit-picked to
death on one end and
they're telling us we're not
going fast enough on the
other. "
– Gary Shimun,
McCall City Manager
week with other DEQ officials who
"nit- picked" the Maki Alternative fa-
cility plan report, environmental docu-
mentation and responses to public
concerns.
"They had 16 pages of observa-
tions on the environmental docu-
ment," Shimun told the council dur-
ing their regular meeting last Thurs-
day.
Those observations ranged from
grammatical errors to asking what
steps McCall plans to take to assure
nearby eagles are not disturbed by the
project, he said.
"We're getting nit - picked to death
on one end and they're telling us
we're not going fast enough on the
other," Shimun said. "We're at the
point now of having another public
meeting."
But council member Bill Xillen
said DEQ officials "would have to
force it" if they wanted a third public
hearing. "We've already done that
twice."
Palmer asked Shimun to provide a
schedule of activities for initiation of
Phase I of the Maki Alternative.
Palmer also asked for a time line
for Phase II of the plan which should
include "appropriate milestones for
obtaining funding from the Bureau of
Reclamation, a bond election, and
completion of Phase II construction."
DEQ funding previously set aside
for the Maki alternative — $1.5 mil-
lion in supplemental grant funds —.
will be jeopardized if McCall does
not complete Phase I before next
summer's irrigation season, Palmer
said.
.. In the absence of a schedule
and McCall's serious efforts to com-
ply with the schedule, competing de-
mands for supplemental grants could
jeopardize availability of these funds,"
she said.
"I understand that the City has had
some unexpected delays in the waste-
water planning process, but it is im-
perative that you move forward as
expeditiously as possible," Palmer
said.
i! 0IzI Va I to L/ A 'd vocafe Nov � 5;Iq
McCall's sewage system upgrade funding in jeopardy
Mike Stewart _ Time running out on $1 million state grant
Staff Writer
Some wheels may be turning
faster as the city of McCall attempts
to solve the sewage effluent prob-
lem its being sued over.
Other wheels, primarily these
having to do with funding, are in
need of some grease, however.
McCall City Manager Gary
Shimun told the McCall City
Council Thursday night that not
only was the city being threatened
with the loss of a $1 million match-
ing grant from the state of Idaho
through its Division of
Environmental Quality, but that
he didn't believe there was much
of a chance for the city to get a $5
million grant from the federal
Bureau of Reclamation to build
the winter storage lagoon phase
of the project.
It'll soon be two years since
the city was awarded a $1 million
challenge grant by the Idaho
Legislature, and Rep. Kitty
Gurnsey, R- Boise, and a gradu-
ate of McCall - Donnelly High
School, said this weekend that
there was, in fact, a chance that
the legislature may withdraw that
money and re- direct it somewhe-e
else.
federal grant of $5 million in doubt
With company owner, George Bezates, second from left, looking on, crewmen worked Monday
to begin building a diversion dam in the North Fork of the Payette River. The dam will allow
Bezates to cross the river with what could be a pipeline to nowhere depending on how the McCall
sewage treatment plan shakes out.
S tl I-e 5 /-M.? h Dec 1, 1gg5
Judge clears McCall
sewer- upgrade plan
The Associated Press
McCALL — A district judge
agrees that McCall's plan to
borrow $3.14 million to improve
its sewage treatment facilities
as an "ordinary and necessary"
expense, not a capital outlay.
That means the city can go
ahead with plans to borrow the
money from a state fund, rather
than asking voters to approve a
bond issue. Fourth District
Judge George Carey approved
the plan after a court hearing.
McCall is under pressure from
members of the Cascade Reser-
voir Association to remove
treated sewer effluent from the
North Fork of the Payette River.
The downstream reservoir is suf-
fering from water pollution, in
part from discharges from the
McCall sewer plant.
Sid 6- Ne w
McCall doesn't .like
lawsuit settlement
over city sewage
BY JEANNE SEOL
The Star -News
A proposed settlement to end a
lawsuit brought by the Cascade Res-
ervoir Association against the City of
McCall includes terms that City Man-
ager Gary Shimun describes as "com-
pletely unacceptable."
The Cascade Reservoir Associa-
tion sued both McCall and the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency last July
on charges the EPA was negligent in
not forcing the city to remove its
treated sewage from tpe North Fork
of the Payette River.
Since then, the Cascade Reservoir
Association has announced a settle-
ment with the EPA after that agency
published a permit requiring McCall
to stop the effluent discharge into the
river.
But a proposed settlement with the
city, drafted by the law firm of Carter,
Brock & Hinman, of Boise, is not
sitting well with city officials.
That settlement would require
McCall to promise never to appeal
any recommendations made by the
state Division of Environmental Qual-
ity to EPA on details in a discharge
permit.
A draft discharge permit that was
issued in February by the EPA re-
quires McCall to remove 100 percent
of its phosphorus from treated sew-
age from the North Fork by the end of
1998. A final permit is scheduled to
be issued in June.
"From a technological standpoint,
there is no way that can be done,"
Shimun said of the 100 percent phos-
phorus removal.
Shimun said that because remov-
ing 100 percent of the phosphorus
from the river is technologically im-
possible, the city may decide to ap-
peal that clause in the permit, which
would violate the proposed lawsuit
settlement with the Cascade Reser-
voir Association.
"We should not only have the right,
but we need to exercise our right to
challenge the •(100 percent removal
clause)," Shimun said.
Shimun questioned why the city is
being asked to remove all its phos-
phorus from the river, when DEQ is
asking other contributors, including
ranchers and the U.S. Forest Service,
to reduce their nutrient load by 30
percent.
"Asking the city for a 100 percent
removal is a completely artificial num-
ber that somebody pulled out of the
air," Shimun said. "That recommen-
dation by DEQ was not based on
science, it was based on politics."
Shimun said it is. the option of the
Cascade Reservoir Association to
continue the lawsuit against the city,
but said McCall is doing everything it
can to get its effluent out of the river.
City officials have been working
with local landowners on a slow -rate
land application plan that would
sprinkle its effluent onto crops and
pastures. Officials also recently in-
structed an engineering firm to com-
plete a study on a high -rate absorption
land application plan.
"It is still our intention and always
has been to get the effluent out of the
river," Shimun said.
. The Cascade Reservoir Associa-
tion plans to "stay" its lawsuit against
the city until the final discharge per-
mit is issued in June, association presi-
dent Wayne Van Cour said.
"The city will have to comply with
a ruling from the permit," Van Cour
said. "If it doesn't, we'll have to make
a decision on where to go from there."
M,t 1 c_ (l 7/ / y y 6
Std L , 'a W
Treasurer wants McCall
to give back $1 million
BY JEANNE SEOL
The Star -News
'A $1 million grant given to the
City of McCall last June to help build
a land application system for treated
sewage is in danger of being revoked
by Idaho State Treasurer Lydia
Edwards. .
In a letter dated Feb.. 27 to City
Manager Gary Shimun, Edwards asks
Shimun to return the $1 million grant
to the state�Division of Environmen-
tal Quality.
"The city should return the money
to the state until such time as it ap-
pears the city is able to pursue the
project on schedule," Edwards said in
the letter.
McCall has been working to imple-
ment a project that would substitute
discharging its treated sewage into
the North Fork of the Payette River
with sprinkling the effluent onto crops
and pasture land.
McCall Mayor Bill Killen said at
last Thursday's regular McCall City
Council meeting that he had heard
rumors about the $1 million grant
being in jeopardy.
But Killen said a request from the
state treasurer for the money was un-
usual.
He also doubted the city would
ever see the $1 million grant again if
the city returned it to DEQ.
City Attorney Ted Burton advised
the council to ignore Edwards' re-,
quest because she lacked the author-
ity to revoke any grant money.
"Edwards was not the grant ad-
ministrator and has no authority over
the money," Burton said.
I v ldhc k
State ruling
raises McCall
sewer costs
BY JEANNE SEOL
The Star -News
The cost of McCall's sewage treat-
ment plant expansion increased by
almost $1 million last week after a
more expensive sand filtration sys-
tem was ordered by the state Division
of Environmental Quality.
The city is already operating under
a tight budget of $5.6 million for the
first phase of a sewage treatment im-
provement project. The plan is
designed to remove the city's effluent
from the North Fork of the Payette
River.
City Manager Gary Shimun told
McCall City Council members last
Thursday there was no way the city
could abswb another $1 million in
extra sand filtration costs for the fu-
ture sewage treatment plant.
"DEQ seems to have taken a cava-
lier attitude that they can just tack
another $848,000 to an already tight -
budgeted project," Mayor Bill Killen
said. "They're like `Nightmare on Elm
Street' - they just keep coming back."
Council members instructed
Shimun to fight the sand filtration
order made by DEQ and to conduct an
"administrative review" of the project.
Shimun said the order by DEQ
would not be so disheartening if the
agency had not already approved less
expensive sand filters that the city had
incorporated in its $5.6 million bud-
get.
"Basically, they approved sand fil-
ters that we could afford, and then
decided they weren't good enough
Now we have to install "better" filters
that no other facility in the United
States requires," Shimun said.
Ground was broken for the plant
expansion last fall and construction
on the facility is expected to start
soon. City officials hope to have the
expanded plant up and running by the
end of this year to coincide with an
effluent land application system.
Sewer district to test this s
Officials say distirct's
takeover of sewage
collection system a
boon to all
MCCALL — Payette Lake Water and Sewer
District personnel will continue working this
summer to try to determine the sources of what
is believed to be a significant amount of clean
water that enters the sewage treatment system
during the peak run -off months of April and
May.
Ted Whiteman, manager of the district,
said Monday that based on best estimates of
base flow for the City of McCall, the amount
of sewage running into the city's treatment
system during those months should be 650,000
to 800,000 gallons per day.
Instead, he said peak flows during those
run -off months often reach and exceed 1.6
million gallons per day. That means there's
an awful lot of clean water entering the sys-
tem, dilluting sewage,,and taking up capacity
at the treatment plan besides making it run less
efficiently, Whiteman said.
Typical of the problems that district per-
sonnel are uncovering — since the district
assumed responsibility for the collection sys-
tem in the city last Oct. 1 — is what was found
in a city sewer line near Idaho Highway 55
and Boydstun Lane last week.
The line runs directly under a fence con -
structed on Doug Manchester's property on
the north side of the highway near the under-
pass he built.
Whiteman said his staff was perplexed by
what they viewed as a large amount of fresh
water in the sewage flowing in that line. They
did some dye testing and discovered that at
least two of those fence posts were driven
directly into the sewer line lying underneath
them.
Water was flowing into the sewer line around
the fence posts, he said. After.repairs were
made, the flow of runoff water into the sewer line, with some esti-
mates to be as high as 300 gallons per minute, was stemmed dramat-
ically.
Whiteman said he expects that sewer district personnel will be
involved in a lot of similar detective work as they try to determine just
what kind of shape the system they've inherited is in.
But he doesn't fault the city for the existing problems as city offi-
cials did as well as they could with limited resources and much broad-
er responsibilities. The district, which was formed in the early 1980s
to construct and maintain a sewer system to serve areas outside the
Long vaf(ey Advocate– Mdrel,
R-
ummer for illegal hook -ups
McCall city limits around Payette Lake, has one charge, and that's to
maintain the, sewer collection system.
"They were not able to devote the resources to making sure it was
done right," he said.
One of those other projects will be conducting smoke tests in some
areas of town where some residences are believed to have illegally
connected to the sewer system with French drains to drain storm water
and groundwater from low -lying lots.
That testing will begin this summer and involves pumping smoke
backwards through sewer lines. Whiteman said it becomes readily
apparent where there are problems with a section of sewer line, either
through breakage or illegal hookups. Areas of town that will be test-
ed will be given two weeks notification prior to the testing, he said.
And, McCall City Manager Gary Shimun said those with illegal
hookups to the system will be required to fix them. Shimun said this
week that he really couldn't be happier with how things are working
out between the city and the sewer district. And his enthusiasm match-
es that of Whiteman's
"It's fun for me as a manager too, because every once in a while
we make the deal that's good for the community, and this is one of
them," he said.
He agreed that there is a lot of water being treated by the sewage
treatment plant that shouldn't be, adding to pumping costs and decreas-
ing the capacity of the system.
Shimun also said that he realizes that the district has a lot of work
to do when it comes to rooting out problems with the collection sys-
tem. Last week's situation with the fence posts, he said, is a good
example of what the contract between the city and the district was set
up to accomplish.
"Unequivocally, we're very pleased with the relationship right
now," he said of the agreement.
"They're doing what we asked them to do, they're out there doing
the general maintenance that we asked them to do," he said. In instances
such as that uncovered last week, he said the property owner will be
billed for the repairs.
"We have an easement for that sewer line, and he put a fence over
it. In that case he caused the problem."
Just as it will be with illegal hookups, even if they were made years
and years ago, he said. When one buys a house, they buy a group of
rights, but they also buy some problems, he said.
"We have an ordinance against that, it's illegal," he said.
Under the contract, it will be the city's role to enforce the ordi-
nance.
The city has found an enthusiastic partner in the sewer district, if
Whiteman's attitude is any indication.
"We're enjoying the challenge, and we're looking forward to more
of them," he said.
Among the other things the district has done is install and consol-
idate alarms for all of the lift stations in the district and in the city.
They are all tied to a central display board and an automatic dialer
calls out personnel depending on the situation, he said.
The district is also going to be conducting more inspections of sewer
lines with television cameras.
But, Whiteman cautions that all the technology available doesn't
do any good unless it's used and used properly. Inspections of lines
doesn't mean anything unless you're prepared to repair the problems
those inspections turn up.
The district has also initiated an every- three -year cleaning of lines,
something it's been doing with the district's lines already. That's
accomplished by cleaning one -third of the lines each year.
. on V4/ le y Advocate
(cjg,- -.) ,Q T ,�
PLW &SD manager Ted Whiteman with alarm map.
)- dhq Yla/��y /ac /voca -//z9 / -17
Warrington Construction
apparent low bidder on
J -Ditch project
Braving some of our recent heavy snows, this group of con-
tractors attended a bidding conference on the J -Ditch pro-
ject last week.
MCCALL— Warrington Construction was the apparent low
bidder on a significant portion of what is known as the J -Ditch
project, which will remove the City of McCall's treated sewage
effluent from the North Fork of the Payette River.
Bids were opened on the project Monday and Warrington's
bid of $1,161,530 was significantly lower than the second low
bid of Masco Construction, which bid a bit more than $1.3 mil-
lion for the project.
And, McCall City Manager Gary Shimun said that the
Warrington bid was also about $338,000 below the engineer's
estimates for the project. Bezates Construction of Ontario was
the third low bidder at just over $1.4 million.
Shimun said the city received a total of 10 bids on the pro-
ject, which will see construction of an effluent pump station, a
mixing station that will dilute treated effluent with clean water,
and the pipeline to carry the treated effluent /water mix, and a
separate pipeline carrying just clean irrigation water, out to the
J- Lateral Ditch.
He said many of the bids were clustered around the $1.4 mil-
lion mark, but they went as high as almost $2.1 million.
Shimun said the bids are now being reviewed by the project
engineers, J -U -B Engineering of Boise, to make sure they're
responsive. Then at some point the City Council must formally
award the bid to the low bidder.
But Shimun said there is another minor snag in getting all of
the signatures needed on all of the agreements pertaining to the
project, a snag having to do with liability and indemnity.
But, he said he hoped those details will be cleared up in the
next couple of weeks and that the Council will be able to move
ahead and award the bid in plenty of time so that construction
can begin on the project when weather permits.
"Everything is in place," he said. "From the city's standpoint,
the Council has already approved (the agreement). We're just
waiting on the finals from the property owners."
McCall doubles fees
for wat
BY JEANNE SEOL '
The Star -News
The price of hooking up to the City
of McCall's water system will nearly
double on March 1 as the city struggles
to pay for its improved, $11.2 million
water treatment system.
McCall City Council members last
Thursday approved a hike in the city's
water system "buy -in" fee, the one-
time fee new homeowners, condo-
minium and business owners pay for
a dwelling or building to be con-
nected to the city's water system.
The flat fee was set at $3,750 per
connection, plus an estimated $650
paid to the city for labor and installa-
tion costs. The fee was increased from
a previous charge of $2,250 per con-
nection.
Condominium developments must
pay a separate $3,750 fee for each
unit, while multifamily housing
projects will be charged by the num-
hoo - s
j
Ccti n on tKe ater treat-
ment plant and new wa er lines con-
tinues, while 75 percent of water
meters have been installed, Henderson
said.
Those meters have changed the
way the city charges for its monthly
water use for businesses. Commercial
monthly fees are now set at a flat rate
of $24 per month, plus 60 cents per
gallon over 3,000 gallons. Residen-
tial rates are set at a flat fee of $22 per
month for unlimited water.
As "buy -in" fees are increased,
monthly water rates will also increase
"substantially" in order to pay for the
new system, though no hike in the
city's monthly rate has yet been fig-
ured, Henderson said.
"The news is not good, but it
shouldn't be too much of a surprise,"
Henderson said.
If McCall did not charge hookup
fees or receive revenue from interest
.,., rocarva f,,,,w .•; r., ..,motor m.,.,N+l..
time for sewer ponds
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
In February, Olson stopped
has given the city of McCall more
work on the design ofthe first pond
breathing room to build ponds tc
to conduct a "value engineering"
store the city's treated sewage dur.
review of the project by RH2. The
ing the winter.
consulting firm recommended the
Previously, bureau officials had
city could cut the costs of the ponds
told the city that a construction
by looking at a second site and also
contract had to be granted by Sept,
by fixing leaks in the city's sewer
30 if the city was to receive a $2.5
system.
million grant for the first phase of
Concern over the time a new
the project.
That attitude changed during a
strategy would take was a concern
meeting in Boise on April 10 at.
of some city council members, offf-
tended by officials from McCall,
cials of the Payette Lakes Water
the bureau and the state Division
and Sewer District and JUB Engi-
of Environmental Quality.
neers of Boise, the project's design
At the meeting, McCall City
firm. All were worried the city
Manager Brian Olson and Rick
would miss the previous deadline
Harbert of RH2 Engineers of'
of Sept. 30 if a new course was taken.
Redmond, Wash., made a presen-
Olson said he was pleased with
tat ion of the work the city had done
the results of the meeting. "I think
on the ponds and outlined a time
it reflected the professional ap
table for their completion,
according to those attending the
proach of the city and RH2 in
meeting.
Because of the presentation,
there is no longer a firm require-
ment to have a contract awarded
by Sept. 30, said John Keys, Pacific
Northwest regional administrator
for the bureau. Keys said the new
requirement is that the first of two
planned ponds must be completed
by Sept. 30, 1999.
The original deadline of Sept. 30
was based on the end of the feder, -1
fiscal year, but Keys said he is au-
thorized to carry over the $2.5
million to next year if it can t e
justified.
"I have to have some kind of
agreement with the city or I don't
carry over the money," Keys said.
"I saw a commitment from them of
what was needed from that
project."
Keys said the city also was n
line to get an additional $2.7 in -I-
lion grant from the B of R in 1999 :o
complete the pond project.
Also attending the April 10 mvet-
ing was DEQ Administrator We lly
Cory and DEQ Southwest I& ho
Regional Administrator Steve
West.
West said on Monday the more
flexible deadline was in keeping
with the overall goal of the pond
project. "We had to look at the re-
alities that get us to our bottom
line, which is getting (the efflue at)
out of the (North Fork)," he sail.
(See "Ponds, "Back Pate)
■ Owner signs deal on
sewer pond site
— Story, Back Page
,_5T/,Ire Neuls 4 -,-Z3 - JY
Owner signs deal on
city sewer pond site
I ne Stu -News
presenting a certain set of goals,"
he said.
Also during the April 10 meet-
ing, the bureau said the city could
spend $134,000 of the $2.5 million
grant to replace sewer lines and
manhole covers that have ground-
water leaks, according to those at
the meeting.
The leaks have been found in
the Syringa Subdivision off Colo-
rado Street. Cutting the flow of
water through the sewer plant can
cut the size and cost of the ponds,
engineers have said.
Once the ponds are completed,
the city will be able to stop its dis-
charge of phosphorus -laden treated
sewage into the North Fork of the
Payette River. The ponds will hold
the sewage during the winter and
then send it via the J -Ditch Pipe-
line to irrigate farms south of
McCall during the summer.
Current plans call for two ponds
to be built that would hold up to 360
million gallons.
The McCall plant has been identi-
fied as contributing 10 percent of the
total phosphorus into Cascade Res-
ervoir. The phosphorus encourages
the growth of algae, which in turn
chokes the reservoir of oxygen.
A tentative land deal has been
struck with the owner of the land
the City of McCall wants to use to
store treated sewage in the winter.
The McCall City Council tonight
will consider a proposed sale con-
tract signed on April 14 by J.P.
Seubert of Cottonwood, who owns
the 40 acres near the city's sewer
treatment plant at the end of
Boydstun Street.
The land is currently used for
operations by Clearwater Concrete
and Gravel and Valley Paving and
Asphalt, both owned by Seubert.
Tonight's meeting will start at 7
p.m. at McCall City Hall.
Seubert is proposing to sell the
land for $891,750. The price includes
the costs for Seubert to relocate the
two businesses to another site.
Funds for the purchase would
come from grants and loans previ-
ously provided to the city by the state
Division of Environmental Quality
to build the J -Ditch Pipeline.
The city is slated to get a $2.5
million grant from the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation to build the first
phase of the ponds, which would
store treated sewage until it could
be sent through the J -Ditch pipe-
line to irrigate farms near Lake
Fork.
Lack of city ownership of the
site was one reason McCall City
Manager Brian Olson stopped de-
sign work on the pond in February
and ordered a study of the project.
On April 9, council members
authorized McCall City Manager
Brian Olson to seek the purchase
of a second parcel following a
"value engineering" study. That
study said a second site could be
developed cheaper than the
Seubert site. On Monday, however,
Olson said it was "doubtful" that
an agreement would be reached on
the second site, owned by the
Bezates family.
PAGE A -10 - THE STAR -NEWS - THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007
Costs of optional sewer expansions huge
because most of system would be new
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The costs associated with
the city's plan to meet future de-
mands on wastewater treatment
are staggering.
The costs for the city's two
wastewater treatment plant
alternatives range from $70.2
million to $75.8 million depend-
ing on which alternative the city
chooses.
"The new system is expensive
in part because it is not just an
upgrade but an actual replace -
mentof theexistingsystem," said
Betsy Roberts, an engineer with
the city's contract engineering
firm CH2M Hill.
The new treatment schemes
that have been selected provide
a higher level of treatment than
the city now uses.
The effluent now produced
by the city is suitable to be used
to irrigate ranch land south of
McCall.
The proposed treatments
could, under one scenario, be
used to irrigate the golf course
and other public facilities, Rob-
erts said.
While the costs are high, Rob-
erts notes they are preliminary
figures for comparing the two
alternatives.
Current estimates are $70.2
million for the river discharge al-
ternative and $75.8 million for the
rapid infiltration alternative.
Other, more expensive, alter-
natives were rejected earlier in
the planning process, Roberts
said.
"The final costs will vary
from those presented during the
planning phase as the project
definition continues to evolve,"
she said. `At this level of defini-
tion the costs presented include
contingency for unanticipated
factors and conditions that are
undetermined."
The cost of purchasing land
has largely been removed as a
factor from the river discharge
alternative.
But the city would need to buy
41 acres of land in the second
alternative, which would allow
Aeration basins largest chunk
of river - discharge option
Basins to mix air into sewage
to speed digestion of waste are the
largest part of the estimated $70.2
million cost of the river discharge
option being considered by the
city of McCall.
Of the total, $40.5 million
would be spent on building four
basins that would inject air into
sewage to feed bacteria that in
turn would eat solids, according
to the city's engineers.
Major items that make up the
bulk of the construction costs
are:
• Two fine screens and two
vortex grit removal devices: $7.4
million.
• Aerobic digestion: $7 mil-
lion.
• A 4,000- square -foot admin-
istration building and support
facilities: $4.2 million.
• Dewatering belt filter press:
$3.7 million.
• Expanded capacity for so-
dium hypochlorite, a disinfecting
agent: $2.5 millioh.
• Pump station: $2.4 million.
• Phosphorus reduction proj-
ects elsewhere: $2.25 million.
• Modification of the existing
aerating lagoons: $250,000.
The project would be built in
three phases over 20 years.
The first phase would be con-
structed from 2013 to 2017 and
would cost $48 million.
The second phase, 2018 -2023,
would cost an additional $12.8
million.
The final phase, 2024 -2033,
would cost an additional $9.1
million.
Annual operating costs for
the plant in the first phase are
estimated at $546,000.
In the second phase, it is
estimated to have an annual
operating cost of $587,300. In the
final phase, the plant's annual
operating cost is estimated at
$717,800.
wastewater to seep into the
ground in basins.
The costs are highest during
the first phase of the project due
to the development of major in-
frastructure in either alternative,
Roberts said.
"After that, the phasing
becomes less expensive as in-
dividual units, which increase
capacity incrementally, are
installed," she said. "In very
general terms, the costs will be
spread to allow future growth to
pay for the majority of theexpan-
sion of the plant."
McCall sends both
sewage treatment
options to state
basins where it is allowedto
seep into the ground.
The surface water dis-
charge option would cause
highly treated wastewater
to be pumped into the North
Fork of the Payette River.
The city previously
pumped its wastewater into
the river until it was ordered
to stop discharging into the
river in the mid- 1990s.
The order lessened the
amount of phosphorus and
nitrogen in the watershed
that eventually led to algae
blooms and subsequent fish
kills in Lake Cascade.
Council Member Bonnie
Bertram had been an advo-
cafe of the rapid infiltration
option until Thursday's
meeting.
Atthatmeeting, Bertram
said she had changed her
mind about the surface wa-
ter discharge option.
She asked the city's con-
tract engineer, CH2M Hill,
to do thorough -testing of
the watershed to identify
where and how much phos-
phorus was entering the
watershed.
Cost estimates for the two
options have been estimated
at $48 million to $70.2 million
for surface water discharge.
Estimates for the rapid
infiltration option have
consistently been $5 million
e more than the surface water
discharge option.
o The council has two
years to decide on which
s option is best for McCall's
future.
3Y MICHAEL WELLS
'he Star -News
The McCall City Council
ast week decided to send
he city's two future waste-
water treatment options to
the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality for
review.
The council stillhas time
to decide which option will
be best for the future of
McCall, so it decided unani-
mously to send both option
to the state for review.
The city has been plan-
ning for the future needs of
the growing c ity by planning
to upgrade its wastewater
treatment plant to meet
expected growth that is
thought to exceed the cur-
rent plant's capacity.
The city narrowed down
more than 700 wastewater
treatment plant options to
two over the past year.
The council decided that
a surface water discharge or
a rapid infiltration option
were the best two options
to handle the city's future
needs.
Early estimates place
about a $5 million premium
on the rapid infiltration
option over the surface
water discharge option
due to necessary land ac-
quisition and some piping
infrastructure that woul d
need to be built to the site
of the rapid infiltration
ponds that would need t
be constructed. '
`Treated wastewater i
pumped to rapid infiltration
5;rL 4 9, -,4
7/q6 -7
Sewer district offers
Cooperative pact put
on table, but city has
not yet responded
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The Payette Lakes Recreation
Water & Sewer Board is await-
ing a response from the city of
McCall on a memorandum of
understanding between the two
parties pertaining to the dispute
over ownership of the wastewa-
ter treatment plant.
The contents of the memo
have not been released. It was
approved by the district in April.
The memo was drafted by a joint
committee made up of city and
district representatives.
The city has not placed the
memorandum of understanding
on its agenda yet.
"We will schedule something
before the trial," city manager
Lindley Kirkpatrick said. "We
will continue negotiations with
the district before the trial."
The two parties are engaged
in "on -going communications,"
Kirkpatrick said.
"Tlitn c will be additional com-
munications with them soon,"
he said.
District chair Jerry Vevig was
not bothered by the city's lack of
action on the memo.
"I think the city has had a
lot of things to worry about,"
Vevig said. "We are just waiting
for them."
As the memo was approved by
the district, the city was ordered
by federal district Judge B. Lynn
Winmill to "pay immediately"
$6.5 million to Employers Insur-
ance of Wausau and St. Clair
Contractors, Inc., of Boise for
the city's mismanagement of
the construction of the J -Ditch
wastewater storage pond.
"Nothing negative has hap-
pened," Vevig said. "We are
trying to work out a solution. In
the meantime, we think it will
be negotiated and not brought
to court."
Kirkpatrick agreed that the
two parties would be better off
resolving as many disputes as
they could before the trial next
year.
The two parties last met in
mediation talks for two days in
March with mediator D. Duff
McKee, a retired, senior status,
Idaho district court judge from
Boise. During those meetings,
the two parties agreed to work
together to resolve their differ-
PAGE A -8 - THE S 1'Ak -NEWS - THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2007
agreement with city
ences. The two parties also met in
mediation in December 2005.
If the two parties cannot come
to an agreement, the city's lawsuit
that asks a judge to decide who
owns what at the wastewater
treatment plant will be decided in
a trial that begins Sept. 8, 2008.
The city asked a judge to sort
out the contract between the two
parties in Aug. 2005. The city con-
tends that it has full ownership
over the wastewater storage pond
and J -Ditch irrigation system.
The district says it owns a third
of the capacity at the plant, which
includes treatment, collection
and dispersal.
Fourth District Judge George
Carey suggested the two parties
hold mediation talks last summer
when he ruled on a subsequent
lawsuit by the district challeng-
ing the city's ability to issue
sewer hookups.
That court challenge came
after the city threatened last
summer to halt district sewer
hookups if the two parties did not
meet in a public forum. The two
parties did meet in public in July
2006, but the meeting was ended
as soon as it was called to order
by the city citing the district's
lawsuits.
The district had also sued the
city and the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality over its
sewer hookup allotment system
in May 2006. That suit was settled
this winter.
The wording was changed
in the second amended consent
order between the city and DEQ
so that it would not be used as a
vehicle for allocating building
permits and ensured the district
is not injured in the process.
The city has 2,441 sewer cus-
tomers and district 1,070.
Key McCall sewage pumping
station needs replacement after
50 years of service
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Stw -News
It is somethingmostMcCallresidents never
think about, and it takes some searching to find
it, but McCall Sewer Pumping Station No. 7 is
a vital cog in the city's infrastructure.
The station has served the city dutifully
for more than 50 years, but now it has to be
replaced at a cost of $1.2 million.
The station is located underground along
the banks of the North Fork of the Payette
River near the McCall Fish Hatchery.
Two 30- horsepower Fairbanks Morris mo-
tors pump 1,200 gallons of raw sewage per
minute into pipes that run under the river
and eventually to the city's sewage treatment
plant along West Deinhard Lane.
On average the pumps run about 28 hours
every four days, Senior Utility Operator Lon-
nie King said.
"It's handling it just fine, but the time is
coming when we will have to do something
with it," King said.
There is such urgency to replace Station
No. 7 that money to replace it was included
Sewer
in the $9.50 monthly increase approved by the
McCall City Council earlier this month to pay
off the J -Ditch lawsuit judgment.
Five dollars of the increased rate will be
used to raise cash to pay for the pumping sta-
tion replacement as well planningforthe city's
proposed new wastewater treatment plant.
Some residents were unhappy the city com-
bined the city's need to payoff the lawsuit debt
with new projects, but McCall Water and Sewer
Superintendent Levi Brinkley confirmed the
need to replace the pumping station soon.
The pumping station was built in 1955 and
was upgraded in 1959, 1965, 1976 and 2005.
The pumping station's location next to the
river and its small capacity creates a serious
problem for the city's sewer staff when the
pumps fail.
The station has a shallow wet well, which
means crews have at best seven minutes to get
the pumps working again before the well fills
and raw sewage spills out of manholes and
into the North Fork.
During times of high flows, such as during
spring run -off, the crews have no more than
3 -1/2 minutes to get the pumps working again
before raw sewage flows into the river.
"Before you can get your shoes on and tie
them, it's going into the river," Brinkley said.
"It's a health and safety issue."
(Continued from Page A -1)
The stationhas failed two times
in the past three years and failed
about every three to four months
before the city last upgraded the
station in 2005.
The new station will likely be
built along Mather Road near the
fish hatchery, and would require
an additional pipe to be installed
beneath the riverbed.
Two other pipes running under
the river would have to be lined
so that they could be pressurized,
Brinkley said.
Another problem with the
current location is that crews are
required to walk down a steep,
often snow- covered hill to reach
the pumps.
See SEWER, PageA -10
McCall, sewer district
agree on treatment
plant costs division
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The city of McCall and the Payette
Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer
District have decided to agree on how
the two parties split the costs at the
wastewater treatment plant the two
own on Deinhard Lane.
The two parties
met in a closed
meeting Friday in
an attempt to iron
out differences
between the two `
sewer providers
for the McCall area
that have accumu-
lated into various
lawsuits.
The two parties
are currently trying Bill Weida
to negotiate a
way out of a 2005 lawsuit where the
city has asked a judge to define who
owns what at the wastewater treat-
ment plant. The sewer district owns
one -third of the capacity at the plant
that is operated by the city.
"We're getting along," sewer dis-
trict board member Bill Weida said.
"We are trying to keep the wheels on
the ground."
Weida said that both the sewer dis-
trict and the city council would move to
pass agreements about who pays what
bills at the wastewater treatment plant
at their next meetings.
The sewer district board meets next
on Friday, and the McCall City Council
meets next on June 26.
Weida has asked that future meet-
ings between the two sewer providers
be open to the public.
"My preference would be that we
meet in public," Weida said. "I'm
hoping that the next meeting will be
in public."
Qneof the argumentsformeetingin
private is to allow members of the city
council and the sewer board to speak
freely while negotiating an agreement
the two parties can live with, he said.
The two parties left Friday's meet-
ing without setting the next joint
meeting, Weida said.
The city sued the district in 2005
over ownership of the wastewater
treatment plant both sewer provid-
ers use on West Deinhard Lane in
McCall.
The sewer district owns a third
of the capacity at the plant. The city
wants a judge to sort out the contracts
between the two sewer providers.
mccall claims full
ownership
The city claims it has full
ownership over the wastewater
storage pond and J -Ditch irriga-
tion system. The district says it
owns a third of the capacity at the
plant, which includes treatment,
collection and dispersal.
The city wants the contract
reviewed by a judge to decide
if agreements still stand that
were made before the city was
ordered to stop dumping treated
wastewater into the North Fork
of the Payette River.
Since the lawsuit in 2005,
the two parties have filed other
lawsuits against one another.
They met in public in the
July 2006, but the meeting was
adjourned by the city as soon
as it started.
That was because the sewer
district had filed a lawsuit against
the city and the Idaho Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality
that challenged the city's author -
ity to issue building permits in the
district territory, thereby limiting
sewer hookups.
That suit was filed on the
heels of a threat by the city to
halt district sewer hookups if
the two parties did not meet in
a public forum.
The suit was later settled,
which changed the wording of
the agreement between the city
and DEQ so that it would not be
used as a vehicle for allocating
building permits and ensured
the district is not injured in the
process.
The two parties met in
mediation sessions in 2006 and
last year in an effort to settle the
lawsuit. Those efforts failed.
In April, the two sides
directed their trial attorneys
to suspend a trial set for this
September so the two could work
out their differences.
McCall City Manager Lindley
Kirkpatrick declined to com-
ment on Friday's joint closed
session.
GI l 9�a q
S�,Gtaj
Higher McCall sewer bills
go out, monthly rate $44
McCall sewer customers began receiving higher sewer
bills this week as the city begins to pay off bonds used to
payoff the J -Ditch lawsuit.
The bills started printing last week that show an in-
crease of $9.50 per month, which bring the total to $44 for
a month of sewer service in the city.
The increase was necessary to pay off the remaining
$6 million owed to Employers Insurance of Wausau and
St. Clair Contractors from a lawsuit that drained the city
of $7.1 million.
The increase also included money to pay for sewer
infrastructure improvements to sewage pumping sta-
tions that were outdated. The increase will also pay for
continued planning of a new wastewater treatment plant
the city wants to put in place to match expected growth
in the area.
The increase was approved by the city council in April.
The lawsuit debt was paid off in May. The increased rates
may continue for 20 years.
The portion of the increased rates that will pay for in-
frastructure and treatment plant plans could be removed
earlierthan that, but City ManagerLindley Kirkpatricktold
the McCall City Council in April the entire increased rate
may be needed for future sewer infrastructure needs.
At least $4.50 of the rate increase will be charged for
the full 20 years to repay the bonds.
McCall, sewer district, �,
form advisory panel /or
BY TOM GROTE
The Star - News.
The Payette Lakes Recreation-
al Water and Sewer District and
the city of McCall have agreed to
form a joint advisory committee
to increase communication and
cooperation between the two
agencies.
The McCall City Council last
Thursday approved the advi-
sory committee, which will be
composed of one elected official
and one staff member from each
side.
The agreement forming the
committee says each member
should be "an honest broker"
to represent the view of their
respective agencies.
The sewer district board of
directors had approved sub-
stantially the same advisory
committee in April 2007, but the
citynevertook action. The matter
came back on the table after the
last closed joint meetingbetween
the two sides on April 3.
The committee is advisory
only and has no authority over
the jointly owned sewer treat -
ment plant through which both
the city and sewer district send
their raw sewage.
A Joint Powers Board exists
that does have authority to oper-
ate the plant, but the board has not
met since January2005. The Joint
Powers Board was composed of
staff members from the city and
sewer district and an indepen-
dent third party. The agreement
forming the advisory committee
set methods for determining
which agency pays how much for
the operation of the plant.
Costs of day -to -day operations
willbe determined by actual flow
of sewage into the plant. Costs
of repair, equipment and other
improvements will be divided
according to how many custom-
ers each agency has connected to
the system
On Friday, riday, the sewerboard and
city council met in a joint meeting
to listen to the city's engineering
firm outline the city's plans to ex-
pand its sewage treatment plant
to allow for future growth.
The city and sewer district
are negotiating to have the sewer
district use treated effluent from
the city's J -Ditch storage pond to
irrigate 120 -acres of land south of
McCall owned by the district.
73/0 �
f /`j o
Sewer district land studied for irrigation
120 -acre site S. of
McCall could replace
private parcels to
sprinkle wastewater
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
A 120-acreplot south of McCall
may expand the land available for
irrigation onwhichthe city's sew-
age treatment facilities depend.
The Payette Lakes Recre-
ational Water & Sewer District
bought 120 acres of land between
Norwood and Nisula roads south
of town last year for $1.8 million,
district administrator Jamie
Melbo said.
Boththecityof McCallandthe
sewer district rely on contracts
with ranchers south of town to
dispose of treated wastewater
that is stored in the J -Ditch winter
storage pond until the irrigation
season. The wastewater is mixed
with water to irrigate about 2,000
acres of land south of town.
The city struck a deal with the
J.R. Simplot Co., to use blended
wastewater to irrigate about 500
acressouthof towntwoyearsago.
That deal ends this year.
The district is beginning a
pilot program to use unblended
wastewater on its 120 acres
located adjacent to the Simplot
property that could take up the
slack from the lost acreage.
The land was bought by the
sewer district as a site to test
how much nitrogen and phos-
phorus from wastewater could
be absorbed on a plot of alfalfa,
Melbo said.
"It makes a big difference in
our ability to dispose of treated
effluent," City Manager Lindley
Kirkpatrick saidof thelandavail-
able for irrigation. "That's been
the bottleneck on our capacity."
The district has applied to the
Idaho Department of Environ-
mental Quality to irrigate alfalfa
neap courtesy d -u -o coyrrtevrs
Photo maps shows location of 120 acres purchased last year by the Payette Lakes Recreation Water and
Sewer District. The land could be irrigated with treated wastewater if contracts with private ranchers expi#e.
on the 120 acres with undiluted
treated wastewater rather than
the current mix of groundwater
and effluent, Melbo said.
In order to do that, the district
will have to learn how much ni-
trogen andphosphorus the alfalfa
that is grown on. the land can
absorb, district board member
Bill Weida said.
The district will use the dem-
onstration project to estimate
how much additional land would
be required to serve the district. It
is the first phase of the district's
facility plan.
There are no current plans for
the land to be used for a future
wastewater treatment facility for
the district that would be separate
from the wastewater treatment
plant the district and the city
own together on Deinhard Lane,
Weida said.
The land could become even
more valuable when all J -Ditch
irrigation contracts expire on
Jan. 1, 2017. In addition to the
expiration of all current irriga-
tion contracts, an easement for
the J -Ditch through the Simplot
property would also expire.
The ditch and transmission
lines could be rerouted over the
district property so that the J-
Ditch irrigation could continue
into the future with new con-
tracts, Weida said:
"It could act as a safety net for
the city," Weida said.
The district's land illustrates
the city's efforts to plan for a new
wastewater treatment plant to be
operational before the irrigation
contracts expire, Kirkpatrick
said.
McCall, sewer
discuss cost sl
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The city of McCall and the
Payette Lakes Recreational Water
& Sewer District are working
together to come up with how
costs are shared by the two sewer
service providers in the McCall
area.
The cost sharing agreement
between the two sewer service
providers does not affect the city's
2005 lawsuit that asks a judge
to determine who owns what at
the wastewater treatment plant
the two share on West Deinhard
Lane.
The lawsuit challenges the
sewer district's ownership of
one -third of the wastewater
treatment plant that includes
disposal.
"The future cost share of
capital is to be worked out,"
district administrator Jamie
Melbo said.
There are no capital improve-
ments planned at the plant next
year by the city, which gives the
parties more time to settle the
lawsuit out of court.
The two parties have mostly
agreed to cost splits based on
sewage flow rates and customer
hookups.
The city has '4,700 sewer cus-
tomer hookups and the district
has 1,268 hookups.
In the agreement, the district
pays 21 percent of the costs of the
treatment plant.
The actual dollar figure will
be determined after the city sets
dist,
Zaring
its budget for next year, Melbo
said.
The city sewers deliver 88 per-
cent of the wastewater flow into
the plant, Deputy City Manager
Walter Eisenstein said.
The district sewer lines con-
tribute 12 percent of the flow.
The split determines how much
each party pays toward power
and chemicals at the treatment
plant.
In addition, the district al-
ready pays the city about $61,000
each year for its share of the
J -Ditch Phase I. The district has
been paying the city the money
since 2001.
An advisory committee was
also formed last month as a part
of the agreementbetweenthe two
parties to advise the city council
and sewer board on ways the two
parties can work together. The
committee is scheduled to meet
quarterly.
Members of the committe
from the city are McCall City
Council members Don , Bailey
with councilmemberLaura Scott
and an alternate Eisenstein and
McCall Sewer Plant Superinten-
dent John Lewinski.
For the sewer district, adviso-
ry committee memers are board
member Bill Weida with member
Carolyn Johnson serving as
alternate, Melbo and district op-
erations manager Dale Caza.
Both sides have said that fu-
turejoint meetings of thecouncil
and district will be open to the
public.
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Sewer district
pulls, out of
talks;, will o
g
its own way
District officials convinced
their plan is best, cheapest
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The Payette Lakes Recreational Water & Sewer
District last week out off talks with the city of
McCall over how to build the next generation of
sewage treatment for the McCall area.
The sewer district board gave a statement to
the McCall City Council at a joint meeting of the
two boards on Friday that said the sewer district
was moving forward with its own plan.
"We have made a decision and it is what we will
do," sewer board mE mber Bill Weida said "We will
not be reviewing anymore cost estimates."
The sewer board told the city its plan to ex-
pand sewage treatment made more sense and
would cost less than the two options the city is
now considering.
"We worked hard to come to a resolution and
we'll still try to do that," McCall Mayor Kulesza
said. "If we can't, it isn't because we didn't try
or because of personalities."
The sewer district has already purchased 120
acres south of town and would use that land and
more to be irrigated with treated wastewater.
The city is currently irrigatingland with treat-
ed wastewater carri �d by the J -Ditch pipeline, but
contracts with land owners expire in 2016.
The city's contr<.ct engineers is recommend-
ing two options.
See DISTRICT, Page A-8
District
(Continued from Page A -1)
One option would treat the
sewage to a higher level to
remove more phosphorus and
discharge it into the North Fork
of the Payette River.
The city had been discharg-
ing treated sewage into the river
until the mid- 1990s, when it had
to find a new way to dispose of
treated wastewater.
The second option would
fill basins with treated sewage
that would rapidly seep into the
ground. The district's stance
left open the possibility that the
city and district could still work
together in the future.
The latest construction, op-
erations cost and salvage value
estimate for the sewer district
proposal is $23 million. Con-
struction estimates for the city's
options are $15.1 million forriver
discharge and $23 million for
seepage basins not including
operations costs or phosphorus
trading deals, which would make
both proposals more costly than
the district plan.
The city is seeking permis-
sion from the Environmental
Protection Agency for permis-
sion to return to discharging
wasterwater into the North
Fork.
The sewer district thinks
there is little chance that permis-
sion will be granted or that it will
end up being costly to the city.
To discharge into the river,
the city would have to make
deals with land owners within
the North Fork watershed above
Lake Cascade.
Those deals would pay those
landowners to lessen their phos-
phorus discharges into the lake
to more than make up for the
amount the city would put into
the river with its new plant.
In the background of the ne-
gotiations is a lawsuit filed by the
city in 2005 asking a state judge
to sort out the ownership at the
jointly owned wastewater treat-
ment plant on West Deinhard
Lane in McCall.
The city serves about 2,500
customers, mostly inside the city
limits. The sewer district serves
about 1,100 customers, mainly
around Payette Lake and on the
fringes of the city.
Sewer district engineers defend
their plan for new treatment plant
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -Yews
Engineers for the Payette
Lakes Recreational Water &
Sewer District say the least
risky future for disposal of
wastewaterlies inowningland
south of McCall.
Engineers from J -U -B En-
gineers told the district board
last Friday that the cost of
the sewer district and the
city buying up land south of
town to irrigate crops with
wastewater would fall some-
where between the city's two
preferred alternatives.
McCall contract engineers
from CH2M Hill put the price
of river discharge at $15.1
million and building retention
basins so the wastewater could
soak into the ground would
cost about $23 million.
The McCall City Council
and the district board will
meet Friday at the Idaho First
Bank Community Room to go
over the various alternatives
for the future of wastewater
treatment and disposal in
the area.
The meeting is part of an
effort by the two boards to
settle out of court a city law-
suit over the ownership of the
wastewater treatment plant on
Deinhard Lane.
The city asked a judge to
sort out the ownership of the
plant im2005. The city owns
two- thirds of the plant and
the district owns a third of
the plant.
"Essentially what the city
is doing is they have only used
10 -12 years of something that
was designed for 30 -50 years,"
J -U -B Engineer Brett Converse
said. "The existing(treatment)
'" plant will work until 2050."
The district plan to buy
land and irrigate hay crops
with unmixed treated waste-
water would also be less risky
than the city's plan that relies
on pollution trading.
Pollution trading has been
available in Idaho for 10 years,
yet no trades have been made
to date. A pollution trade on
the middle Snake River in
the Jerome area may happen
soon, Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality TMDL
Program Manager Marti
Bridges said.
In a pollution trade, the city
of McCall couldpaythe county
to pave roads south of town to
limit the amount of sediment
entering Lake Cascade. Phos-
phorus latches onto sediment
and would decrease in the lake
with less sediment.
. More importantly, pollu-
tion trades are meant to be a
"stop- gap," Bridges said at the
district meeting Friday.
The city's sewer alterna-
tives both require pollution
trades in order for them to
work. The district's plan
does not require pollution
trading'
In addition, due to the
long winters it is unclear
how much credit the city and
district would get for pollution
trades.
Phosphorus levels in Lake
Cascade have also remained
steady since 2000.
In the city's plans, pollu-
tion trades were said to cost
about $2.1 million in the rapid
infiltration plan and about
$430,000 in the river discharge
plan.
Photo by Tim Swanson
A crane lowers drywell pumps at the sewage pumping station
No. 8 at the west end of the pond in Rio Vista Subdivision last
fall.
Work completed on
key McCall sewer
pumping station
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
Work is finished on an
important sewage pumping
station that is the last stop for
sewage from downtown and
west McCall before entering
the wastewater treatment
plant.
The pumping station, lo-
cated at the west end of the
Rio Vista Subdivision pond,
was replaced using $530,000
in funds from sewer rates
dedicated to capital improve-
ment projects.
The new station went on-
line at the end of the 'year,
Interim McCall Public Works
Director Tim Swanson said.
Some landscaping work
still has to be completed this
spring, but the upgrade makes
amore important sewer pump-
ing station upgrade possible.
Plans are in the works to re-
place anotherpumping station
along the banks of the North
Fork of the Payette River up-
stream from the McCall Fish
Hatchery.
But that station, No. 7,
could not be replaced until the
station in Rio Vista Subdivi-
sion, No. 8, had been upgraded,
Swanson said.
The upgrade also allows
for further growth on the
west side of town, McCall
Water Superintendent Levi
Brinkley said.
The new 21 -foot deep pump-
ing station has two alternating
pumps with 30 horsepower
motors capable of pumping up
to 1,200 gallons of wastewater
per minute, Brinkley said.
A new larger 10 by 20 foot
wet well was put in place this
fall along with the two pumps.
The new pumping station can
be upgradedfor more capacity
in the future if growth merits
it, he said.
The station can take 40
horsepower motors capable
of pumping 1,600 gallons per
minute. The old station, which
was only seven feet below
ground, could only pump 800
gallons per minute.
The duplex pumps alter-
nate during normal flow
periods, but can operate to-
gether during peak periods to
keep everything moving to the
wastewater treatment plant
on Deinhard Lane, Swanson
said.
Having two pumps also
means if one is broken, the
other can do the work while
the city fixes the other pump,
Brinkley said.
Forest Service wants to put
leftover retardant in sev e&`
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The U.S. Forest Service
wants the city of McCall to
allow it to dump its leftover fire
retardant into the city's sewer
system this summer.
Through last year, the For-
est Service had been dumping
the fire retardant material,
called Phos -Chek, on a patch
of land at the airport.
The material, which is high
in phosphorus and ammonia,
also contains a secret ingredi-
ent that required the city sign
off on a confidentiality agree-
ment before it was made aware
of what might be dumped into
the sewer system.
Currently, the city uses a
land application system to
dispose of its treated waste-
water, so taking the leftover
fire retardant would not pose
a regulatory problem if it is
pumped through the J -Ditch
pipeline, McCall contract en-
gineer Betsy Roberts of CHZM
Hill told McCall City Council
members last week.
The deal likely would be
cancelled if the city goes to a
higher form of treated waste-
water and decides to pump
the treated water back into
the North Fork of the Payette
River, Roberts said.
The city council was ada
mant that whatever deal is
struck between the two agen-
cies that there be a way to
break it in the future.
A special fee would be
charged to the Forest Service
that could be based on the
strength of the waste dis-
charged into the system, or
on volume or both, Roberts
said. The amount of waste will
depend on the severity of the
fire season, she said.
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a
Sewer district
drops money
claims in suit
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
In what was called a show of good faith, the Payette
Lakes Recreational Water & Sewer District last week
dropped a claim of about $550,000 in the city of McCall's
five - year -old lawsuit.
The dropping of the claim came after a judge dis-
missed the city's damage claim in the dispute over
ownership of the jointly operated wastewater treat-
ment plant.
McCall claimed that the sewer district should share
in the so -called J -Ditch judgment that cost city sewer
customers $7.1 million. That claim was dismissed by
Fourth District Court Judge Michael McLaughlin in
a ruling late last month.
"The district finally notes and totally agrees with
the court's comments on the cost of this litigation to
the citizens of Valley County, both patrons of the city
and patrons of the district," sewer district attorney
John Hucks said.
The district intends to continue its attempts
to reach a resolution, consistent with the court's
opinion, to avoid further accrual of costs and fees,"
Hucks said.
October Trial Slated
That case is headed for trial in October if the two
sides fail to meet the request of McLaughlin and his
predecessor on the case to settle out of court and save
taxpayers' money.
See SUIT, Page A -8
s94,4.. r�
47/ , /,o
shit: sewer district
drops money claims
(Continued from Page A -1) every offer to settle has either
The city's lawsuit claims been ignored or turned down
the sewer district neither by the other side.
owns or has a contractual The two sides have been in
right to use any portion of the mediation twice in attempts to
J -Ditch winter storage pond settle the lawsuit and spent a
or pipeline that sends treated year injoint meetings without
sewage to irrigate pasture- coming to a settlement.
land south of McCall. The city also believes it
At the time the suit was needs to build anew wastewa-
filed, the city was in a building ter treatment plant that could
moratorium because it feared dispose of treated wastewater
the J -Ditch storage pond back into the North Fork of
would run out of room. the Payette River or into large
The district accepted sev- basins where the wastewater
eral subdivisions while the is absorbed into the ground.
city was in a building mora- Contracts with ranchers
torium, which led to the city's south of town, who use a
lawsuit. diluted form of the J -Ditch
The city came out of the wastewater for irrigation,
moratorium with a sewer expire at the end of 2016.
hook -up rationing plan. The The sewer district does not
wastewater storage pond agree the city needs to build
never filled to capacity, be- a more expensive wastewater
cause the construction boom treatment plant.
that led to the moratorium lost
steam beginning in 2007.
The J -Ditch pipeline was
built with a $3 million loan
that both parties are paying
back. The district makes an
annual payment of about
$61,000 for its share.
The city's lawsuit says if
the district does not own any
portionof the J-Ditch project,
then the district must pay for
its right of use on a rate the
city would develop, Hucks
said.
There isno dispute overthe
ownership of the treatment
plant located on the north
side of West Deinhard Lane
in McCall. The district also
does not claim to own a part
of the J -Ditch storage pond,
Hucks said.
"The district contends it
has a right of use in J -Ditch
(storage pond) and that it
has and continues to pay its
proper share of the costs or
operation and maintenance,"
Hucks said.
The district pays between
$10,000 and $12,000 per year in
operation and maintenance
costs associated with the
winter wastewater storage
pond.
Settlements Rejected
Both parties have made of-
fers to settle the lawsuit, but
01/16
S�i�wer district offers to settle city lawsuit
City council declines
to make details public
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The Payette Lakes Recreational
Water and Sewer District board last
week sent the city of McCall an of-
fer to settle the five - year -old lawsuit
the city filed over ownership of the
sewer treatment plant that serves
both agencies.
The district was willing to make
the details of the settlement offer
public if the McCall City Council
agreed. The council did not agree
to make the offer public during a
closed session last Thursday.
Sewer district Administrator
Jamie Melbo sent the offer to the
city Aug. 11 noting the district
board was willing to make the offer
public so district and city custom-
ers could see the offer and make a
determination if they believed it
was reasonable.
City officials declined to make
the offer public Thursday night.
McCall Mayor Don Bailey said he
did not have to give a reason because
the matter was discussed in closed
session.
Council Member Bert Kulesza
said the city council decided not to
make the offer public, but that they
were still considering the offer.
Suit
(Continued from Page A -1)
Both parties are paying
back a $3 million loan that was
used to build the J -Ditch pipe-
line that supplies ranchers
South of McCall with
with water
for irrigation.
The city contends the sewer
district does not own
d and must
of the storage p
Pay a rate the city determines
to use the storage pond.
A trial is set to begin in
October, althoughMcLaughlin
has urged the city and sewer
district to in order to settle
ave the cost of
a trial.
Last month, Fourth District
Judge Michael McLaughlin threw
out the city's bid to have the sewer
district pay for a part of the $7.1
million lawsuit judgment for its
handling of the building of the J-
Ditch winter storage pond.
The sewer district then dropped
a claim it had against the city for a
half million dollars.
The city wants the court to
decide who owns the J -Ditch pond
located on the south side of West
Deinhard Lane.
The wastewater treatment plant
on the north side of West Deinhard
Lane is not at question in the suit. The
city owns two - thirds of the plant and
the district owns one - third.
See SUIT, Page A -5
6-L Atv�4
17 /J<�- �/ 0
McCall judge to ask to reconsider sewer ruling on damages
lin to reconsider his July 28
ruling.
Boththe McCall City Coun-
cil and sewer district board
of directors met in closed
session to discuss the case on
Friday. The city council also
met in closed session on Mon-
day to discuss the case.
The city council will meet
again tonight at its regular
city council meeting in anoth-
er closed session discussing
the case, Kirkpatrick said.
"The city is puttingtogeth-
er a response to the district's
recentproposal," Kirkpatrick
said. He did not say if the
city's response would reject
or accept the district's offer
of two weeks ago.
Both judges in the case
have urged the city and the
district to settle the case out
of court.
Ruling said sewer
district owed city
nothing for J- Ditch
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
Kim Trout, McCall's lead
sewer attorney, thinks a judge
made the wrong decision when
he ruled against the City of
McCall in July.
In what is the latest legal
salvo aimed at the Payette
Lakes Recreational Water and
Sewer District, Trout wants
the judge to reconsider.
Meanwhile, the city and
sewer district met in separate
closed sessions on Friday to
discuss the sewer district's
settlement of the city's five -
year -old lawsuit. Details of
the discussions were not
disclosed.
While both sides won vary-
ing points in a ruling from
Fourth District Judge Michael
McLaughlin in July, the city
was told it could not seek
damages from the district for
the J -Ditch lawsuit that cost
city sewer customers $7.1
million.
"If the district owns a por-
tion of J -Ditch Phase 2, the
holding pond, the district has
"There's not an agreement, not any long-
term debt and no ownership."
- Lindley Kirkpatrick
not paid its proportionate
share of the costs of J -Ditch
Phase 2," McCall City Man-
ager Lindley Kirkpatrick
said in court filings seeking
reconsideration.
The city wants the district
to pay for use of the J -Ditch
storage pond and pipeline but
has not created a rate for the
district to pay, court docu-
ments said.
The district maintains it
owns a third of the waste-
water treatment plant that
includes collection, treatment
and dispersal. The J -Ditch
storage pond and pipeline
are how both the city and the
district dispose of treated
wastewater.
McLaughlin ruled last
month that the city could not
seek money in relation to the
J -Ditch judgment in a trial
that is scheduled to start Oct.
12. McLaughlin could reverse
his decision before the trial if
the city wins its reconsidera-
tion request.
The J -Ditch pipeline was
built with a $3 million loan
that the district claims it is
paying $61,000 to the city each
year to pay its share of the
loan back.
"That is in dispute," Kirk-
patrick said Tuesday. "They
have no judicial confirmation
or vote of patrons for (the $3
million loan). There's not an
agreement, not any long -term
debt and no ownership."
The J -Ditch storage pond
was supposed to be built with
about $7 million in grant
money, but changes in the
site location and the even-
tual firing of both St. Clair
Contractors and its bonding
company Employers Insur-
ance of Wausau meant the
final cost was $17.2 million.
In 2005, a jury awarded
Wausau and St. Clair $4.95
million due to the city's
mismanagement of the con-
structionof the storage pond.
Attorneys fees and interest
accrued until 2008 to $7.1
million when the city paid
thejudgmentoff usingbonds
that increased each city sewer
customer's bill by about $11
per month for 20 years.
Trout also asked McLaugh-
lin to reconsider information
he says prove the district
has no ownership in either
the J -Ditch storage pond or
pipeline.
The court filing by the city
also claims the district owes
the city $300,000 in operations
and maintenance costs for the
J- Ditch.
A hearing on a motion to
dismiss the district's claims
filed by the city earlier this
month is set for Sept. 9. No
hearing has been set on the
city's motion for McLaugh-
McCall sewer line will open up development
Line across McCall airport
will spur immediate changes
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
A sewer line across the McCall Airport is the
lynchpin to development on the south side of Mc-
Call, McCall City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick
said.
It's an important step," Kirkpatrick said.
"Without this sewer connection across the airport
it would be very difficult to serve the area."
The city has held several planningmeetings on a
possible business park in the Krahn Lane area.
JuddDeBoerof Brown'sIndustriesalsoplanned
a business park on land he owns near the airport.
That project stalled when a companionproposal to
build hangars near the airport was turned down
Line
(Continued from Page A -1)
The third leg is along an
easement on private property
between Krahn Lane and the
airport. That work is slated
for next year, Borner said.
"That is the solution we've
been looking for, for years at
the airport," said local Real-
tor and hangar developer
Mike Anderson. "I commend
them for finding a way to
complete a sewer line across
the airport."
Mike Anderson developed
32 new hangars on the east
side of the airport in 2007.
At the time, he also built a
public restroom at the city's
request.
Health department of-
ficials kept Anderson from
building a sewage holding
tank to handle the restrooms
that have remained unused
since their construction. The
restrooms were later donated
to the city.
Anderson sold all 32 new
hangars, but lost the sale
of an additional relocated
hangar due to the lack of
by the city.
This is a critical link to make either of those
projects viable," Kirkpatrick said.
The city awarded a $122,000 contract to build
a sewer line across the airport property to Val-
ley Paving of Ontario, Ore., that will eventually
hookup with a sewer line on Krahn Lane.
"This should open up a fair amount of land
for development," McCall Airport Manager John
Anderson said.
The city plans to build the line across the
airport in October in conjunction with runway
improvements that will require the runway to be
closed for two weeks, Anderson said.
Joining Highway Work
A second important piece is a sewer line run-
ning under Idaho 55 from Krahn Lane that the
city plans to build in conjunction with highway
work on the section next month, McCall Public
Works Director Peter Borner said.
See LINE, Page A -8
sewer service at the airport,
he said.
Airport hangar owners
will be able to hook up to the
new sewer line before the
entire link is established to
Krahn Lane.
The new sewer line will
flow into line already in place
near Mission Street on the
west side of the airport.
Once all three phases of
the project are completed,
the city will be able to remove
a sewage pumping station
on Krahn Lane that will no
longer be needed for the new
gravity sewer line, Borner
said.
Development on the air-
port is a small part of the
significanceof thesewerline,
Kirkpatrick said.
The line will also allow the
city to remove sewage holding
tanks that now serve hangars
at the airport, he said.
The sewer line will also
lessen some of the airport's
hangar waiting list, John
Anderson said. `All these
people waiting for sewer can
build their hangars."
McCall, sewer district reach agreement
Settlement ends five- year -old lawsuit, avoids costly trial
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
A costly trial was avoided and a
five - year -old dispute over McCall's
sewage treatment system was settled
in three grueling days of mediation
last week in McCall.
The City of McCall and the Payette
Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer
District settled the city's 2005 lawsuit
over ownership of the wastewater
treatment plant and J -Ditch pond and
pipeline.
The two parties met in court to
inform Fourth District Judge Michael
McLaughlin of the terms of the settle -
mentTuesday in Cascade. McLaughlin
complimented both sides for saving
their customers "hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars for this litigation."
The settlement gives both sides
what they have been asking for over
the past five years of failed mediation
attempts and joint public meetings.
Under the settlement, the city gets
ownership of the wastewater treat -
mentplant and J -Ditch winter storage
pond and pipeline.
The sewer district gets a promise
that the city will treat the district's
one -third capacity of the plant, up to
608,000 gallons per day, as long as the
district is hooked up to the system.
The district gets a $12,000 annual
cut in the cost it pays the city to treat
its wastewater, while the city gets to
call the district a customer.
$100,000 Annual Payment
The district's first monthly pay-
ment is due Monday. The district will
pay the city $100,000 annually to have
its wastewater treated and dispersed
through the J -Ditch pipeline. The
district had paid about $112,000 annu-
ally to the city, district administrator
Jamie Melbo said.
"We're trying to do the best we can
for the patrons," district chair Jerry
Vevig said.
McCall Mayor Don Bailey agreed
the settlement was a "fair deal for
both sides."
The agreement also creates a tech-
nical advisory committee of three
people to evaluate possible long term
solutions for wastewater treatment for
the city and district customers.
Contracts for ranchers south of
town to irrigate land with treated
wastewater expire at the end of the
2016 irrigation season.
The technical advisory committee
will include one person selected by the
city and one selected by the district.
Those two members will then agree
on a third person.
The committee will have until June
15, 2011, evaluate two alternative plans
that the city developed since filing the
lawsuit.
The panel also will evaluate the
district's plan to grow alfalfa on land it
purchased since the lawsuit using the
treated wastewater for irrigation.
See AGREEMENT, Page A -12
"We're
trying
to do
the best
we can
for the
patrons."
— Jerry Vevig
Uo
YJ �
Agreement: McCall, sewer
district end legal conflict
(Continued from Page A -1)
The committee would also
look at other alternatives,
such as maintaining the
present J -Ditch pipeline by
extending contracts beyond
2016 if ranch owners are will-
ing, Bailey said.
The committee could also
look at other ways for the city
and district to treat waste-
water in the future such as a
newly developed device that
extracts phosphorus from
treated wastewater to cre-
ate fertilizer pellets, Bailey
said.
The city was forced to
stop discharging its treated
wastewater into the North
Fork of the Payette River in
the 1990s by the EPA due to
phosphorus causing algae
blooms in Lake Cascade that
caused fish kills.
Whatever recommenda-
tions the committee makes,
the city council will review
it first and then make any
changes before forwarding it
to the sewer district.
If the sewer district does
not like the city- approved
plan, it can disconnect from
the treatment plant.
"Anybody who has good
ideas, we will listen to them,"
Bailey said, noting that the
committee would not be lim-
ited to the current options
drafted by the city and sewer
district.
If the district opts out of
the system, it would have to
detach from the city's treat-
ment plant and build its own
treatment plant.
The agreement also does
not allow the city to raise the
district's rates to cover costs
of the J -Ditch lawsuit.
Nor can the city raise the
district's rate for any expan-
sion of the system if the
district's flow remains below
608,000 gallons per day. Also,
the district will not pay a
higher rate for the city to fix
problems with the city's collec-
tion system under the deal.
1�ic�aIl sewer district sign agreement on plant
Pact ends 5-year-old lawsuit,
sets up an advisory panel
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star-News
McCall and Payette Lake Recreational Water
& Sewer District officials have settled the city's
five - year -old lawsuit over ownership of the waste-
water treatment plant and J -Ditch storage pond
and pipeline.
Mayor Don Bailey and sewer district board
chair Jerry Vevig met at City Hall Friday morning
to sign the settlement agreement.
Friday was the last day Fourth District Judge
Michael McLaughlin gave the two parties to settle
the lawsuit before he would force them to abide by
a preliminary settlement they struck in October.
The agreement makes the sewer district a user,
rather than owner, of the wastewater treatment
facilities.
The agreement also establishes a fussed user
fee for the district to 2016. The district began
making monthly payments of $8,333 to the city
in November.
Before the lawsuit was settled, the district claimed
it owned one -third of the capacity at the plant.
Under the settlement, the city guarantees that
it will treat, store and dispose of up to 608,000 gal-
lons per day of wastewater, which is one -third of
the plant's capacity.
The district can participate in long -range plan-
ning for the treatment facility. The agreement
creates a technical advisory panel.
See SEWER, Page A-2
Sewer dat ont another recommen
McCall Mayor
Don Bailey,
left, and
Payette Lakes
Recreational
Water & Sewer
District Board
Chair Jerry Vevig
congratulate
each other
after signing a
settlement to end
a five - year -old
lawsuit.
Star -News Photo by
Michael Wells
If the district rejects the
(Continued from Page A -1)
future wastewater treatment
McCall Public Works Di.
plan, it has the right to detach
rector Peter Borner and
from the system by the end
district supervisor Dale Caza
of 2016.
are the two members selected
The district would have to
for the panel. A third member,
build its own treatment plant
to be chosen by Borner and
Caza, has not been named.
if it decides against staying as
a user of the city's system.
The advisory panel would
be tasked with making a rec-
At the start of 2017, if the
district remains a user of the
ommendation for both the
short -term and ;long -term
city's system, it would pay the
full rate adopted in the plan
wastewater treatment needs
for the area.
from the advisory group.
I All previous agreements
The deadline for the pan-
el's recommendation is July
betweenthetwopartiesarere-
placed by Friday's settlement
29. The city has 45 days from
receiving the recommenda-
agreement, City Manager
Lindley Kirkpatrick said.
tion to approve or reject the
plan.
The settlement also dis-
In the event of a rejection
misses all claims and disputes
between the city and the dis-
from the city council, the
panel would have 45 days to
trict. The lawsuit was filed by
the city in 2005.
McCall Mayor
Don Bailey,
left, and
Payette Lakes
Recreational
Water & Sewer
District Board
Chair Jerry Vevig
congratulate
each other
after signing a
settlement to end
a five - year -old
lawsuit.
Star -News Photo by
Michael Wells
5T�,(
p Ertel to Set more time to come up � ^pith treatment p an
S_�aer p�
By MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News u with the best way to treat wastewater in the
committee charged with coming an.
A technical advisory with a p
McCall area will be given more time to come up report to & Sewer
Payette Lakes Re Technical Water Group Hs
Many questions
of
� 1 raised
ast Thursday tote tend a deadline for th
agreed by a vote
mid - October. square
questioned why q
is requested guard rail at a narrow section known as Cat Creek and q
Residents for what
curbing was used instead of rounded curb: e and is ineer Jim
Federal Lands Division Construction Operations Engineer
-to -1 slope and it is recoverable for a car whose tire is off on the edge
It's a 3 r road," said Western Fed
we do on eve. y
Rathke. getting pulled off into the river," French Creek resident
"My concern is for the slant of the road and 9 reasons, Rat
The square curbing was installed for
and Wrightman said.
Linda Smith said.
drainage and maintenance r
Harder to Pull Over pulling g Pull to off
large trailers or boats to
traffic on the riverside to get by.
Several residents said � would be more difficult for vehicles p said.
to the side to allow o
worried about lives here, not the dirt rolling in to the river," Mick Carlson
Were htman said. "We take all concerns into consideration. If
designed set of plans.- Wri9 the ladder for further
,We work under a then we address it. If not, we send it up he said.
there's something
we can do,
consideration." per hour speed limit -it's not meant to be a freeway,
°It's a one lane road with a 25 mite
in motorist of areas where the road narrows will be installed as we as
Two additional signs warning
posts with red reflectors that mark the side of the road, RaCreek aesident Niki Schacher said
more white p " Allison
"It's confusing
because of the appearance of the road now,
after the meeting. Wrightman said.
A new road construction schedule will begin after lwawbv°SDm nriverroad.org.
Information on daily road closures is available a
The McCall City Council had agreed to the deadline extension on July 28.
The city and district had been locked in a five -year lawsuit filed by the city over ownership of the
wastewater treatment plant on Deinhard Lane that takes wastewater from both systems and treats it to
be used as irrigation on fields south of town.
Sewer district member Bill Weida voted against extending the deadline and called the request
"obstructionism."
"Why in the world are we screwing around and delaying anything," sewer district chair Jerry Vevig
said, although he ultimately voted to extend the deadline.
The TAG was supposed present a report to both boards by July 29.
TAG members said they got a late start on their work, including choosing a neutral member.
Sewer district Operrtions Manager Dale Caza, who is the district's member of the TAG, told the board
that the extension was needed in order for the committee to explore further the idea of using treated
wastewater as irrigation and fertilizer for farmland south of town beyond the 2016 irrigation season.
The group needs more time to discuss with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and
farmers who would need to agree to take the treated wastewater beyond their current contracts that end
in 2016, Caza said.
A letter to the district from the DEQ also seems to support the group's efforts to further explore the
land application method instead of picking one of two more expensive options.
"The Department of Environmental Quality and the state of Idaho, in general, support and promote
wastewater reuse," the letter written by Todd Crutcher of the DEQ Boise Regional Office said.
One Drop's Journe -- -
Y: 'Waste' water goes through the treatment :1 ringer
(Note: This is the fourth in a series of stories following a drop of water through the cit of
water and sewer systems.)
Y McCall's
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star -News
The last leg of the journey for our drop of water, now wastewater, begins in the sewers of McCall.
The drop will head to the wastewater treatment plant on West Deinhard Lane and finally to the J -Ditch
Pipeline to be used as irrigation water.
If the water came out of a tap at The Star -News office downtown, it will travel west through an eight -
inch clay sewer pipe on Park Street.
It meets the sewer line on Mission Street where it turns north briefly. Then the drop of wastewater
enters a 12 -inch sewer pipe on Lake Street traveling downhill to the west.
The sewer pipe crosses the outlet of Payette Lake at the Lardo Bridge and turns generally south to
follow the river to sewage pumping station No. 7.
All along this route of sewer pipe or anywhere the city has sewer lines, the drop of wastewater could
have met up with clean water.
This infiltration of groundwater could have come from leaky sewer pipes letting in rain or snow melt or
from illegal hookups from roof drains and sump pumps, McCall Public Works Director Peter Borner said.
"We don't design sewer plants to treat clean water,
dirty water." ° Bomer said. "We design sewer plants to clean
The addition of this clean water will take up to 20 percent of the system's storage capacity
Bomer said,
in winter,
The wastewater enters sewage pumping station No. 7, which is a shallow 7 foot by 7 foot vault only a
few feet from the west bank of the North Fork of the Payette River.
The city wants to replace this pumping station with a more powerful and larger station across the river
on the east bank near the McCall Fish Hatchery.
The drop of wastewater, which took to 90 minutes to get from The Star -News to sewer pumping
station Nc. 7, now waits 12 minutes to be pumped up the hill to Carmen Street.
There, it continues in a line following the road to the city's newest sewage pumping station, No. 8.
Pumping station No. 7 pumps 650 to 700 gallons per minute per pump and has two pumps. The drop
of wastewater can take up to 45 minutes to get from pumping station No. 7 to No. 8, McCall
Water /Sewer Superintendent Levi Brinkley said.
At pumping station No. 8, the electric pumps that have backup diesel generators can pump 1,300 to
1,500 gallons per minute.
The drop of wastewater now joins up with a citY-Owned and north sewer line and
Lake Recreational Water & Sewer District sewer line from het west side of the lake under VRio Vi taette
before entering the treatment plant.
Other wastewater lines serving city and sewer district customers on the south and east side of town
also meet under Rio Vista before entering the plant,
Lewinski said. 7ycCall Water /Sewer Plant Superintendent John
(Next Week: Treated and discharged.)
r/ / /(
The J -Ditch storage pond holds about 250 million gallons at a depth of up to 53 feet.
(Note: This is the last in a series of stories following a drop of water through the city of
McCall's water and sewer systems.)
BY MICHAEL WELLS
The Star-News
Our drop of `wastewater" is 99.9 percent water but now has pathogens and nutrients in it.
The drop goes through a bar screen at the entrance to the wastewater
treatment plait on Deinhard Lane, McCall Water /Sewer Plant Superintendent
John Lewinski said.
The bar screen has 1 -112 inch wide opening for water to pass through to catch
large solids traveling in the wastewater. Plant staffers clean the bar screen with a
rake everyday.
The drop of wastewater enters the first of three treatment ponds. The first pond
can hold up to 9 million gallons.
On an average flow of 1 million gallons of water per day, the drop of wastewater
would stay in this first pond for nine days, Lewinski said.
While in the first pond, air is forced through tubes to openings at the bottom of
the pond, aerating it. More air is pumped into the pond during summer months
because warm water does not hold oxygen as well as cold water does, Lewinski
said.
AV--
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Star -t1!, phw 6x tt 01 V;6k
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Johu Leti miski operates
tfie � <dve system of the
.J -Ditch storage pond
Aerobic bacteria, which is already in the pond, goes to work on the wastewater. While the bacteria is
at work, the nutrients in the water are also settling to the bottom of the pond.
From Pond to Pond
The wastewater now travels to the second pond by gravity, through a pipe at the bottom of the first
pond and up over a weir at a transfer station. The second pond holds up to 11 million gallons and it is
also aerated, but not as much.
Here again, bacteria use oxygen from the air that is pumped into the ponds to further break down the
pathogens and nutrients that are in the wastewater. The average holding time in the second pond is
about 10 day Lewinski said.
The wastewater then goes into a third, smaller pond, which holds about 3 million gallons and is not
aerated_ The wastewater is in this third pond for an average of three days.
There is a chlorine basin and raceway at the end of the third pond.
This week's front page stories Page 1 of 1
Study: Leaks account for 1/3 of McCall sewage
Snowmelt floods sewer lines during spring
BY KENDEL MURRANT
for The Star -News
One -third of McCams water processed in the wastewater treatment plant doesn't need to be there, the
McCall City Council was told on Friday.
Leaks of groundwater and snowmet account for one -third of the Fluids going into the system.
according to a study conducted by Horrocks Engineers.
Eliminating leaks will save the city wear and tear on its sewer system, pumps and lift stations, as well
as money spent on overtime to keep the strained equipment operational, McCall City Engineer Nathan
Stewart told council members.
"There's an additional burden on the crews, management on the system, and events that lead to
overtime for crews," Stewart said.
Clean water gets into the sewer system by runoff pouring into leaking or broken manholes in the city's
roads.
Leaks are inevitable to some degree, but McCall's percentages show a serious problem, Horrocks
engineer Bryan Foote told council members.
'There are other mountain communities that struggle with that, but you have a very serious problem in
McCall," Foote said.
In April and May, there are 2.5 gallons of clean water from storm water or runoff for every gallon of
wastewater processed in the water treatment plant, he said
In May 2011 alone, there were 25 million gallons of clean water out of a total of 35 million gallons
processed, Foote said.
That puts undue burden on the treatment facility, which has exceeded its capacity 10 times in the last
three years.
Ninety -seven percent of the manholes in McCall's streets have leak problems, Stewart said.
Staff members are working to find particularly bad areas so they know where to concentrate their
efforts for the least cost, he said.
http: / /www.mccallstamews .com/pages /fp_stories_page.php 5/31/2012
Star -News News Page—Lead Story
Politics of the Ditch
McCall, sewer district compete to sign up irrigators
"We knew we were going to do land application no matter what, and that's when we started
talking with the farmers. " —Dale Caza
BY KENDEL MIJRRANT
for The Star-News
Laura Bettis wants politics to stay off her land, but that is hard to avoid when her irrigation water is
provided from McCall's sewer system.
Bettis and four other landowners south of McCall are at the
end of the line of the system, taking wastewater treated at
the nearby sewer plant and transported through the J -Ditch
Pipeline to their land.
The willingness of the landowners to accept the
wastewater on their collective 1,600 acres is vital to the
entire operation.
But with just four years left on their current agreement, the
landowners have found themselves in a tug-of -war for their
affections between the city and the Payette Lakes
Recreational Water and Sewer District.
l.auea Bettis as As m oue of the pwtu'es o iedbr
her faunlysouhof McCall that is nngated mth
prated wart m atm collmtedfinm made and
Both the sewer district and the city are negotiating with the 1 aruuxl Dtccall
landowners to renew their contracts after the current
agreements expire.
And, both agencies have applied to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to continue
sending wastewater to the irrigators from the giant J -Ditch storage pond located south of Deinhard Land.
Both sides insist they are not trying to upstage the other, but neither side has kept the other in the loop
about their intentions, either over contract talks with the landowners or the DEQ application.
Dual Discussions
The landowners met with city officials at the end of June to begin working out the details of a new
contract, or to see if a new contract with the city would even be on the table.
In order to sign contracts with the landowners, the city needs the new permit from the DEQ.
But years before the city committed to using the farmers' land, the sewer district had been conducting
its own negotiations with the landowners. The district is also seeking the required DEQ permit that would
allow them to be the contract holders rather than the city.
But even d the sewer district secures a contract with the irrigators, it would have a problem - the city
controls the release of the treated sewage from the J -Ditch pond. Getting permission to send the water
to the farmers would require an additional agreement between the district and the city.
The sewer district has been working on its DEQ permit application for the last several months and has
sent a draft to the DEQ, said Dale Caza, operations manager for the sewer district said. The draft permit
received unofficial approval with a few suggestions for minor changes, Caza said.
The city started working on its application at the end of June.
The negotiations with the landowners started in earnest earlier this year after the city and sewer
district signed an agreement formally ending a long- standing dispute over ownership of the sewer plant.
The agreement said the current system of using wastewater for irrigation was preferable to more
expensive options considered during the building boom of the last decade.
Distrust of City Cited
As owner of the treatment system, the city is solely responsible for signing up the irrigators, McCall
City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick said.
However, Bettis, whose family owns 600 acres that uses the treated water, feels differently.
"We signed a letter of intent with the district to contract with them," she said, adding that she an other
irrigators do not trust the city.
The farmers' misgivings goes back to 2007, when the city told irrigators they were not going to be
using them after 2016, Caza said.
At that time, the city was looking at switching to a different method to dispose of wastewater due to
rapid growth.
Meanwhile, the sewer district planned to continue with irrigation for wastewater even if the city
changed direction, Caza said.
"We knew we were going to do land application no matter what, and that's when we started talking
Pagel of
http:// www .mccalistamews.com/pages/lead _page -php 8/2/2012
Star -News News Page—Lead Story
with the farmers," Caza said.
"They have nothing to give the farmers if they do get the permit," McCall Public Works Director Peter
Bonier said. "It's the city's wastewater."
If the district does get the permit, its wants to work out an agreement with the city to let them manage
the wastewater distribution, Caza said.
"The city can do the treatment and the district can do the disposal," Caza said
But so far, Caza said he's had no indication from the city that they are willing to make that
arrangement.
The district sent the city a letter on June 20 stating that they wanted to talk about "the feasibility of the
disposal options," but the city never responded, he said.
The district has received letters from three of the five current landowners saying that they would agree
to a new contract if "the district is in sole management and operation of the (wastewater) storage and
delivery infrastructure."
"We have heard repeatedly from the farmers that they will not contract with the city unless the district
gets the permit," Caza said.
Bettis said the previous plans by the city to discontinue sending them wastewater for irrigation caused
distrust among the irrigators.
She also said maps created by city staff that were distributed to the farmers at the June meeting had
several errors in identifying the landowners' properties.
"It makes you wonder how competent this office is," Bettis said. "It's indicative of a low level of
knowledge of the product at this stage in the game."
But Bettis also recognizes that using the city's water is a "win -win situation" for the fanners and the
city, she said.
"I hope we can continue functioning as we have been," she said. "if so, we'd be happy to continue
doing it."
http: / /www.mccallstarnews .com/pages /lead _page.php
Page
8/2/2012
Star -News News Page_Lead Story
City, sewer district agreement does not end challenges
BY KENDEL MURRANT
for The Star -News
The City of McCall and the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District have agreed to
cooperate, but the devil is in the details.
The two agencies recently signed an agreement ending a years -long dispute over ownership of the
treatment plant where both send their sewage. However, there are challenges that remain.
The first priority is to secure contracts with area landowners that would allow treated wastewater to
continue flowing through the J -Ditch Pipeline for irrigation.
The second issue is to plug the leaks in sewer lines and manholes that allow clean water to take up
space in the treatment system.
Negotiations are now underway by both the city and sewer district with the owners of about 1,600
acres south of McCall that are currently using wastewater for irrigation.
New long -term contracts are being sought with landowners J.R. Simplot Co., Will Maki, Harry Bettis,
Bob Fairbother and Ken Purdon.
One current user, Tommy Nisula, has said he will not renew his contract, sewer district operations
manager Dale Caza said.
Almost as important as the landowner contracts is a renewed effort to keep clean water out of the
system, City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick said.
"The ability of (irrigation) to work is entirely dependent upon reducing (the amount of clean water
getting into the wastewater plant)," Kirkpatrick said.
A recent study found one -third of the water flowing through the treatment plant was from leaks.
That amount of clean water puts stress on the plant, takes up needed space in the plant's storage
pond, and dilutes the water sent to the irrigators, Kirkpatrick said.
A revised treatment plan will be sent to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in the next
year.
Only when the DEQ gives the green light will other alternatives will be officially off the table, McCall
Mayor Don Bailey.
The city hired engineers during the building boom of the last decade to design a new treatment system
that would either dump treated wastewater into the North Fork of the Payette River or let the water seep
into the ground in giant basins.
The sewer district bought 120 acres near the J -Ditch Pipeline in case it found Itself having to use its
own disposal method.
"As far as other planned treatment methods and facilities ... this is not off the table until such time as
the farmers ... agree," Bailey said.
"For all practical purposes, however, (using the current irrigators) is the only thing being pursued at
this point," Kirkpatrick said.
http://www.mccallstamews.com/pages/lead_page.php
Page
8/2/2012
This week's front page stories Page 1 of 1
McCall. sewer district look at cooperation on sewage disposal
"(Our discussions) have not been about power and control, but who does what best. "
—Gene Drabinski
BY KENDEL MURRANT
For The Star -News
The City of McCall and the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District are, at last, on the
path to a good working relationship, officials said.
The city is drawing up an agreement that would allow the sewer district take control of dispersing the
city's treated wastewater that comes out of the sewer plant on Deinhard Lane.
City Manager Gene Drabinski, City Attorney Bill Nichols, and Public Works Director Peter Barrier are
drafting a list of terms to present to the district.
The process is still in its preliminary stages, but the goal is to have the district responsible for
distributing the city's effluent to landowners along the J -Ditch irrigation pipeline that have contracted with
the city for two decades.
Dispersing the city's effluent to the landowners for irrigation ensures that treated sewage stored in the
massive J -Ditch winter storage pond has someplace to go.
Jerry Vevig, chairman of the sewer district board, said the city has been working with the district "in a
spirit of cooperation," and that it has been a "smooth" process so far.
"The bottom line is, there's a spirit of cooperation, and R just makes you feel good. We're really
optimistic," Vevig said. "The idea of a contract for us to dispose of the effluent is a good first step, and
we welcome R."
Drabinski agreed with Vevig's optimism.
'(Our discussions) have not been about power and control, but who does what best,' he said. "We're
playing to each others' strengths, and I'm very, very encouraged."
Ease City's Burden
Mayor Don Bailey said at last Thursday's McCall City Council meeting that having the district handle
the dispersal of the effluent would ease a burden for the city.
"We've had this issue about what to do with this (effluent)," Bailey said. "If we can get someone else to
take care of that, it simplifies what the city has to think about in the future."
The district's ability to disperse the city's effluent is contingent on securing land use permits from the
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
The district has been working on an application for that permit for several years and has spent about
$50.000 to tolled the necessary data, district officials said.
The city has not yet started on its application, and landowners along the J -Ditch pipeline have said
they prefer working with the sewer district.
Current agreements between the city and landowners to use the wastewater for irrigation expire at the
end of 2016.
Bailey said he would be willing to write a letter to the DEQ or attend a meeting if it would help the
sewer district get the permit.
http:// www.mccallstarnews.com/pages /fp_ stories _page.php 11/15/2012
This week's front page stories
McCall tackles pesky problem of leaking manholes
BY KENDEL NIURR.ANT
For The Star -News
McCall's public works department is getting serious about stopping spring runoff from getting into the
city's sewer system.
Engineering studies have said one -third of the water
processed in the city's wastewater treatment plant on
Deinhard Lane is clean water that has leaked in the system.
The clean water gets into the system in multiple methods,
said Public Works Director Peter Bomer. The most obvious
source, and the easiest to fix, are leaking manholes.
No records exists to tell Bomer when the city's 1,200
manholes were last repaired or checked for leaks.
"It's unknown how many manholes have that kind of
problem, but it's something we're trying to quantify; he said.
He is researching software that would let the city digitally
store information about damages, repair, and other
necessary information.
[hatlrct operator Lyvu Huss, left, shows DlcCadl
Pubhc Works semor operator Lome Kmg a
method to repau' a leaking manhole uear the
h1W.A,luport
That information is now kept in paper records that are difficult to search, Bomer said.
The best way to gauge where problem areas are in the city's system is by monitoring the city's 42
pumping stations, he said.
The stations that have the highest levels, which indicate excessive water in the system, include those
located near Lake Street between Fir and Ruby streets. Other problem section is along East Lake Street
between Mission and Boydstun.
In those areas, 41 percent of the 88 million gallons that travels through those two pumping stations
each year is spring runoff or stormwater, Bomer said.
The majority of that water flows into those areas in April and May during the spring snow melt.
Groundwater penetrates the sides of the manholes where there are cracks or holes. In cases where
manholes are located at a lower ground level, water can pour in through the top.
One manhole that city workers repaired recently was taking on groundwater at an estimated rate of 20
to 25 gallons per minute.
The city has nearly 54 miles of pipelines that can also crack and take on water.
The amount of water in the sewer system puts an undue burden on the treatment facility and takes up
needed space in the wastewater storage pond, which has exceeded its capacity 10 times in the last
three years.
Watered Down Waste
It also waters down the percentage of effluent, or treated waste, in the water that is used by local
fanners for irrigation.
The public works crews recently met with Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District
workers to learn a new method of patching leaking manholes.
The method is relatively inexpensive compared to hiring out the work, and is something city workers
can learn and do themselves, Bomer said.
"The sewer district has been doing this for years," he said. "We want to work together to solve issues.
This was an opportunity to say, hey, this works."
Page 1 of 1
.yy,�
http : / /www.mccallstamews.com/pages /archive 2013/05 23_13 webedition/Copy %20of%... 5/i3�/2013
This week's front page stories
McCall, sewer district tip -toe toward joint operation of
sewers
Governing boards endorse moving forward
"It's sewer, it's not that hard. " - -Dale Casa said
BY TOM GROTF
The Star -News
Joint operation of the two sewer systems that serve the McCall area came a bit closer last week with
endorsement of the concept from the two governing boards.
The board of the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and UNWELCOME VISITOR
Sewer District voted unanimously on Sept. 25 to "continue
forward and get an initial report" on what a joint operating
agreement would include.
Last Thursday, the McCall City Council gave a similar
endorsement, although no formal vote was taken.
The actions will allow a committee of elected officials and
employees from both agencies to continue to hammer out
details of joint operation of the area's sewers.
"It's a very good way to go and its definitely more cost -
efficient," sewer board member Rick Skelly said on Tuesday.
McCall council member Nic Swanson agreed with Skelly.
"It is in the best interests of both entities to streamline
operations," Swanson told his fellow council members. "It
would be better to have more tools at our disposal."
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Under a draft management chart, McCall City Manager Gene Drabinksi would be the overall
supervisor of the joint system.
Sewer district Operations Manager Dale Caza would supervise both district and city employees on
maintenance of collection lines, treatment and disposal.
Currently, separate collection systems maintained by separate maintenance crews carry sewage into
treatment and disposal facilities operated by the city.
About a dozen employees of the McCall Public Works Department attended the discussion, but none
requested to speak.
Drabinski said he had heard there was opposition among some city employees to the plan, but that
they would have to adjust. "Work is not a democracy, not everybody gets to vote," he said.
Doubts Expressed
Mayor Don Bailey and council member Jackie Aymon expressed doubts about the proposal.
"Who's in charge ?" Bailey said. "How do you manage the costs ?"
Aymon worried the plan might lead to giving up control of city facilities to the sewer district. "I am not
enthusiastic about that," she said.
Caza tried to reassure council members that any questions could be answered.
"It's sewer, it's not that hard," Caza said. "We can overcome the challenges."
The city currently serves about 2,660 customers, mostly within city limits. The city operates about 54
miles of collection lines with 12 pumping stations.
The sewer district currently serves about 1,200 customers, mostly around Payette Lake. The district
operates about 61 miles of collections lines and 37 pumping stations.
Drabinksi told council members about a recent incident where a leak was detected by sensors at a
sewer district pumping station. However, due to an error by alarm dispatchers, a city employee was
called to respond, he said.
A total of 45 minutes elapsed before a sewer district employee could arrive on scene to fix the leak,
Drabinksi said.
"If we are able to work together, whoever got there first can hop in," he told council members.
If an agreement is reached, it would not be the first time the two systems were operated jointly.
In 1984, a joint powers board with city and sewer district representation was established, but the board
dissolved around the time the city filed a lawsuit against the district in 2005.
The sewer district also maintained the city's sewer system under contract between 1996 and 1998.
Page 1 of I
http:// www. mccallstamews .com/pages /fp_stories�age.php 10/3/2013
Star -News News Page Lead Story
Problems in the Big Pond
Wastewater leaks from J -Ditch pond into North Fork
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
Mike Eckhart was hoping to have a nice dinner on his deck with his daughters just before Memorial
Day, but his plans changed as soon as he opened the door.
"The smell was so bad, we picked up our plates and
closed all of our doors and windows," Eckhart said. "It was
going to make me throw up."
Eckhart's home on West Deinhard Lane is along the North
Fork of the Payette River in McCall. It is also the next-door
neighbor to the giant wastewater winter storage pond
operated by the city of McCall.
There is debate over the exact cause of the stench that
drove Eckhart and his neighbors indoors, but the Idaho
Department of Environmental Quality is certain of one thing -
the pond is leaking.
The DEQ has told the city it needs to do something about
treated wastewater leaking out of the massive pond because
it is flowing into the North Fork just a few hundred feet away.
The state has proposed a solution that is expensive and
could shut down new construction in the city. The city is
hoping to buy time to prevent that from happening.
Keeping effluent out of the North Fork was the whole
reason the pond was built 15 years ago by the city. The
pond is big, covering 20 acres and 53 feet deep with a
capacity of 277 million gallons.
Winter Collection
Mike Eckhart views the pipe from which
groundwater and treated wastewater leaking fmm
the J -Ditch holding pond, flows into the North
Fork of the Payette River.
During the winter, the pond collects treated wastewater from the treatment plant across Deinhard Lane
into which sewage from the city and the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District flows.
Starting each fall, the pond begins to fill up and continues to fill through the winter. Then, in June, the
water is pumped through the J -Ditch pipeline to irrigate private pasture land south of town.
But tests have found some of the wastewater and its high phosphorus contest is leaking through the
pond's thick plastic liner.
The leaks are collected by an underground system of drains that already collects natural groundwater
under the pond and pours out a pipe into the North Fork a few hundred yards south of Eckhart's home.
City officials think the smell that drove Eckhart indoors in May came from a routine cleaning of the
concrete trenches at the treatment plant where effluent is mixed with chlorine as a disinfectant.
But Eckhart is sure the leaks from the pond are part of the problem, and he points to the white foam
that forms in the river where the pipe discharges the water.
The leaks and the smell have greater implications than spoiling dinner. In 2008, Eckhart and his
partners subdivided the land along the river into The Reserve of Payette Subdivision.
Development of the eight -lot project was put on hold when the real estate market collapsed. This year,
with economic recovery in sight, the partners were planning to build water and sewer lines to prepare
the lots for sale.
That work has been stopped until the partners know if the smell from the pond or elsewhere will make
the lots impossible to sell.
Pump It Back
To stop the leaks, DEQ has proposed the city build a pumping system that will capture the water
coming out the bottom of the pond and put it back.
The city doesn't like that plan because there is no way of knowing how much of the water is leaking
from the pond and how much is natural, clean, groundwater, McCall City Manager Gene Drabinkki said.
One estimate says returning all the water to the pond would amount to about 65 million gallons per
year. That would leave no room for sewage from new homes and shut down construction in the city,
Drabinski said.
The city has asked the DEQ for two years to do testing of the water coming out of the pond as well as
test how much the North Fork is being polluted. After the tests, a plan for fixing the problem will be
proposed.
Page 1 of 2
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Star -News News Page Lead Story Page 2 of 2
Eckhart would like to see more of the groundwater diverted into five acres of wetlands that are part of
The Reserve property to filter out wastes. Part of the flow already is used for that purpose on one -half
acres on the property.
Whatever solution is chosen, there is no money to pay for it. That will need to come from an increase
in the city's $44 per month fee now charged to all sewer customers.
The city will conduct a study to see how much more it needs to collect to fix the pond leak as well as
make other needed sewage treatment improvements, Drabinski said.
In the meantime, Eckhart is hoping Drabinksi will stand by his pledge to him that the city will do what it
can to make sure that only mosquitoes will chase him off his deck.
http: / /www.mccallstamews .com/pages /lead _page.php 8/7/2014
This week's front page stories
Deep Doo -Doo
McCall sewer ponds are filling with sludge
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
Thirty years of McCall's history sits before the feet of John Lewinski, and it stinks.
Lewinski, superintendent of the city's wastewater treatment
plant, is looking at one of three ponds along Deinhard Lane
where the output of the city's toilets, showers and sinks ends
up.
The pond, 675 feet by 380 feet and five feet deep, looks
peaceful, dotted with wading ducks and the quiet bubbling of
aerators that help encourage bacteria to digest the human
wastes that enter the plant.
But not all the waste gets digested, and some it settles to
the bottom of the pond.
Over the last 30 years, the sludge at Pond No. 2 has
grown to the point it now takes up one -third of pond's total
volume, according to measurements made this summer by
the Idaho Rural Water Association of Boise.
"OIL lia"
ti�
Sv Ne Poem by Tom Gmx
John Lewinski, superintendent of the city's
wastewater treatment plant, takes a water sample
from the city's aeration pond that is one -third filled
with sludge.
The sludge accumulation is lesser at the other two ponds, with nearly 20 percent of Pond No. 1 made
up of solid waste, while Pond No. 3 has six inches of sludge on the bottom of the five -foot pool,
according to the study.
There is no odor from the ponds themselves, but the large amount of sludge means some of it winds
up where the city disinfects the water with chlorine before sending it to the giant winter - storage pond
across Deinhard Lane.
Each spring, the city scrapes up the sludge from the concrete raceways where the chlorine and
sewage are mixed and lays it out to dry before hauling it away. That's when the stink starts, wafting over
nearby neighborhoods such as Rio Vista.
The more the ponds fill with sludge, the less room remains for sewage to be treated, cutting into the
plant's capacity, McCall Public Works Director Peter Bomar said.
Plus, the sludge in Pond No. 2 has risen to the point it has blocked some of the aeration pipes,
lessening the effectiveness of the treatment plant, Bomar said.
Money Always Lacking
Standard practice calls for sludge to be cleaned from treatment ponds at least every 15 years. The
reason McCall's ponds have not been cleaned in twice that amount of time draws a familiar answer from
Borner - there is no money.
"There always seems to be a higher priority or an emergency that uses up any surplus funds we
have," said Bomer, who has been public works director since 2010. "Sludge removal has always been
put on the back burner."
More than just sludge removal has been put off over the years. Last month, Bomar presented to the
McCall City Council a two-page list of improvements and repairs needed to the entire system that
collects, pumps and treats sewage from more than 2,600 homes and businesses in the city.
The workshop was the start of determining how much to raise the $44 per month the typical household
in McCall pays for sewer service.
The study is expected to be finished sometime next year with a recommendation of new rates made to
the McCall City Council.
"We've put off these problems for too long and it is time to take action," Bonner said "Unfortunately, it
will be expensive and the user is going to have to bear the costs."
Page 1 of 1
http:// www. mccallstamews .com/pages /fp_stories _page.php 10/9/2014
This week's front page stories Page 1 of 1
McCall to spend $60,500 to fix sewer line crack under NF river
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
The McCall City Council last week voted to spend up to $60,500 for emergency repairs to a sewer line
crossing the North Fork of the Payette River near the new Lardo Bridge.
The repairs were expected to begin as soon as this week by the contractors now working on the new
Idaho 55 bridge near Shore Lodge.
The crack was discovered in one of two eight -inch sewer lines that cross the river near the bridge and
which drain sewage from nearby areas including Shore Lodge, McCall Public Works Director Peter
Borner told council members.
Crews working on the Lardo Bridge damaged the south -side line on the west side of the river, allowing
dirt and rocks to enter the line, Borner said. Sewage was diverted to the north line while the debris was
removed from the south line using a high - pressure vacuum cleaner.
The cleaner apparently dislodged debris plugging the leak, because a check with a television camera
after the cleaning found water gushing from the crack, Borner said.
The crack was located in the middle of the river four to six feet below the river bottom and was not
caused by the Lardo Bridge work, he said. It was unknown what caused the crack in the pipe, which was
estimated to be 30 years old.
The pipe needs immediate replacement because the north -side line is even older, perhaps 60 years
old, and sits on top of the river bed, Bomer said. Any leak from that pipe would quickly pollute the North
Fork and threaten the nearby McCall Fish Hatchery, he said.
The council invoked its emergency powers under state law to authorize the work, which is not included
in the city budget, because of the threat to public health. The $60,500 will come from the city's self -
supporting sewer fund.
Crews working for Lardo Bridge general contractor R. L. Wadsworth of Utah already have equipment
in place and have permits from environmental protection agencies to work in the river, Borner said.
http: / /www.mccalistarnews.com /pages /fp_stories _page.php 12/11/2014
Star -News News Lead Story Page Page 1 of 1
McCall, sewer district agree to
share operations at treatment plant
Pact is latest step toward consolidation ojsewer services
BY TOM GROTE
The Star -News
The two agencies that collect and treat sewage in the McCall area have agreed to share the load in
the operation of those systems.
The McCall City Council and the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District board of
directors were putting the finishing touches on an agreement this week that will have the sewer district
take over the disposal of sewage processed by the city.
The agreement is the outgrowth of a framework approved last August that the two agencies hope will
soon lead to full consolidation of the sewer systems.
Under the new agreement, sewer district employees will take over from city employees at the point
where treated sewage is discharged into the 20-acre winter storage pond on Deinhard Lane.
Sewer district employees will then make sure the treated water gets into the J -Ditch irrigation system
south of McCall where it would water about 1,900 acres mostly used for cattle grazing during the
summer.
As part of the agreement, sewer district and city employees are to be cross- trained to ensure smooth
operation of the system. A formula to share costs between the two agencies also is part of the
agreement.
"1 am optimistic that we will be able to work together and improve service to our users," McCall Mayor
Jackie Aymon said. "With cross - training staff, we can troubleshoot quicker and respond more efficiently."
The agreement also won praise from sewer district chair Jerry Vevig.
"Because of this agreement we now have the least expensive plan for collection, treatment, and
disposal of waste in place that was available to us," Vevig said.
Working Group
The new agreement also fors the Joint Wastewater Working Group to oversee sewer operations and
recommend changes to the city council and sewer board.
The group also is charged with moving forward with full consolidation of sewer operations. The August
2014 memorandum of agreement calls for a plan for consolidation to be completed by next February.
The city collects sewage mostly inside the city limits while the sewer district collects sewage generally
from homes around Payette Lake.
City members of the oversight board include Aymon, Special Projects Manager Nate Coyle, McCall
council member Nic Swanson and Public Works Director Peter Borner.
Oversight members from the sewer district include Vevig, board member Rick Skelly, Operation
Manager Dale Caza and District Administrator Jamie Melbo.
The new agreement has a practical reason for being adopted. Farmers who use the treated
wastewater for irrigation have said they will only deal with the sewer district, and not the city, in the
future.
At the end of 2016, the current contracts between the farmers and the city to use the irrigation water
will expire. Those contracts must be renewed before the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality will
allow the city to continue to send its treated wastewater to the irrigators.
Past Disputes
The agreement is the latest chapter in an often - contentious relationship between the city and sewer
district. In 2005, the city sued the district in a dispute over ownership of the treatment plant.
That lawsuit was settled six years later with an agreement in which the sewer district acknowledged
the city owns the treatment plant in return for the city agreeing to continue to process sewage collected
by the district.
The city serves about 2,600 customers with about 53 miles of sewer line and 16 pumping station.
The sewer district serves about 1,203 customers with about 60 miles of collection lines and 37
pumping stations.
http: / /www.mccalistarnews.com/pages /lead _page.php 3/5/2015
Star -News News Main News Page
Nathan Stewart named new McCall public works director
Department oversees streets, water, sewer
BY TOM GROTE
for The Star -News
Nathan Stewart has been named as new director of the McCall Public Works Department.
Stewart was appointed to the job by McCall city manager Nate Coyle and his
appointment was confirmed last Thursday by the McCall City Council.
Stewart replaces former public works director Peter Bomer, who left the city on May 26.
i No explanation was given for Bomer's departure.
Nathan Stewart, previously the city engineer, was one of three finalists for the job. The other two
Stewart finalists were current McCall City Council member Nic Swanson and Don MacDonald,
former public works director in Cheney, Wash. His annual salary will be $80,837.
Stewart earned his master of science degree in environmental engineering from Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University in 2005.
He joined Secesh Engineering in McCall in 2005 where he worked as an engineer consultant,
providing engineering design for water, sewer, road, grading, drainage, and stormwater management
construction plans.
He joined the city in March 2010 as city engineer, who is in charge of implementing public works
projects for several city departments.
About $2.2 million is budgeted to be spent on city streets for the budget year that started Oct. 1. About
$2.4 million is budgeted to be spent on the city's water system and about $2.4 million is to be spent on
the city's sewer system during the year.
A total of 27 employees worked for the public works department as of September, according to city
records.
The public works department is at unique time in its history, Stewart said.
Planning is underway for future improvements, including an updated master water plan and the city's
first -ever transportation master plan, he said. Improvements to how the city disposes of its treated
sewage is also in the works.
New technology is allowing the city to share large amounts of information about city streets, water and
sewer with the public, Stewart said.
"This combination of sound fiscal and technical planning combined with qualified and motivated
personnel positions the department very well for the future," he said.
Stewart is married to McCall Community Development Director Michelle Groeneveh, who consults with
the pubic works department on various city matters.
The couple has handled its relationship in a professional manner since Stewart has been city engineer
and he said he expects that professionalism to continue in his new role.
"It is our job to respond and act, or not act, accordingly without personal bias to the challenges and
decisions we face at work," Stewart said.
Department spending is reviewed by the city's finance department and City Manager Nathan Coyle,
and final decisions on contracts and developments are made by the city's planning and zoning
commission and the McCall City Council, he said.
Coyle praised Stewart and Groenevelt for making extra efforts to avoid conflicts, the latest being the
processing of site plans for the couple to build a home in McCall.
"I am confident that these two employees will continue to provide the same level of professional
service that they have to date," Coyle said.
All department heads in the city routinely consider their potential for conflict of interest in decision -
making, and checks and balances are provided where needed, he said.
http: / /www.mccallstamews.com /pages /fp_ stories _page.php
Page 1 of 1
10/13/2016
5taj� - nJ Cw s
McCall council may Owtch J -Ditch sewer plan
BY JEANNE SEOL
For The Stagy -News
As costs of the. J -Ditch sewage
pipeline project increase, McCall city
officials have decided to explore an-
other land application plan that would
remove the city's treated sewage from
the North Fork of the Payette River.
After more than two hours of dis-
cussion at last Thursday's McCall
City Council meeting, council mem-
bers instructed J -U -B Engineers, Inc.
to start a test plot for a "high- rate"
land application plan.
That high -rate system would re-
quire the city. to purchase between 40
and 60 acres. Treated effluent would
then be pumped onto those acres at a
higher rate than with the J -Ditch plan,
which would have sprinkled the ef-
fluent a, a slow rate onto more than
2,000 acres of farmland 10 miles south
of the city.
Such a high -rate system was first
proposes I by the city three years ago, but
has beer blocked by the state Division
of Envi;,onmental Quality. DEQ has
argued such a high -rate system would
still con ribute phosphorus to Cascade
Reservoir through groundwater.
Last week, however, DEQ's ada-
mant stance against the high -rate plan
seemed to soften.
"We can approve a high -rate sys-
tem if it can be shown to work," said
Mike Smith, DEQ's Southwest Idaho
regional preventive and certification
supervisor.
A high -rate land application has
been shown to work in communities
throughout Idaho, including the City
of Cascade, said George Wagner, vice
president of J -U -B Engineers.
Wagner added that a study com-
missioned by DEQ even shows that
soils around McCall are suitable for
a high -rate application plan. The
study is written by University of Idaho
soil scientist Stephen L. McGeehan.
Under a high -rate system, the
treated effluent percolates down
through soils, with phosphorus par-
ticles adhering to soil particles, thus
removing them from the wastewater.
In the past, DEQ and the National
Resources Conservation Service have
argued soils in Valley County are not
suitable for a high -rate system, but
Wagner said McGeehan's study
proves otherwise.
"The city should begin to better
define the parameters of a high -rate
system if the J -Ditch project does not
become available," Wagner told
council members.
City Manager Gary Shimun
agreed. "After meeting with our en-
gineers and attorneys, I cannot in all
honesty tell you (the J -Ditch project)
is a good deal for the city," Shimun
said. "I cannot advocate for it."
Shimun's remarks came after in-
creased pressure from J -Ditch land
owners for "one -time effluent appli-
cation fees," which Shimun saidcould
add another $1 million to the city's
already tight budget of $1.8 million
for the J -Ditch project.
After considerable discussion,
Mayor Bill Killen said he believed
the J -Ditch project was the best
J - ditch sewer
plan almost
a cber ai
t nty
BY JEANNE SEOL
The Star -News
McCall's treated sewage may soon
be flowing onto farmland instead of
into the Norte Fork of the Payette
River after agreements were signed
Tuesday nigh *.
The agreements were signed by
landowners who formally agreed to
participate in the J -Ditch sewage pipe-
line project.
Eight landowners located south of
McCall committed 2,550 acres and
agreed to receive a three -to -one ratio
of irrigation Avater mixed with efflu-
ent on their kind. The effluent -water
mixture-will b-- transferred to the farm-
ers through a 10 -mile pipeline
extending from McCall's wastewater
treatment pla it and then sprinkled on
crops and pastures.
The landowners also organized a
legal J -Ditch Pipeline Association,
Inc., and elected a board of directors
with officers that will maintain the
pipeline for c ne year. That board will
next select en engineer to formally
design what is expected to be a $2.5
million pipeline system.
Tuesday', agreements came within
the 60 -day deadline that the Cascade
Reservoir Coordinating Council had
given McCall city officials to obtain
the signatures from landowners.
The coordinating council will now
urge the Idalio Legislature not to re-
voke a $1 million grant given to
McCall for construction costs of the
J -Ditch alternative. The council also
will encourage legislators to appro-
priate another $670,000 that the
council has requested for construc-
tion of the pipeline.
Lake Irrigation District members
also signed letters of intent Tuesday
night, agreeing to assume responsi-
bility for the pipeline after one year
and to charge non- district members a
fee (currently set at $10.50 per acre)
to deliver water to non - district lands.
The last hurdle to jump will be get-
ting the McCall City Council to sign
onto the project. Council members must
sign a formal letter of intent at tonight's
regular meeting in order for the projecf
to move forward. The meeting starts at
7 p.m. at McCall City Hall.
McCall City Manager Gary
Shimun said Tuesday he expects the
council to sign the letter of intent. "I
anticipate the council will agree to go
along with the project," Shimun said.
If the McCall City Council does
agree to the project, the Cascade Res-
ervoir Coordinating Council will
formally draft papers and agree to
proceed with construction at its meet-
ing on Monday.
Coordinating Council Chair Ken
Roberts said the moment would be
,'monumental" and was eager to move
ahead with project.
To pay for the $2.5 million pipe-
line, landowners have agreed to pay
for 10 percent of on -farm costs, in-
cluding sprinkler installation.
The City of McCall has commit-
ted $1.85 million toward construc-
tion costs. Appropriations by the state
Division of Environmental Quality
and Valley Soil and Water Conser-
vation District, combined with legis-
lative grants will make up the bal-
ance.
The J -Ditch alternative will be the
first phase of an $11 million sewage
treatment improvement project the
city is undertaking to meet standards
in a newly drafted sewage discharge
permit from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
The new permit requires 100 per-
cent removal of phosphorous from
the North Fork by January 1999. To
fully meet that condition, city offi-
cials must implement phase two of
the project. That consists of building
a 300 million gallon winter storage
lagoon for the effluent during non -
irrigation season.
More than $5.2 million is still
needed for construction of that phase,
and city officials are still awaiting
financial help from outside sources.
r h C
- D i t c h a p p e a r i n ; m o r e l i k e l y a s v e r b a l
a g r e e m e n t s r e a c h e d o n d o c u m e n t s t h r o u g h D E Q t o t h e p r o j e c t , s h e s a i d .
M C C A L L T h e p r o b a b i l i t y
t h a t t h e C i t y o f M c C a l l w i l l e n d
u p b u i l d i n g t h e s o - c a l l e d "