HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-10-13 - MinutesMayor Dan Coody
City Attomey Kit Williams
City Clerk Sondra Smith
City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2005
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Member Aldermen
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AR KA N SA 5
City of Fayetteville Arkansas
City Council Water & Sewer Committee
Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2005
Ward 1 Position 1 - Robert Reynolds
Ward 2 Position 1 - Kyle B. Cook
Ward 3 Position 2 — Robert Ferrell
Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan
A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Water & Sewer Committee was held on October 13,
at 5:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain
Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Kyle Cook, Alderman Robert Reynolds, Alderman
Robert Ferrell, Alderman Lioneld Jordan
Staff Present: Steve Davis, Gary Dumas, David Jurgens, and Ron Petrie
Chairman Kyle Cook called the meeting to order.
1. WSIP Update
a. West Side Treatment Plant
b. Construction Cost and Time Line Summary
David Jurgens presented the Committee with the contract for the Westside Wastewater
Treatment plant. The total contract with Brasfield & Gorrie was for $59,994,771.00.
Some discussion was held concerning the specifics of the contract.
Alderman Ferrell asked for how long the bid would be good.
David Jurgens stated that the contractor was expecting the notice -to -proceed by October 21st
and would start cutting purchase orders on November 4th. Mr. Jurgens stated that, according to
the Engineering News Record, Brasfield & Gorrie is ranked 291" on the ENR Top -400 rankings
for construction companies overall in the nation. He stated that Brasfield & Gorrie has the
market strength to survive the effect of Hurricane Katrina on construction costs and that he feels
that the City has a contract with an excellent company at an excellent price.
Further discussion was held about the contract and specifics of the plant. It was stressed that
there should be no impact on the odor control or sound absorption aspects. There was also
considerable discussion on the purchase of insurance for the plant and how that would be
accomplished at the greatest savings to the City.
The floor was opened to public comment.
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City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2005
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Mayor Dan Coody commended the staff on the job that they had done.
There being no further discussion, the motion was made to forward the contract on to the full
Council for approval. The motion was seconded it passed unanimously.
c. WSIP Line Work Bid opening
David Jurgens stated that there was a mandatory pre-bid meeting earlier in the day on the first
two line -work projects. He stated that he is pleased with the fact that seven prime contractors
came in and he felt that there would be some good bids coming through in the next two weeks.
He also stated that the re-route easements are getting down to the final few easements on the
west side and progress is being made daily. He stated that there are two more line -work projects
that will be advertised before the end of this year and after those are going, focus will be shifted
to the east side. In response to a question, he said that the Brasfield & Gorrie contract has a
substantial completion date of May 31, 2008. He stated that Brasfield & Gorrie has a track
record of coming in on a project like this from two to four months early.
2. Capital Improvements Program
David Jurgens presented the Committee with the Water & Sewer Capital Improvement Plan,
showing both the funded and unfunded projects. He was asked how the projects were ranked
and deferred the question to Steve Davis.
Steve Davis stated that it was the same ranking process that was used for the street projects. The
project manager did the original ranking, and that was reviewed by a committee composed of
five members who did not have projects in the CIP. The ranking was based on 18-19 criteria,
including public safety, administrative mandates from the County, State and Federal government,
mandates from the City Council, etc. He stated that all projects city-wide were run through this
process.
Ron Petrie stated that this process gets back to zero -based budgeting based on community need,
rather than perceived division need.
There was further discussion regarding the criteria and it was stated that the Committee would be
given a copy of what criteria were used to arrive at the rankings.
3. HDR/EES Operations Study
Steve Davis reminded the Committee that the audit report had been completed in June and been
distributed. He stated that the operations study is now completed and that it contains a lot of
good information about the water & sewer system. He stated that the study is an independent
assessment of how the City is managing the system operationally, complying with rate
ordinances, and complying with the bonded venture. He stated that the City is required, by bond
indenture terms and conditions, to do such a study every three years and that a copy would go to
the various bond trustees, and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. Mr. Davis stated
that this report and the CIP would be reviewed at the next Water/Sewer Committee meeting.
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October 13, 2005
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4. Outside City Sewer Requests
a. Lierly Lane
b. Rom Orchard Road
c. Double Springs Road
Chairman Cook stated that he is going to recuse himself on the first item and turned the floor
over to Dave Jurgens.
David Jurgens stated that staff had received several requests for sewer from outside the city
limits, including one on the east side of town on Rom Orchard Road, and one towards
Farmington on Double Springs Road near the south part of the City limits. There was also one
on the northwest part of town at Lierly Lane. These three requests came in regarding the
alternative of putting in some type of onsite septic system connecting to the City's sanitary
sewer. He stated that since the city limits would eventually expand to these areas, it is his
recommendation and opinion that the City would be better off having these connected to the
sanitary sewer at this time, rather than having them hooked up to septic. He pointed out that
when the city limits expand around these sites, it makes it difficult to comply with State law
which requires that any structure within 300 feet of a sanitary sewer be connected. He stated that
this would mean the City could avoid having to retro -fit these developments in the future and
would avoid inheriting systems in which the City has no say in construction standards. He
pointed out that from an environmental standpoint, it is also much safer, since septic systems
treat to only about 50%, and the City wastewater plant treats to about 99.99%.
Some discussion was held concerning this. A representative of the residents of Lierly Lane stated
that they have been on record as saying they are receptive to doing everything to the City's
standards and will support annexation at the appropriate time. He stated that they are asking for
permission to tie on to the city sewer and then proceed with development and that they will
proceed with annexation on a parallel track.
Alderman Ferrell said he felt that it is in the best interest of the City to do this. He stated that
though he is for it, he has several concerns with the matter. The first concern is whether it will
take more city employees and the second is if it would have a rate affect on existing customers.
David Jurgens stated that the city already provides some inspection to every subdivision since
they are already on our water system; there would be no functional affect on staff time for
inspections. He stated that there would be a greater burden on staff from the maintenance
standpoint to have to go back and retrofit after the fact than there would be up front. He stated
that he felt the City would be better off from an operations and maintenance standpoint to own it
from the very beginning rather than inheriting what somebody else has operated and maintained.
Alderman Jordan stated that he would not support this. He stated that he is opposed to running
city services into county projects, and feels that there are infrastructure issues that would need to
be addressed.
The representative of the developers stated that the issue before the Committee as policy makers
is the request to tie on to the sewer system. He stated that the developers were receptive to
putting in 2500 feet of water & sewer line and the necessary infrastructure to service this area.
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October 13, 2005
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After further discussion, Alderman Ferrell made a motion that the City allow Lierly Lane to tie
in to the City's sanitary sewer. There was no second to the motion.
Discussion was held regarding Rom Orchard Road, and Alderman Ferrell made a motion that
the City serve them with sewer service. The motion was seconded and the vote was two in favor
and two opposed.
David Jurgens pointed out that the request for Double Springs Road was not ready for a vote,
but had been brought to the Committee as an informational item.
5 Elkins Contract Update
Steve Davis stated that the contract with Elkins was a result of several months of negotiations
between Fayetteville and Elkins in order to address a number of issues. He stated that the
existing contract with Elkins was signed in 1981 and according to that contract Elkins had
36,500,000 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity guaranteed. The 1981 contract did not
address what the City of Fayetteville could or should do if Elkins' wastewater volume were to
exceed that amount. The purpose of the new contract is to clarify the 1981 contract and to place
some potential limits to that wastewater flow. Mr. Davis proceeded to explain the details of the
contract to the Committee.
Mr. Davis also stated that he had recently been made aware of the fact that the Elkins city
attorney had advised Elkins that he believed it would be illegal for Elkins to collect Fayetteville
impact fees and remit that to the City of Fayetteville. He stated that City Attorney Kit Williams
had consulted with city attorneys for Greenland and Farmington. Mr. Williams states that he
would be more comfortable if each of those cities were to adopt the impact fees that Fayetteville
charges so that there would be no question of the City's right to assess those impact fees. Mr.
Davis stated that the issue that the Elkins city attorney has is under the new State law for impact
fees, in which a study must first be conducted to determine the scope and nature of the impact
fees. He stated that the City is in the process of having Duncan Associates do that type of study
for Fayetteville, Farmington, Greenland and Elkins and the study should take six to seven
months to complete. Mr. Davis pointed out that the Elkins contract needs to go forward and that
it could be amended after the study is completed. He stated that by doing so, the City would
have complied with the applicable provisions of State code.
Some discussion was then held concerning the cost of the study and impact fees as they would
apply to Elkins and the other outlying areas. There was also discussion concerning the details of
the Elkins contract.
Alderman Ferrell made the motion to accept the Elkins contract. Motion being seconded, it
passed unanimously.
6 Farmington Contract Update
Steve Davis provided the Committee with a copy of a resolution that the Farmington City
Council had passed in support of impact fees and requesting rate parity.
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October 13, 2005
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Chairman Cook pointed out that Farmington was not asking to pay the exact rate as Fayetteville
citizens, but that they are requesting to pay only their fair share.
Alderman Ferrell asked what the expense to the City of Fayetteville will be if we take on the
Farmington system and whether a pump station would have to be built out that way.
Steve Davis stated that Farmington has already agreed to cover that cost.
There was further discussion about the Farmington situation and Chairman Cook asked if it was
possible to disconnect from Farmington and have them be a wholesale customer.
David Jurgens stated that with the wastewater treatment plant being built where it is, it would
be possible to do that, though it would not make much sense.
Further discussion was held concerning this, as well as the costs and requirements of taking over
the Farmington sewer system.
7 Scheduling of the next Water/Sewer Committee Meeting
Dave Jurgens reminded the Committee that there is a special City Council meeting Thursday,
Oct. 20 to approve the Brasfield & Gorrie contract. The next Water/Sewer Committee meeting
was scheduled for Monday, November 7th, at 5:30 p.m. in room 326.
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