HomeMy Public PortalAbout2014.07.25 Special MinutesMINUTES
McCall City Council
Special Meeting
Work Session
Legion Hall - McCall City Hall (Lower Level)
July 25, 2014
Agenda
Call to Order
Work Session
Adjournment
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Aymon called the Special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 3:00 p.m.
Mayor Aymon, Councilor Giles, Councilor Scott, Councilor Swanson, and Councilor Witte
were present.
City Staff present were Gene Drabinski, City Manager; Peter Borner, Public Works Director;
Linda Stokes, City Treasurer; Nate Coyle, Airport Manager; Nathan Stewart, City Engineer;
Matthew Dellwo, Treatment Plant Operator; John Lewinsky, Water Treatment Facility
Superintendent; and Laura Wilson, Deputy City Clerk.
WORK SESSION
AB 14-150 Wastewater System Overview, Challenges, Issues, and the Fourth Amended
Consent Order
As an overview, Peter Borner, Public Works Director, discussed the differences in collection
systems between the City and the Payette Lakes Recreational Water and Sewer District (the
District). He stated that as development continues further out, stations are probably newer, just
because they were added later. Mr. Borner pointed out pumps are sized based upon the needed
capacity and facilities are all around the lake.
Mr. Borner continued stating that the District also has facilities within the city limits such as
Lick Creek Meadows, Whitetail, and in Fox Ridge. There are also facilities off Boydstun and in
TimberCrest, but for the most part, these facilities are outside of city limits. Mr. Borner
presented an illustration that demonstrated entry points where the District's collection system
enters the City's system. There are four or five points and most of these are metered. John
Lewinsky, Water Treatment Facility Superintendent, monitors those meters and keeps track of
the flow. The District's system, for the most part, is independent of the City's except for a few
areas of overlap. One of the largest overlaps is the shared Deinhard line. The City has an
agreement with the District, allowing the use of some of the capacity (approximately one-third)
of that line.
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Mr. Borner then presented an illustration of the City's collection system and where the City's lift
stations are located. The City has about 600 manholes, about 60 miles of collection pipe, and 15
lift stations. Most of the City's lift stations are wet well, dry well, duplex, or, in the case of lift
station #9, a triplex pump system. This is for redundancy in case a pump goes down, allowing
the City to continue to pump effluent. These lift stations run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The capacity is very large. Some of these lift stations, like #9 and #7, cover a large portion of the
town to the treatment facility. Lift station #9A takes almost everything on the east side of town.
Mr. Borner presented a graphic that demonstrated where the lift stations pump to. Lift station #7
is currently being replaced because it is old. The cost to replace lift station #7 is estimated to be
somewhere between $1.4 and $1.5 million.
Lift Stations
Mr. Borner then discussed the ages and status of the various lift stations:
1. Lift Station #1 is 42 years old and will need to be replaced. It has been given a letter grade of
D, in terms of the condition of the pump and the wet well. Replacement will have to be put in
the Capital Improvement Plan as part of the sewer infrastructure and will have to be
upgraded sometime in probably the next 10 years. This is a much smaller station and does
not have as much of a service area. It is bigger than the District's stations.
2. The lift station in Mountain Meadows is eight years old and has a letter grade of A.
3. The lift station in the Hemlock Mill area is 25 years old but is in very good condition, a letter
grade of B.
4. Lift Station #5A is on Pine Street near the Farmers' Market. This is 25 years old and is in
very good condition. It does not have as much volume going through it and is in a location
that does not pick up very much grit.
5. Lift Station #6 is at the Yacht Club. This is 49 years old and has a letter grade of F. This one
takes care of all the effluent along the south side of the lake from the McCall Mall down to
the Yacht Club. It was graded F because of age, condition of the pumps, and condition of the
wet well. Another factor of some of these older stations is the availability of replacement
parts after they get past the 30-year age limit.
6. Lift Station #7 is in the process of being replaced.
7. Lift Station #8 is four years old and in great shape.
8. Lift Station #9 is 24 years old but it is in great shape.
9. Lift Stations #10 and #10A have been included in the list because they are dealing with
effluent but there is a pump station at the winter storage pond plus the pump station at the
mixing station. These pump stations are 18 years old, and they have currently been given a
letter grade of B, in reasonably good shape.
10. Lift Station #11 is on Floyd. It is 46 years old and has a letter grade of A&D. The pumps
have been replaced with brand new grinder pumps but the wet well has cracks in it. The
cracks cause an issue with groundwater intrusion and over time leakage when the
groundwater goes down. It is grade D right now because it can be managed at this time. Mr.
Borner stated that there are other lift stations that he thinks are more important to replace
before getting to this one.
11. Lift Station #12 is in the Smitty subdivision. It is a submersible type station with a control
panel on top of the wet well and the pumps are down in the bottom. This lift station is 53
years old and has never been upgraded.
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12. The golf course lift station is only 22 years old but is in need of replacement. This is slated to
be fixed with the removal of the lift station and a gravity line put in.
13. Lift Station #14 is on the northeast corner of Krahn Lane and Highway 55. It is 21 years old
and is grade A.
14. The Rivers Crossing Lift Station is about seven years old and is also in good shape.
Flows
Mr. Borner presented a graphic demonstrating the last 2-1&2 years of flows coming into the
plant and what percentages of those are from the District. In 2012 the City had 309 million
gallons coming to the facility, out of which 39 million gallons were from the District, just under
13%. Last year the City actually saw a reduction to only 280 million gallons total that went into
the plant, of which 36 million was from the District. So far this year (six months) the flow is at
about 150 million gallons, so this is a little bit on track to be ahead of last year.
Mr. Borner pointed out the jumps in flow rates during the spring months, indicating the I&I
(infiltration and inflow) season. The District's totals show the same thing. Mr. Borner stated that
the District is making the same effort as the City to try to get this under control.
Currently the District is paying the City $100K a year to treat their effluent. This is lower than
what the District had been paying. The amount was never based upon a per -thousand -gallon
usage charge; it was based upon some percentage of the City's operating costs of the treatment
plant. There may or may not be a formula to determine this. The City needs to make sure that the
District is paying the appropriate amount for treating its effluent.
The District is guaranteed a certain percentage of the existing storage. From the settlement
agreement, as long as the District has not reached one-third of what can be stored in the winter
storage pond, then the City cannot charge them for any capacity improvements on the system. If
the pond size needs to be increased, for instance, that would be on the City. Once the District has
exceeded that number then the City can take a look at how they pay for any capacity
improvements.
The Council then questioned details of the Settlement Agreement.
Wastewater Facility
Mr. Borner explained the process of the wastewater treatment facility. A11 flow enters through
the influent structure building. There is a partial flume, a concrete channel where there is a
measuring device. This flume is where there is overflow. This facility was designed for 1.8 to 2
million gallons per day. Right now this is one of the bigger limiting factors as the City still deals
with I&I. Mr. Borner added that I&I season presents some real challenges.
Mr. Borner discussed the flow of effluent through the treatment facility, from the primary cell to
the second larger cell, during which both are aerated. This aeration equipment in the second cell
is reaching the end of its life if it has not already reached that. The aeration equipment in the
second cell is as old as the plant. The sludge in the second cell has never been removed. The City
removed sludge in the first pond when it was about 20 years old and replaced it with a much
better aeration system that has kept the sludge down, but a lot of it was transferred. The City did
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not have enough money to do the second cell and it was put off for years for various reasons, so
the second cell has never been replaced, neither the aeration equipment nor the sludge. The third
cell is the smallest of the ponds, and much of the time the sludge will keep going right through it.
The third pond only has about a foot of sludge in it, but it is more of a settling basin before it
flows into the chlorine contact basin. Another issue is the valves that control the flow between
these ponds. These valves are believed to not be working properly, and employees have to
physically put things in the pipes to stop them. Valves that were installed and worked in 1980 do
not work any longer and need to be repaired.
Mr. Borner stated that another issue is the proper filtering of the influent structure. Without a
headworks filter in place the first pond fills up with sand and grit and needs to be cleaned out
every other year with heavy equipment. Not having a headworks building is part of the problem.
One of the issues is that the bar screen is removed due to freezing in the winter time because it is
exposed to the elements. In a headworks building the screen would be put inside, heated enough
that it does not freeze. If a headworks building were built it would replace the influent structure.
Mr. Borner continued stating that the three cells are then followed by the chlorine contact basin.
This is where the City is required by permit to apply chlorine to kill all of the coliform and
pathogens per the amended consent order. During I&I season the flows are increased, which
creates a problem because the capacity of the chlorine machine to produce enough chlorine to
effectively treat the effluent is exceeded. In the future the City needs to increase the capacity of
its chlorine production machine or do some type of revamp of that facility so that in periods of
high flow the chlorine can be adequately applied. When the chlorine machine broke down two
years ago the City looked at possibly enlarging it, but there is not really room in that building.
The City would have to have a larger building for the larger machine, so it is no longer a $50,000
or $60,000 fix; it is higher. Part of the solution is trying to reduce I&I. The City needs to
continue working on that. Before the City can even think about expanding a plant or building a
new one, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) want to see the City's I&I reduced to a reasonable level.
Mr. Borner stated that one of the things that the DEQ is looking for as the City starts to work on
this facility is a way to keep the storage empty longer. Currently when storage has to be created
in the treatment lagoons for maintenance, they are drawn down to allow the water to stay in one
place for several days. When one is just about empty, the other pond is drawn down as low as it
can get, which stops flow so that it does not flow to the winter storage pond. The City then gets
the work done, whether it is liner repair or removal of sludge. The City found out last year how
much sludge there was and the difficulty of working with a liner that is not flat and level. The
DEQ wants to see the City re -pipe it so storage does not have to be created. This effluent can be
piped straight to the farmers and bypass the winter storage pond and keep it empty for longer
periods of time to do the necessary maintenance work that is needed.
Re -Use Permit
Mr. Borner stated that the District has received a very rough draft of a re -use permit. There are a
number of questions that the DEQ has, including what the contractual relationship will be
between the City and the District. The District has met with the farmers. Mr. Borner stated that
he did not think there is anything in the re -use permit, at least right now, that the farmers find
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objectionable. The biggest one was the ability to graze cows at the same time that effluent was
being applied. Both the City and the District know there is no science behind that, and the DEQ
has actually dropped that provision. There may be some issues in terms of fencing and setbacks
and whether or not certain portions of the farmers' fields can be irrigated or not, which might
require relocation or new wells or things of that nature that will have to get addressed. The DEQ
has all the farmers' comments. J.U.B. Engineers and the District met and looked at the
documents. There were comments and the document was sent back to the DEQ who is currently
redoing it. Mr. Borner stated that he is not aware of a revision to that original document. Since
the District has the permit they will be responsible to do all the repairs related to the farmers'
fields. The City and the District are working collaboratively. There are some licensing
requirements where the District needs the City's help and the City needs the District's help. It is
mutually beneficial for both agencies to work together on this and not work exclusively from
each other.
Fourth Amended Consent Order
Mr. Borner stated that the facility has an underdrain system originally designed to capture
groundwater due to this area being under a lot of high groundwater. Phosphorus content is
coming through those drain pipes causing high phosphorus content. The DEQ is convinced it is
coming through those pipes, so the consent order is amended to ask the City to build a pump
access as one alternative, put a new liner in on the bottom, along the side, and a couple of new
wells. The pond is divided into four quadrants which are tested on a quarterly basis for certain
constituents in the water. DEQ perceives that the underdrain and the problem with the liner is
causing leakage into the river. The third amended consent order really only addressed the re -use,
other than having to have the liner leak tested every year. That has changed with the fourth
amended consent order.
Mr. Borner continued stating that the DEQ wanted the City to immediately put in a vacuum
pump system, which involves attaching some type of pump station at the end of the pipe and then
routing it back into the pond so it is not getting to the river in any way. Along with that, there are
now some very specific testing requirements the DEQ wants to see the City do, as well as doing
a groundwater study. The groundwater study is to have some upgrading of wells and some
downgrading of other wells. The wells are tested for a set of parameters that has been outlined in
the consent order. The DEQ also wants the City to test at the bridge, which is currently being
done. Mr. Borner stated that his argument with the DEQ was that the City really does not know
what the impact of this pond is, so he is reluctant to spend money the City does not have on a
vacuum pump system. Mr. Borner has requested taking a step back and doing the groundwater
study, starting the sampling, and see if the City can get a strict set of baseline numbers to see
what is really happening with this facility and then address it after a year's worth of good data
has been obtained. Collecting the data gets the City out of this reactionary mode of trying to
respond to DEQ, who is more than happy to work with the City on this as long as everything is
reasonable. The DEQ understands the City's financial situation and what is going on with Lift
Station #7 and the cost of that, and realizes the City does not have the money right now to do
some of these things. However, the City does have the money to do the groundwater study and
the testing, which can be done over the next year. The testing results will then trigger some other
things after the data is examined and the City has had a chance to review it and can move
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forward from there with some appropriate steps with the budget in mind and money to work
with.
The plan has been sent back to DEQ and it will need to be reviewed. The City is going to request
a meeting with the DEQ and revise the consent order to bring before Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Without further business, Mayor Aymon adjourned the meeting at 5: 00p.m.
i
ATTEST:
BessieJo agner, Cy Clerk
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