HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-02-27 - MinutesCity Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes
February 27, 2007
Page I of 9
Member Aldermen
Mayor Dan Coady Ward 1 Position 1 — Adella Gray
V10
Ward 2 Position l - Kyle rt Cook
CityAttorney Kit Williams � 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell
Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan
City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS
City of Fayetteville Arkansas
City Council Water & Sewer Committee
Meeting Minutes
February 27, 2007
A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Water & Sewer Committee was held on February 27,
2007 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West
Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Kyle Cook, Chair; Alderwoman Adella Gray;
Alderman Robert Ferrell; Alderman Lioneld Jordan
Staff Present: David Jurgens, Gary Dumas, Ron Petrie, Paul Becker
Others Present: Billy Ammons, OMI; Stan Williams, OMI; Duyan Tran (OMI)
Alderman Cook called the meeting to order.
1. Approval of the Minutes
Alderman Ferrell moved that the minutes of the January 30, 2007 Water and Sewer
Committee Meeting be approved as submitted Alderman Jordan seconded the motion and it
passed unanimously.
2. WSIP Update
David Jurgens said all projects are progressing. The chart in the agenda packet reflected the
percent completion on each project. He said he would not go into detail but asked if the
Committee had any specific questions.
In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, David Jurgens said the WS -3 project (Porter-
Hamestring & Old Wire— Gregg) is 98% complete. He said the last 150 ft. before the WL -6 Lift
Station is still left to be done. Staff is waiting for the Lift Station to reach the right point of
completion before that last connection is made. On EP -2 (Noland WWTP Renovation) Archer
Western is putting in the bar screen which is the last big piece. There is also some street work
and clean up to do. This project isn't scheduled for completion until August.
A. Subproject EP -1, Noland WWTP Wet Weather Improvements
Chairman Cook requested that all the Noland plant information be covered under this agenda
item.
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David Jurgens said he included subproject EP -1 (and another project on this agenda) because he
will be out on military leave during the last half of April and first part of May and wanted to
bring these items up for the Committee's information so they will be familiar with them. If
everything goes well and we know the contractor who gets the bid, he will send the information
out as an out -of -cycle request. This will get the items on the agenda so no one has to cover for
Mr. Jurgens while he is gone. If there are any questions, we will just delay the award of bid until
he returns. He said EP -1 is essentially taking the smaller of two ponds and converting it to wet
weather storage for water before it goes into the plant treatment process. Currently there is
roughly 170 million gallons (combined) of pond which can only be used for finished effluent.
After the effluent is treated it can go into the ponds for storage to make sure we can meet all our
permit requirements. This project converts the smaller pond (about 17 million gallons) so that
wet weather water can be stored in it before it goes through the treatment process. During high-
flow events, the water will be stored here rather than overflow into the river. Seven primary
contractors have taken out plans for the project and bids will be opened on March 8.
7. Noland WWTP January Report and Operations Status was moved up on the agenda for
discussion at the request of Alderman Cook.
Alderman Cook explained that he had asked Mr. Jurgens to include this on the agenda. He said
though the biological loading of the plant is sufficient under our limits, the hydraulic loading
concerns him. He said we are running at 126% and he is concerned that we are moving into
wetter weather and we still have fourteen months before we see the Westside plant come on line.
We will be going through three more wet -weather cycles before that happens.
David Jurgens said the worst wet -weather events we get are the winter wet -weather events. The
foliage is down. The affect on the plant of a 3 -inch rain in January is almost twice as bad as a 3 -
inch rain in May. This made the January loading much more challenging. There are leaves in the
storm drains, backing water up in areas where it doesn't normally back up. One of the reasons
for moving up the EP -1 project was to get the storage capacity on the front end, which
significantly enhances our ability to shave the peak off the hydraulic loading.
In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said the EP -1 project has a 180 -
day substantial completion date and he hopes to award a contract at the first Council meeting in
April. Therefore the project should be complete this fall. This will help us through the late fall
and winter seasons.
Alderman Cook asked what February looks like in regard to loadings.
Billy Ammons said we are running at about 14.3 million gallons per day (mgd) for the month of
February so far as opposed to almost 16 mgd in January. He said we are doing better this month.
He said this is an extraordinarily complicated situation with so many factors coming into play.
There is no simple answer. He said we experienced some things in January that we haven't seen
at that level in some time. Part of the issue is the fluctuation in temperatures we experienced in
January. We came closer to violating our permit than we have in a long time.
Alderman Cook said the jump stood out to him because we've been doing a lot of line work
trying to reduce I / I. When he saw the spike in loadings he wandered how that could happen
with all the work being done to reduce I / I.
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David Jurgens said a big part of what we're doing with the I / I is reducing the volume and
frequency of the overflows even with the heavy rainfalls we are experiencing
Alderman Cook asked if there is any concern about breaking our permit levels and what the
backlash of that would be if we do break them.
Billy Ammons said the City of Fayetteville's treatment facility has a remarkably good
compliance record and has a great reputation with the State. They know that we do all that can be
done and are aware of the on-going improvement project and the vast amount of money the City
has dedicated to this purpose. If there is an occasional blip where we have gone over our
permitting levels, if we are showing good faith and they see all these other things happening,
they're not going to take any enforcement action. He said the City of Fayetteville is doing so
much more than so many other cities in the state on all fronts. He said we need to be able to tell
them at the end of a month in which we've had a problem what actions we've taken and let them
know we have done what we could do, regardless of the cost. He doesn't believe there will be
any long term consequences unless we begin to show a pattern of ignoring the problem. He
reiterated what he has said in the past, the chance of having a permit violation is much higher
now because of the overall situation of the plant and the pressure from several different points.
We don't have as large a margin of safety as we would like. There is a fairly good chance we
will have a violation or two in the next fourteen or fifteen months. In most municipalities that is
common. In Fayetteville it has become very uncommon and we have a very high standard that
we have set for ourselves.
David Jurgens said staff talks to the State officials regularly, keeping them fully informed about
what is happening. They know we are investing in a good quality facility and we have their
confidence.
Alderman Jordan said he has to know that the Noland plant will hold until the new one comes
on line. He has to depend on staff to make sure that happens.
Billy Ammons said he will not tell the Committee that we won't have a permit violation. In
explaining what that means, Mr. Ammons said when there is a violation we will get a letter from
the State that says the permit has been violated and we need to do something about it. He
explained what would be considered a permit violation. Officially the State will issue a letter
telling us we had a permit violation and requesting to know what is being done. However,
unofficially, they will look at our history and what we are trying to do and they won't take any
action.
David Jurgens said we are safe from any on-going sorts of large violations. We may experience
a blip or two but we are safe from systematic problems.
Billy Ammons said OMI had hoped to never have to put this plant under this level of pressure.
He said it is a difficult situation and he doesn't want to minimize that. He said they will do
everything within their ability to stay in compliance but he believes there is an every increasing
likelihood that we may have a permit violation before May 2008.
Alderman Cook asked if there is a reason the organic loading fluctuated so much in January.
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Billy Ammons said he wishes he had an answer. He said just before Christmas remarkable
changes occurred in the concentration of the flows coming out of the pipe. He doesn't know
what was going on or what people were doing. Some of it can be attributed to industrial activity.
But we saw a ten -fold fluctuation, which is very odd in a facility of this size. He explained some
of the challenges when conditions are changed (extremely cold weather, etc) and the balance of
the different kinds of bacteria. He said when some bacteria die, their cell mass actually comes
apart and it becomes a big challenge for this facility. He said the new West Side plant will not
have a problem with this because they will have a better effluent filter.
Alderman Ferrell asked if staff had noticed any changes or spikes when Superior Wheel
stopped their electroplating operation.
David Jurgens said there was a volume drop of about 220,000 gallons per day.
Billy Ammons said there was a definite reduction in nickel, which is a good thing. That would
also require an adaptation of the biomass.
b. Beaver Lake Watershed Nutrient Reduction Study
David Jurgens said one of the people on the negotiating team (other side) had a death in the
family so this item has been held up for a few weeks. We have not yet received their draft
contract back.
c. Subproject WL -7, Gregg Avenue Lift Station
David Jurgens said the pre-bid meeting on this was held today. There were five general
contractors in the meeting and typically two or three more will be added before bids are opened.
Bids are to be opened on March 20. He doesn't anticipate that the contract will be awarded until
he returns from military duty in May. The optimum time to issue the notice to proceed on this is
late June — early July. If we have the notice of award before then, the contractor can begin to
order parts so there is no delay when construction begins in late summer.
d. Backup Power Generators, West Side WWTP and WL -6, Hamestring Lift Station
David Jurgens said we purchased a backup power generator for the Noland plant and have had
great success with that. When Ozarks Electric was stressed in the middle of last summer with
peak electrical usage nationwide and there were brown -outs all over the area, Noland could use
the back up generator. In addition to that benefit, the generator is saving us a little over $16,000
per month because our peak electrical consumption came down, reducing our rate for kilowatt
hour. Now it is time to buy the next two generators for the Hamestring Lift Station and for the
West Plant. It is important that we look for very good quality in this purchase. We have no back
up if we have an ice storm and are without power for a few days and our generator doesn't work.
What we are planning to bring forward is the same as was done several years ago with the same
manufacturer, repair parts, power management system, etc. We have done all the price
comparisons that we can, but because of the systems involved, it is a proprietary purchase and
we aren't able to get bids on the specific machinery that has the same replacement parts, etc. The
purchase price will be just under $2 million. Staff will be bringing this forward in March and
requesting a bid waiver and authorization to purchase.
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In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said he doesn't believe that by
sticking with the same supplier that we are being gouged. He said we have looked at the prices
and done all the comparisons we can. He said he believes this is a good price and is comparable
to the price of the original generator considering the increases in the cost of copper and other
metals used in the product.
David Jurgens said these generators will pay for themselves in roughly 5 years and three
months.
In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, David Jurgens said this can't go to bid
because it is a product that no one else puts together in the same way. He said most generators
work but they don't function as well when switching power from the main source to the
generator. You can mandate the function or mission in an RFP but you can't get the same pieces.
There is only one manufacturer who makes the switch we have in the system right now.
Billy Ammons said every manufacturer does the switching in their own way and every one will
claim to have the best method. However, this one has proven over the past couple of years to be
extraordinarily affective. When we do our power transfer in the summer during peak usage, even
our computers and sensitive lab equipment never know when the change is made. We are
confident that this equipment will work well.
Alderman Ferrell said he understands what is being said but thinks it may set us up to pay more
in the long run.
Billy Ammons said there is no question that there are less expensive systems available. But he
believes this is a very good value.
Alderman Ferrell said he is just saying that if you put this same system to a bid, as opposed to
simply ordering it from them, he believes we might get a tittle better deal.
David Jurgens said he understands and also wants to save money. However, when this was
researched before the original equipment was purchased it was determined that this was a sole
source purchase. It appears that this is the only way to get the right equipment this time also.
Alderman Jordan moved that this item be approved to forward to the full Council Alderman
Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
e. WL -6, Hamestring Lift Station, Change Order Number 1
David Jurgens said there is a very small change order to the construction contract with Brasfield
& Gorrie. In evaluating the generators in great detail, staff identified that the original concept has
an extra transformer built into the system. This change order (for $3,546.00) was necessary to
run a load analysis confirming that the connection between the backup power generator and the
lift station will adequately protect the Ozarks Electric power supply grid from overload when the
lift station starts up or operates under maximum demand and power is transferred to or from the
backup power generator. Any changes in the electrical supply require that you rerun this
analysis. We changed the electrical design based on the recommendation of the way we are
going to put the generators in as a less expensive alternative. This change order is easily covered
by the contingency in this project.
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f. WSIP Farmington Area Work
David Jurgens said we expect the results back from RJN evaluating all the value engineering
suggestions and comments by the end of this week. Some will be incorporated into the plan and
will produce savings for the project for the west Fayetteville/Farmington area. Farmington's RLF
loan application was turned in to Arkansas Natural Resources today. He said he had spoken with
officials at ANRC and they expect the loan to be approved. Because it is essentially a subset of
our project, the application process was significantly easier from a technical standpoint.
g. Easement Status Update
David Jurgens said there are now thirty-four easements remaining on the east side. All letters
have gone out and staff has been negotiating with owners. In at least one instance we will have
property reappraised because the appraisals were done in 2005.
h. WSIP Construction Schedule and Cost Update
David Jurgens distributed an updated schedule to the Committee. The schedule changes
regularly for many good reasons. He said the WL -6 change order is shown on the schedule. The
other biggest change was the confirmation of all the dates for the Farmington pieces. There is no
change to the bottom line. The project total is still the same. The sludge hauling tractor and
trailers have been received and are in use.
3. Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project Update
a. Basins 1-5,18 & 19 Sewer Rehab
David Jurgens said the Arkansas Highway Dept. has voiced a few objections to the routing of
lines at Doc Murdocks. We sent them a letter stating why our recommended routing is best and
have not received a response back. We show the line crossing at a 30 degree angle and they
wanted it to be perpendicular.
b. Farmington Area
David Jurgens said we got word last week that EPA Region 6 has approved a Categorical
Exclusion for the rehab work in the Farmington area. We will now be proceeding. Arkansas
Natural Resources should have a letter out next week approving the projects from their
standpoint. We will be using some STAG money for that rehab project. We should be able to
advertise for bids in March and open bids in April for award in May.
4. 36" Water Transmission Main Rehabilitation
David Jurgens said this project is underway. There will be times within the next month that we
will be shutting down our main transmission lines. This should not be noticeable to customers.
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5. Farmington Wastewater Service Agreement
Kit Williams said that he had reviewed Steve Tennant's draft of the Farmington agreement. He
said it is a 31 -page contract and he noted seventeen changes he thought were substantial enough
to bring to the Committee's attention. He distributed a memo regarding his findings. He also
distributed a copy of the contract as changed. He said most of the changes were in the use of
statutory terms or to try to make the contract a little more even so that if a duty was placed upon
Fayetteville, a corresponding duty was placed upon Farmington. He outlined some of changes he
made. He said he redrafted the wastewater system impact fee sections pretty substantially. One
change he made was to state that as soon as a contract is signed, our current sewer impact fee is
immediately affective in Farmington. Any changes to the impact fees made in the future would
be affective when approved.
In response to a question from David Jurgens, Kit Williams said we couldn't charge our impact
fee to Farmington customers in the past because we didn't have legal jurisdiction to do it since
our contract with them did not give us the right to charge a sewer impact fee without their
agreement. This contract will give us that authority. We do charge the impact fee to other
customers outside the City with whom we don't have a contract.
Kit Williams said he also took out a provision in the contract requiring us to carry insurance for
our sewer system. We have never had insurance for our sewer system and if we did have
insurance, we would be waiving our sovereign immunity. He also took out a hold harmless
indemnification provision for the same reason. He encouraged the Committee to read the
contract and get back with him if they have any questions or suggestions for changes.
Alderman Cook said he appreciates Kit's attention to this and the time he put into this review.
He thinks the changes suggested are good and doesn't believe Farmington will have any issues
with them.
David Jurgens said we are hoping to have the rate change ordinances that are being made based
on this contract presented to the Council simultaneously with this contract. We are looking at the
rate change ordinance being presenting for the first reading at the March 20 Council meeting. At
that time a public hearing will be announced. The public hearing must be at least ten days after
that date. On March 21 the public hearing will be advertised with the modified rate. The public
hearing would be held at the April 3 Council meeting and the rate adjustment ordinance and the
contract will be presented to the City Council then.
Gary Dumas said staff would ask that the Committee approve this contract at the next meeting
after having time to read and review it.
In response to a request made by Kit Williams, David Jurgens said he would forward a copy of
the revised contract to Farmington tomorrow.
6. Greenland Sewer Issues
David Jurgens said he attended a Greenland City Council meeting last week. Greenland has
repeatedly asked for Fayetteville to take ownership of their wastewater system. We have told
them that it wouldn't be considered unless the system was financially solvent and in the same
condition as our system.
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In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said the Greenland system has
some outstanding bonds and needs some rehabilitation and capacity improvements. They are at a
turning point right now because they have several developments coming in which might bring in
the funds to get the system up to where it needs to be for a 2025 or 2030 capacity. One developer
is putting $20,000 into upgrading the lift station. Greenland has done a master plan for the
system so they may have the potential to combine efforts from a lot of different elements and get
their system improved to where it can be in a condition to merge with ours. He will be working
with Greenland to see how it might work. He will keep the Committee posted.
In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, David Jurgens said the benefit to Fayetteville
is that we avoid all contract negotiations such as we have had with Farmington, saving staff time
and money. He said there is a hilltop between Fayetteville and Greenland and as Greenland
grows, some of the Greenland flows will be coming into Fayetteville and it will become more
complicated. We have owned the water system in Greenland for years and we don't have any
problems with that.
Alderman Cook said if we continue down this path, he believes we have to start thinking about
being a regional system. We are still considered a municipal system even though we function as
a regional system.
Gary Dumas said you don't think the same way as a regional system as a municipal system. He
said we have to come to grips with the fact that by decisions made thirty five years ago, we are a
regional system. We need to start thinking in that context.
7. Noland WWTP January Report and Operations Status (Covered earlier in agenda)
8. Health Department Water System Sanitary Survey
David Jurgens said the Health Department representatives were here last week conducting a
sanitary survey, which is performed every three years. They said our system looks fantastic.
They said they might want to recommend that we put fences around a couple of small pump
stations that are currently locked but have no fences. These pump stations provide services to
seven or eight houses. That was the only item they saw that might be a possible recommendation.
Mr. Jurgens will forward a copy of the report to the Committee when it comes out.
9. ADEQ Pretreatment Inspection
David Jurgens said ADEQ does this inspection every three years. The statements were very
positive. They had one requirement, one strong recommendation and several minor comments.
The requirement has to do with one industry not being listed in our pretreatment program. Staff
is working with ADEQ to research and determine whether this really is a requirement.
Duyan Tran explained that there is a question about whether a small powder coating operation
may or may not be categorized as a metal finishing company. The situation is pending an
inspection by the treatment plant staff. They want to involve ADEQ to make sure they participate
in the decision making.
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David Jurgens continued that the strong recommendation, to develop and implement a grease
control program, is something we had been working on for over a year. Will Winn, who was
brought on staff a few months ago has been assigned this task. Mr. Jurgens said he looked at the
Little Rock grease control program a couple of years ago and that will probably be the basis on
which ours is developed.
In response to a question from Alderman Cook, David Jurgens said the Water & Sewer
operations division wash out certain lines every 30 days to try to keep them free of grease.
10. Sewer Pump Station Design Standards
David Jurgens said there was a minor change in the document that was presented to the
Committee at the last meeting. The valve type for 12" and larger lines was changed from a
butterfly valve to a gate valve. He asked that the Committee move these standards to the full
Council.
Alderman Jordan moved that the Sewer Pump Station Design Standards be forwarded to the
City Council. Alderwoman Gray seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
11. Decentralized Sewer System Ordinances
David Jurgens said he had been working with other staff on this. He distributed a summary of
the changes they are looking at making. Right now there are no ordinances in place controlling
decentralized sewer systems. Due to the recent annexation we are inheriting such a system. No
decision is needed at this time. More information will be available at the next Committee
meeting.
12. Scheduling the Next Water/Sewer Committee Meeting
The next Water/Sewer Committee meeting was scheduled for March 13, 2007, at 5:15 PM (or
immediately following the Agenda Session, whichever comes first), Room 326, Fayetteville City
Hall.
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