HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/30/1994 Joint Meeting 402
CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AUGUST 30, 1994
JOINT CITY /COUNTY MEETING
The City Council met in session on this date at 7:30 a.m. in the
Board Room at the Yakima Center, Yakima, Washington for a Joint
Meeting with the Yakima County Commissioners. Council Members
present were Mayor Pat Berndt, presiding, Henry Beauchamp,
Ernie Berger, Bill Brado, and Bernard Sims. Council Members
Clarence Barnett and Lynn Buchanan were absent and excused. City
staff members present were City Manager Zais, Assistant City
Manager Rice, Dennis Covell, Director of Engineering & Utilities,
Marketa Oliver, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager, and
Deputy City Clerk Skovald. County Commissioners present were
Chuck Klarich, Bettie Ingham, and Jim Lewis. County staff members
present were Dick Anderwald, Dema Harris, and Dan Hesse.
Draft Storm Drainage Management Plan for the Yakima Urban Area
Dennis Covell reported the State Department of Ecology has hired a
consultant to develop stormwater management requirements for all of
Washington outside the Puget Sound area with the initial draft
expected in January of 1995. He estimated the current deadline,
October 1994, would be extended to an actual timetable to possibly
take effect by the end of 1996 or early 1997. Mr. Covell explained
there is a good indication that the consultant will utilize a lot
of what is in our draft plan because it addresses the dryland area,
which receives minimal rainfall. The Federal regulations are up in
the air and appear to be on hold. Those draft proposals, of which
there are three, address urbanized areas or population centers of
50,000 or more, which would include the Yakima Urban Area. The
Storm Drainage Management Plan for the Yakima Urban Area includes
many different elements and contains very complicated water quality
issues. As far as Lead Agency status is concerned, the City's
recommendation is that the County is better equipped to lead it as
an urban area effort.
Dan Hesse, County Engineer /Director of Public Works, agreed with
Mr. Covell's overview of the'plan and explained it is not a flood
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control issue; it's more of a water quality issue. He asked the
question of when and who takes the lead role among the
jurisdictions in the Urban Area -- Yakima County, the City of
Yakima, and the City of Union Gap. Moxee and Selah are not
included because they are on the other side of the river. Union
Gap doesn't have any existing plan, although they were asked to
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participate in this process from the very beginning and they opted
not to.
Responding to a question about surface water contamination,
Mr. Hesse explained that basically the need for this type of a
II management plan is driven by rainfall. The toxics and contaminants
come from the impervious surfaces and eventually get into the
ground water and the surface water. It is unknown where the
legislation is headed at the Federal level, but typically the Urban
Area includes more than just the three entities mentioned,
including Selah and Moxee. Because there is a number of different
urban areas, depending upon what the subject is, it is difficult
for people to know which urban area is being referenced.
Responding to a question about the quality of water runoff,
Mr. Covell stated it is probably no worse or better than other
arid -type areas. The big concern is that this area goes a long
time with no rain, a lot of different materials accumulate on roof
surfaces and then a 20- minute intense storm flushes all that into a
drainage system and that high pollution load dumps on the receiving
water; that is what must be controlled, cleaned up by the best
management practices and /or improvements to the system. To answer
a question of whether an actual study has been done on what the
effects of that has been to the river, when there is only an
occasional storm every two to three years, Mr. Covell explained the
Stormwater Management Plan correlates studies done in other
communities. This area has not had enough continuous rainfall in
the last two years to do an adequate analysis, so a comparative
analysis with other dry -area communities was done.
As far as whether consideration will be given to soil conditions
when the plan is implemented or whether there will only be one
standard for all of Yakima, Mr. Covell explained there cannot be
only one standard, and as for soil types, that has to be a
consideration of how the stormwater in that particular area may or
may not be treated. The intent is, since this area has an
extensive number of drywells, to revise those so the water that
eventually ends up in the ground water tables has had a chance to
be filtered so that the sediments can be removed to minimize any
impact on the ground water. Even though a lot of water is probably
lost to evaporation, irrigation water impacts must be considered
because it raises the ground water and maintains it throughout most
of the year.
Regarding water quality issues as they related to urban areas,
Mr. Covell explained the concern is that the water is going into
receiving streams, ponds, and lakes. They want it cleaned up at
the source if at all possible, through best management practices,
and so the issue of whether people stay on wells or get on domestic
water is not an issue; it is the fact that they want the water as
clean as possible before it goes into the ground water that ends up
in receiving streams.
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JOINT CITY /COUNTY MEETING - AUGUST 30, 1994
There was discussion about the need to have an acceptable program
in place, as best can be done in this community, when the rules and
regulations take effect. The draft Storm Drainage Management Plan
has been adapted this area, which is dry; receiving only minimal
rainfall per year. Currently there are no federal loan programs
available, but there is a loan program at the state level; grants
are becoming scarce.
Concern was expressed that Union Gap, as well as Selah and Moxee,
isn't participating. They should be involved because they all have
development going on; any municipality that touches the river in
one form or another -- that has irrigation and runoff, and taking
more soil away and putting asphalt over it -- should all be
involved in this process.
There was discussion about drainage at the uttermost points of the
boundary of the Urban Area, including farmlands on the fringes ,of
the Urban Area Boundary. Dan Hesse explained the systems will be
put in place as development occurs.
Mr. Covell explained there are various types of best management
practices being considered including: onsite or greenbelt type of
development, a combination of onsite with some type of underground
distribution, the utilization of overland, green swale, cleansing
of water; a drywell system expansion to provide some filtration
before the water goes into the ground water table; and retention
ponds at the end of the pipe. A determination will be made for
each particular area as to which best management practice will be
used.
The discussion continued about the downtown business area, because
of its impervious surface, is where the major rework needs to be
done. The possibility of installing a system in the new
interchange area during road construction to remove the water from
downtown was suggested, as well as the concept to enlarge the
Kiwanis Park pond and use it as one of the receiving ponds.
Since it will be necessary to hold public hearings on this plan and
to find sources of revenue to finance the plan, it was suggested
the process continue by the City and the County to adopt a long
term policy to approach the issue by including the system during
road construction to modify the drywell system in the downtown
area.. Discussion continued about educating the public as it
relates to storm drainage, and the need to adopt the plan first and
then further discuss the details of its implementation at a later
date. I/
Mr. Hesse indicated he will provide the County's perspective on the
plan very soon. There was continued discussion about providing the
public with information about this issue, which should include the
Department of Ecology and the Federal EPA to explain the policies
and requirements, particularly for problematic areas. Since a
plan, acceptable to the three entities involved, needs to be
adopted and lead agency status determined, it was suggested that an
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JOINT CITY /COUNTY MEETING - AUGUST 30, 1994 -
interlocal agreement is needed on how the plan is to be
implemented. Since the public hearind''process should include all
three entities, a letter will be sent to Union Gap to set up a
regional discussion meeting on this issue with invitations to Moxee
and Selah as well. Mr. Covell explained a lead agency does not
have to be declared at this time as long as the Department of
Ecology understands there is a cooperative effort underway.
However, language should be included in the interlocal agreement
concerning lead agency status.
SERVICES AGREEMENTS
There was discussion and a request by the City about how internal
services are billed by the County because those costs have
increased significantly. Another issue discussed was the process
of how the money is distributed and spent for the Emergency Medical
Services, particularly for areas where there is no population but
services are provided. SunCom is not on the list. There is a need
to review these to see if there is any way to consolidate to make
things more efficient.
Regarding the Airport, there was a consensus to call an Executive
Session, with the City, the County, and the Airport Board, to
discuss complaints received. It was suggested that maybe the
duties of the Airport Board should be increased because of changes
in airport operations. It,was also suggested that at the next COG
meeting (Executive Board Meeting) they discuss the rationale of how
the rates have been set and its benefits, with Council Members and
Commissioners to attend. ,
After a brief discussion about joint legislative possibilities, the
meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
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READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: b ' i kk. ! i. ,. /.' / ✓21- ( 1 S
COUNCIL : i nER D TE i i #r
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COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
ATTEST:
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CITY CLERK MAYOR ►�
Minutes prepared by Deputy City Clerk Skovald. An audio tape of this Council meeting is
available in the City Clerk's office.
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