Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council approved a $30,000 study of the city’s system development charges at its regular meeting Tuesday last week.
System development charges (SDC) are assessed on new development to help pay for expansion of infrastructure created by growth.
The study will evaluate the city’s sewer and water SDCs and develop a storm water SDC.
The city received proposal from five firms to complete the study. Bids ranged from $18,000 to $31,000.
Public Works Director Mike Adams recommended awarding the study to Integrated Utilities for $30,000 based on the details of its proposal and reputation.
The studies will review city SDC ordinances for relevancy, accuracy and functionality, Adams said. It also will calculate appropriate SDCs. The city will be able to calculate future SDCs based on software that will be provided.
The study also must include information about legal requirements and a review of court case law regarding SDCs to help protect the city should the ordinance or SDCs be challenged in court.
During the study process, Integrated Utilities will make presentations to the City Council and Planning Commission in public meetings.
The city does not have the expertise to complete the study in house, Adams and City Manager Craig Martin said. The expertise provided by the consultants includes a variety of legal considerations.
With a Bend organization reviewing and challenging municipal SDCs around the state, solid legal standing is important as well, Adams said.
According to Integrated Utilities, its methodology will make the SDC revisions acceptable to the public and City Council. Most often, SDCs become controversial because a councilman or the public do not understand SDCs. Council involvement in the project will help the council and public understand how the SDCs are structured and used.
In other business, the council awarded a contract to Landis and Landis Construction of Portland for phase two of the sewer demonstration project.
The project will cost nearly $1.7 million with several components, including the replacement of sewer main lines and some laterals in numbered avenues primarily south of Highway 228. It also includes drainage improvements in the alley between Long and Main streets and running from 12th to 13th Avenue. It also includes a sewer line extension on First Avenue.
The first phase of the project replaced sewer laterals and main line in five areas. It cost roughly $2 million through the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
The city has approval to borrow up to $4 million to pay for these projects.
The projects were created to help provide information on what techniques decrease “inflow and infiltration” (I&I) the most for the lowest cost.
The city is facing a $20 to $30 million problem with I&I. During high flows, ground water leaks into the sewer system and seriously overloads the wastewater treatment plant, causing bypasses of untreated sewage, which is significantly watered down by the storm water.
Solutions include replacement of deteriorated pipes, which are present throughout much of the sewer system, and expansion of the treatment plant. The plant is already designed for flows of 6 million to 7 million gallons per day.
The city produces a little more than 1 million gallons of water per day in the water system at peak times, which indicates that most of the wastewater flow in heavy rain is storm water. s
The city is under an agreement to control such bypasses and deal with I&I by October 2007. Under the agreement, the Department of Environmental Quality will not fine the city for bypasses as long as the city is working on eliminating I&I.