WATER/WASTEWATER TASK FORCE MEETING

MINUTES

April 13, 2000

11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Salem Public Library - Anderson Auditorium

1) CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order by Councilor Paul Wulf.

2) INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions were made. Members, staff, and citizens were in attendance as noted below.

Staff present included Frank Mauldin (Public Works Director), Tim Gerling (Assistant Public Works Director), Steve Downs (Utilities Planning Engineer), Paul Eckley (Chief Utilities Engineer), Jim Bonnet (Assistant City Engineer), Pat Dodge (Management Analyst II), Sandy Olds (Project Manager), Randy Pecor (Sewer Collection Superintendent), Francis Kessler (WLTP Operations Manager), Karl Goertzen (City Engineer), Dave Prock (Project Manager).

3) CITIZEN INPUT

None at this time.

4) MINUTES

Corrected minutes of February 10, 2000, and draft minutes of March 9, 2000, were approved unanimously. Wes Bennett moved approval and the motion was seconded by Charley Waters.

5) SEWER LATERAL POLICY

Frank Mauldin was hoping to present a brief update on what is being done on the Sewer Lateral Policy, but the work is not quite finished. At the May meeting, fresh information will be brought in and an analysis of the whole program will be presented. The cost numbers are being refined and you will see the recommendation from staff. All comparative cities are being surveyed and that information will be presented also. Mike Gotterba has made an analysis that will be presented at the May meeting also because Mike is not present today.

Wes Bennett asked about cost factor determination. Frank Mauldin stated that there are still two major options that need to be looked at again: a joint responsibility where a person would pay part of the cost of lateral replacement for that part on his property and the second option would be a continuation of the existing property where the City is paying for the lateral costs in high infiltration/inflow areas. This also will deal with property owners who have basements that have to have some work done as part of positive protection.

6) THREATENED FISH LISTING

Tina Schweickert, Natural Resource Coordinator, was introduced at this time. She presented information on the 4d Rule, Endangered Species Act. Two species of salmon have been listed (March 1999). Tina also presented background on the Act, some definitions, and expectations of the impact this will have. Tina used a large map to indicate the route these species of salmon travel in Willamette Valley. She also gave an overview of the criterion of the 4d Rule. Councilor Scott questioned to what degree local government is going to be tagged with forests as opposed to just dealing directly with the developer. Do we have rules that, on paper, look like they are okay with the Feds and somebody goes out and does private development somewhere, and they maybe don't conform entirely to our rules, then who is responsible - is it the City or the developer, or both or what? Tina responded that her guess is that they would go after the private developer, but if they thought we were not adequately enforcing our rules then they would also go after us. We will be tagged with enforcing our own rules. If we don't have rules in place, then we are automatically at risk. But if we get rules in place the NMFS accepts and don't enforce them, then we are also at risk.

7) WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

Dave Prock was introduced to present information on Geren Island Construction and Franzen Reservoir. He gave an overview of work done the last two years and what is being done today. This included a presentation of information from an aerial photograph showing the flow of the water treatment system. When operating at full efficiency, about 42 million gallons per day are treated. Dave provided an explanation of how slow sand filtration operates. He also presented an aerial view of the filtration system during the February 1996 flood (taken February 11, 1996). The belief is that the watershed is changing and it has become more of an operating issue. With extended periods of turbidity, we can't just turn off water production and wait for it to come back to normal. Dave continued the presentation with where we are at today. Working since 1995 so that what we have today is a new middle intake located just below the old upper intake sized for the City's full water rights. A chemical pretreatment system has been constructed to deal with the turbidity. Some of the other improvements under way are: disinfection facilities on line in about 18 months and filter two will be reconstructed.

Dave Prock continued his presentation with information on Franzen Reservoir and upcoming rehabilitation. It is currently uncovered, has an asphalt pavement lining. Looking at rehabilitation of the entire reservoir. The reservoir will be divided in two, a new liner will be put in, along with an underdrainage system, and it will be covered. The project will be under design within the six to eight months. The estimate on Franzen is about $14 million, while the cost on the original plan (two separate facilities) was approximately $30 million, a savings of $16 million. The reason the Master Plan was done with two separate facilities was that it was not thought, from the analysis that we could rebuild Franzen. Dave described how the rehabilitation of Franzen Reservoir will take place.

Jim Bonnet, Assistant City Engineer, was introduced to present information on the Intergovernmental Agreement process with the cities of Stayton and Turner regarding the 75 mgd project and the recent Marion County land use decision. With the use of maps, Jim presented a status update on the 75 mgd project which is now in the preliminary design phase. Rights-of-way are being acquired at this time through the farm land segments between Turner and Stayton. No offers have been made yet, but rather, the appraisal process has begun. Construction will be in FY 2005/06 - this replaces the 63-year-old conduit that will be approximately 70 years old at the time of replacement. Staff is very close to bringing the Intergovernmental Agreement to both Turner and Stayton councils for approval. A part of the agreement is that we will sell them emergency water (our surplus water) at our cost. This is very consistent with the decision that the Council made with the City of Turner. There are other reciprocal agreements with the City of Stayton that will be discussed later on.

Jim Bonnet stated that the City has also agreed to another obligation. In the vicinity of the water treatment plant, we have agreed to put another sleeve or second pipe in the plant because Stayton was very concerned about the 40-year-old pipe. That will allow us to eliminate the need to improve that section in future improvements.

There was a lot of discussion of capacity, current cost of construction, etc. The current cost is about $38 million, and with easements, it is another $5 million. Right now the City is in the appraisal process, and to speak to the issue of the productivity of the farmland itself, we have hired a soil expert. That will all be incorporated into the value of the property that is established. There has been a lot of input from the farmers.

EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY - Paul Eckley presented an update. One of the conclusions of the master plan was that we needed to develop additional emergency alternate supply of water. The number that came up during development of the master plan was about 20 million gallons per day (mgd) capacity and about 400 million gallons of volume (see memorandum handed out at meeting - copy attached for file). The ASR system in South Salem has a capacity of about 9 mgd. The goal was to develop it to about 20 million gallons per day, but the limits of the aquifer, the location of the well, and the hydrogeology limit have come up with about about 9 mgd. This includes four wells. We still need the 20, so where do we get the other 11? We went back and looked at some work done before the Water Master Plan. Golder and Associates has come up with a plan for Mission Bottom Wellfield to develop a 20 mgd secondary supply in Mission Bottom area. That was put on hold while the master plan was done. We met with Keizer to talk about what opportunity the City of Salem has to get that additional 11, or even more mgd capacity. There is an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Keizer by which we can buy water from each other. That has been used - when the City had to relocate part of the 54-inch line as part of the I-5 work, we did purchase water from City of Keizer for a few days.

NATURAL TREATMENT SYSTEM (NTS) UPDATE - Francis Kessler, Willow Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, was introduced to present a brief update on the NTS. Design of the project is in process, immediate neighbors and other stakeholders are being visited so they have a good understanding of the project. Have had good outreach, good turnout at various meetings. At this point in time, once the consultant is on board in May, the next step is to form a citizens advisory committee. We will be coming back to you with information as to the consultant is and how we are going to move forward.

Frank Mauldin stated that Senator Gordon Smith and Representative Darlene Hooley were very instrumental in helping us with the grant for the Bureau of Reclamation Study.

7) OTHER

No other issues for discussion.

8) ADJOURN

Meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.

These minutes are transcribed from notes and the tape recording of the Task Force meeting on April 13, 2000, as an overview of the meeting. They are not verbatim. The attachments are to the file copy only. Copies of the attachments were distributed at the meeting and by mail to those unable to attend the meeting.

Linda Nelson, Staff Assistant II

May 1, 2000

Attachments:

Attendance Sheet (file copy only)

Presentation Materials (file copy only)

Minutes approved at Task Force meeting held on May 11, 2000.