The Sweet Home City Council last week approved a $779,000 engineering and design contract with Brown and Caldwell for the fourth phase of its inflow and infiltration reduction project.
So far the city has spent some $9 million in three phases to reduce I&I, which is water that leaks into the wastewater collection system through deteriorating pipes and cross connections with drainage. I&I problems can cause the city’s wastewater
treatment plant to be overwhelmed by untreated wastewater during heavy rainstorms and be forced to bypass that untreated water into the South Santiam River.
The city is operating under an agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to reduce I&I, which expires this month. The city has not met the requirements of the agreement, but it has requested an extension from the DEQ.
In previous I&I reduction phases, the city replaced and repaired sewer mains and laterals, which are lines connecting buildings to the wastewater system.
Brown and Caldwell has handled the engineering and designs for the city’s I&I reduction projects since 2002, said Public Works Director Mike Adams. The contract will include planning, surveying, design and bid and construction services for phase four. In addition, Brown and Caldwell will track flow and rain data to quantify I&I reduction achieved so the city can make decisions on the remainder of the program to comply with the DEQ agreement.
The engineering and design work will be funded through a $1.5 million Community Development Block Grant recently awarded by the state, he said. The balance will be used to help pay for the project along with up to $5 million in a no-interest loan from the DEQ.
The first three phases have been beneficial to the overall integrity and improvement of the wastewater collection system and have significantly reduced I&I, Adams said. “However, an additional 5.7 million gallons per day of I&I must still be removed or accommodated at the wastewater treatment plant in order to meet the one-in-five-year, 24-hour peak hour flow rate, the measure of which is required by the MAO (mutual agreement and order).”
Although city officials hope that phase four will provide the necessary reduction of I&I to meet DEQ requirements, Adams anticipates that improvements to the wastewater treatment plant will become a requirement in the near future, he said.
Present at the council meeting were councilors Jim Bean, Laure Fowler, Jim Gourley, Greg Mahler and Scott McKee Jr. and Mayor Craig Fentiman. Councilor Eric Markell was absent.
In other business, the council:
– Appointed Mike Remesnik code enforcement officer. Remesnik works in the building division but has and will continue to work half time in code enforcement.
– Approved a lease cycle for police cars.
In 1999, the police fleet accumulated 110,000 miles, Police Chief Bob Burford said. In 2008, the fleet accumulated 198,000 miles. Only one patrol car has less than 90,000 miles, a Chevrolet Impala purchased last year. It has about 38,000 miles.
Under the lease program, also used by Lebanon and Albany, the cars would cost about $11,000 each per year. The purchase price of a new Impala is about $30,000.
The Police Department will lease two Impalas this year, Burford said. If necessary, leasing two cars per year over the next three years will cost the city $120,000. If it purchased the cars immediately, it would cost $180,000.
At the end of the three-year leases, the city will own the patrol vehicles.
– Approved a plan to pay a portion of Burford’s accrued sick leave as salary in 2010.
Burford notified the city in November that he would like to retire at the end of 2010. Employees with more than 20 years service or who are 55 are eligible to cash out their accrued sick leave.
“Given the chief’s 20-plus years length of service, the city will owe the chief a significant payment upon his departure,” City Manager Craig Martin said. “I think it’s a great way to deal with a potential impact that could strain the budget a little bit depending on the timing of his departure.”
The plan should save the city $3,500 overall, Martin said, and it will spread the cost over two fiscal years. The fiscal year ends on June 30, and the next begins on July 31.
Under the arrangement, Burford will receive a total salary of $8,150 each month in 2010.
– Approved changes to the Youth Advisory Council bylaws, to reclassify junior high positions as “at large” instead of being grade-specific to help fill vacancies easier.
– Appointed Tressa Lovik, seventh grade, to the YAC as an at-large junior high representative.