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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-04-13 Minutes1 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS A special meeting of the Fayetteville City Boardeof Directors was held on Thursday, April 12, 1990, at 8:30 a.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor William Martin; Directors Michael Green, Russ Kelley, Shell Spivey and Fred Vorsanger; Assistant City Manager Scott Linebaugh, City Clerk Sherry Thomas; members of the staff, press and audience ABSENT: Directors Ernest Lancaster and Paul Marinoni, Jr. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with five Directors present. EPA FINE The Mayor introduced a resolution authorizing payment of a $10,000 fine to the EPA and approval for the Mayor to sign the a budget adjustment. Consent Agreement, and approval of The City was originally assessed a $25,000 fine for a discharge of improperly treated wastes, specifically numerous manhole overflows and lift station bypasses. City Staff met with EPA to show them improvements we have made in the system and planned improvements to be made after passage of the CIP program. EPA negotiated down to the $10,000 fine after being made aware of these improvements. The Consent Agreement contains the following clause: •Further penalties involving the collecting system are not contemplated so long as the respondent (the City of Fayetteville) complies with Administrative Order Docket No. VI -90-1214, continues to mitigate any future bypasses and does not cause any substantial environmental harm (fish kills, etc.).• Linebaugh explained the timetable involved with the fine., When the EPA grants were received on the EPA sewage plant, the City was required to keep records of the overflows and lift station bypasses and send these records to EPA. The City has done that. There was a major overflow in 1988 where the City received a penalty. This $10,000 penalty is for the period from July, 1988 to July, 1989. We were asked in October to::turn in a schedule of how we are going to improve our situation with the overflows and bypasses. in December, they approved the schedule we submitted. In January, they cited us for the past overflows and bypasses. In March, they agreed to lower the penalty to $10,000 and agreed not to cite us for further penalties if we comply with the schedule and plan of work that we submitted. In 1990 the City plans on spending $150,000 for pump station telemetry systems, $135,000 for rehabilitation of sewer lift stations, $600,000 for manhole flow monitoring, and $1,400,000 for the Illinois and White River watershed collections systems. In the Capital Improvements Program between 1990 and 1994, there are planned expenditures of $7,800,000 for sewer rehabilitation. The City is working on correcting these past problems. The problems are not new, April 12, 1990 and they are a result of improper maintenance in the 1970's. The City is not alone in these types of violations, other cities are receiving penalties and are having to make drastic improvements to the sewer systems. This penalty is a reminder from EPA that they are serious. Green, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to approve the resolution. Bob Kelly, Public Works Director, stated that the EPA does feel Fayetteville is on the right path to correcting our sewer problems, and indicated such by reducing the fine to $10,000. The potential was for over 400 violations that could equate to over $4 million in fines. In addition, EPA has given us a four year period to correct the sewer problems without any additional fines being assessed as long as we are working toward correcting the problems. Spivey asked what appeal process could the City utilize if they did not agree with the penalty. He stated through an Administrative Order, the City had to drain down Lake Sequoyah which cost the City and is still costing by lost revenues from slip rents. The lake was needlessly gutted, and he feels the City should sue the EPA. The City is spending thousands of dollars trying to meet compliance and probably more aggressively that most cities, and they are fining us for $10,000. He stated he has a problem with this, and he does not know if we just have to accept the EPA fine or if any further negotiations can be made. He felt the $10,000 could be better spent in aiding the City get into compliance with the regulations quicker than using it to pay a fine to the EPA. Bob Kelly stated when he came to the City in July, there was no maintenance program in existence. He built a sewer rehab operation. EPA is saying that the City was below the standard in maintenance from July 1988 -July 1989, and they are probably correct. Our sewer overflows have dropped from about 5 per day to about 5 per week by utilizing the general maintenance program. Linebaugh stated that yes, the EPA did mess us up on Lake Sequoyah. However, the City is guilty of the problems EPA is fining us for. We have done tremendous things in trying to improve the situation, and feels EPA agrees with what we are doing by reducing the fine. The $10,000 is the minimum fine they can assess. The only thing the City could do is take the EPA to court and try to get the fine dismissed. Linebaugh stated he advised paying the fine, but continuing the strong effort to correct the sewer problems. Spivey asked if there was any further appeal process other than suing them. He feels the City has made an effort to correct the problems, and if we could show them a plan of where we are correcting the problems, maybe they would eliminate the fine. Linebaugh stated this has been done. Bob Kelly went before the EPA and got the fine reduced to the $10,000. Spivey stated he understood, but would like to consider additional negotiations. He still has a problem paying the fine after the way they made us handle Lake Sequoyah. Vorsanger stated he felt getting the fine reduced is somewhat of a victory. 1 3 April 12, 1990 • Kelley stated he felt the victory came in the form of the four year reprieve from fines and penalties. Green stated that the continued rehabilitation program depends greatly onthe passage of the Capital Improvements Program. If the voters turn this down, then we could get back into the situation where we could be liable on a daily basis .for an infraction. Bob Kelly stated regarding Lake Sequoyah, an appeal has been filed with the EPA and a preliminary change for the flow requirement has been submitted to the City related to the temperature of the river. The City is still not pleased with this and are continuing further reviewal. He does not think the lake will ever have to be drained again. Spivey stated the draining was done based on an Administrative Order to which the City merely complied. He stated the City was dead wrong in complying with the order. Linebaugh stated he agreed with Spivey regarding the Lake Sequoyah issue, but this fine is a different issue. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 4 to 1, with Director Spivey voting in the minority. RESOLUTION 53A-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK ERC SETTLEMENT OFFER Mayor Martin introduced consideration of a settlement offer in the ERC Properties v. City of Fayetteville lawsuit. ERC Properties, Inc., has offered a $1,000.00 settlement to the City for their violation of the City's setback ordinance. Staff is not recommending accepting this offer because it is felt that the small amount is too low to act as a sufficient deterrent to future infractions. The Board of Adjustment agrees that the settlement offer is too low. John Merrill, Planning Management Director, stated that this is a zoning variance situation where a house was built that encroached into the front yard setback. It was discovered during the title insurance process. It went to the Board of Adjustment on a couple of occasions, and they ultimately denied the variance. ERC Properties, out of Fort Smith, is the developer. The City Attorney, Jerry Rose, the Board of Adjustment, and Merrill feel that the $1,000 fine is.all ERC will offer. Merrill asked Freeman Wood to look at the house because ERC is claiming that it would cost between $15,000 and $20,000 to bring the structure in compliance. Staff stated they figure the cost would be about $4,000 to bring the house into compliance. The Board and Staff feel the $1,000 is not much of a deterrent for this type of situation. April 12, 1990 Director Vorsanger, seconded by Martin, made a motion to reject the $1,000 settlement. Vorsanger asked who ERC was and if they had violated this setback ordinance before. Merrill stated ERC is Ernest R. Coleman, Inc., of Fort Smith, and this is the second violation since he has been with the City. He understood that there had been at least one other violation earlier. They have assured the City that this will never happen again. The members of the Board of Adjustment are concerned that an offer of this type needs to be substantial to serve as a deterrent because this is an after -the -fact type situation. Green stated he felt no one should be penalized for making a reasonable mistake, but if this is a habitual type occurrence, then there has to be a deterrent set up. Also, this Board is sensitive to the feelings of the Board of Adjustment, and he wants to make sure there is a good reason for bypassing their recommendation. Upon roll call, the motion to reject the settlement offer passed by a vote of 5 to 0. PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Martin stated the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board would like to have their annual meeting prior to the City Board's May 1 meeting. CITY MANAGER SELECTION Don Bailey, Personnel Director, stated the interviews have been set for candidates on April 30 for Robert Bocwinski, May 1 for Jerry Lawson, and May 3 for Fred Hays. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:52 a.m.