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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/21/2000 Adjourned Meeting 1 299 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON MARCH 21, 2000 ADJOURNED MEETING The City Council met in session on this date at 7:30 a.m., in the 2nd Floor Training Room, at the Police Station /Legal Center, 200 South 3rd Street, Yakima, Washington. Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members John Puccinelli, Clarence Barnett, Lynn Buchanan, Larry Mattson, and Bernard Sims were present. Council Member Henry Beauchamp arrived late. Dick Zais, City Manager; Glenn Rice, Assistant City Manager; Marketa George Oliver, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager; Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works; Ray Paolella, City Attorney; Doug Mayo, Wastewater Superintendent; Pete Hobbs, Environmental Analyst; and Dueane Calvin, Water & Irrigation Division Manager were present. Others present included: Rick Fry, Department of . Ecology; Norm Heppner, Department of Ecology; and Conrad Liegel from Preston, Gates, and Ellis. REVIEW OF EXPANDED EPA MANDATED PRETREATMENT PROGRAM /LOCAL IMPACT Mayor Place called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. Glenn Rice introduced staff members who had been working on the Mandated Pretreatment issues. Pete Hobbs, Environmental Analyst, said the City had responsibilities under its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. When Yakima received its permit three years ago, it set the framework for a legally binding contract with industrial users. The City decided to take a fully - delegated pre- treatment program. The program now rests with the State Department of Ecology (DOE), but it will be (fully) delegated to the City level with the next permitting process, which is two years from now. Mr. Hobbs indicated the Council had received a report from staff that outlines anticipated costs of a delegated pre- treatment program. He said some figures may appear high, but those figures are based on some draft regulations from the National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which may or may not occur. If EPA re- writes the regulations, the cost estimates may decrease significantly. There will be some staffing increases. The report illustrates the maximum of staff and dollars that the City will need in the future, but staff members hope that the City will need fewer resources. The report summarizes what the City has done in the past and what it will need to fulfill a fully - delegated pre- treatment program in the future. Charges are based on use by the businesses. Chris Waarvick, Director of Public 300 MARCH 21, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING Works, said that staff needs to prepare legislation to adopt the sewer treatment ordinance and bring forth special agreements with Union Gap and Terrace Heights and would need Council direction to do so. Council Member Barnett asked about other Council action items. He asked if Terrace Heights and Union Gap indicated if they would approve the ordinances. Mr. Hobbs said that both the Union Gap City Council and Terrace Heights Board are willing to pass the ordinances, but they are waiting to see if Yakima Council has any final changes. Mayor Place asked if both are assuming .responsibility for supervising their pre- treatment programs. Mr. Hobbs answered that Union Gap and Terrace Heights will become "partially- delegated" programs. Mayor Place asked if they fail to comply as a partially - delegated program, will the responsibility of enforcement fall to DOE or to the City of ' Yakima. Conrad Liegel from Preston, Gates and Ellis (the City's contracted counsel on this issue) said the responsibility would fall to DOE. He stated that under the ,law, the City couldn't write the permits for those jurisdictions. He said there are three scenarios for how the permits could be written. First, DOE could write them. Second, those jurisdictions could request delegation responsibilities so they would write the permits themselves. Finally, the City of Yakima could provide administrative support to them, but the other jurisdictions would • finalize the permits with DOE. Doug Mayo, Wastewater Superintendent, said it was important to remember that the report had two different levels. It shows what the City needs to do based on current conditions and what the City MAY need to do, based on anticipated rules that have not yet been finalized. Council Member Puccinelli asked about the figure indicating that one staff person would be needed to check on every four permits. Mr. Hobbs said the figure (summarized in Table 7 of the report) is based on a statewide survey of personnel needed for permits and is one of the lowest in the State. Council Member Puccinelli asked what a staff member would be doing if s /he was only inspecting four places per month. Mr. Mayo responded that responsibilities did not include just inspection, but also administrative work, scientific testing, etc. Mr. Rice clarified that staff was NOT requesting this level of staffing, merely indicating that it was a possibility in the worst case scenario in the event that the regulations eventually adopted by EPA were the most stringent and costly. Mr. Hobbs said Yakima is approaching King County in level of efficiency, which is impressive considering King County has some economies of scale. 2 301 MARCH 21, 2000. - ADJOURNED MEETING Council Member Barnett asked what would happened if the City were to not request a fully - delegated pre- treatment program. Mr. Liegel said the City is obligated to do it under its NPDES permit and July 1, 2000 is the deadline to submit the package to DOE, including the agreements with other jurisdictions. Council Member Sims asked if we were headed in the direction of "no discharge at all policy. Mr. Liegel responded that the Clean Water Act sets the goal of zero discharge of toxic pollutants. He further stated that when DOE reviews an NPDES permit, they look to see what is reasonable to meet that goal. These requirements tend to become more onerous with time. Council Member Barnett asked about regulation of residential discharges. Conrad said he did not foresee any residential regulations. Mr. Liegel said the single largest problem in the near future is the discharge of metals. Mr. Mayo said it is important to deal with metals at the source instead of at the treatment plant. Council Member Sims asked if the requested staff would be conducting tests daily. Mr. Mayo said the request is for one additional field team who would conduct testing all over the area. There would actually be only two people out taking samples. The others would assist with packaging samples to send to labs where they would be tested and handling other administrative functions. Council Member Barnett asked if the City could do the testing in- house. Mr. Waarvick and Mr. Mayo said sending the tests to labs is certainly not inexpensive, but it is less costly than trying to build a lab and conduct testing in- house. Council Member Barnett said he does not understand the issue of industrial septage. He asked if nobody is going to take it, how does someone get rid of it. Mr. Fry of the DOE indicated that the hazardous part of the waste is a real problem. He said that Yakima has a plant designed to treat domestic waste. Council Member Buchanan said there are businesses who haul industrial • waste away. Mr. Puccinelli said some industrial haulers are going out of business because of the cost of meeting the regulations. Mayor Place said the City has two options: either to refuse all industrial septage or to accept it and charge an appropriate price. Mr. Barnett said the current Council policy is not to accept it. Mr. Sims said that we need to be able to tell people where to get rid of this kind of waste. Mr. Fry said DOE has a hazardous waste program that helps businesses locate service providers. They put on training sessions and work with business • 3 302 MARCH 21, 2000. - ADJOURNED MEETING groups to do that. Mr. Hobbs said the City receives calls on occasion and the City has that list from DOE and he gives it to people when they call. Mr. Waarvick said that the problem really came when materials were mixed. Council Member Barnett asked whether or not the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is ready and capable of implementing and performing this and has figured out how to fund it and what the appropriate costs are. Mr. Hobbs said the WWTP will need some staffing and equipment, but they have the ability to do it. Council reviewed the updated sewer ordinance. Mr. Barnett said he raised some questions earlier on the confidential records and power to enter section and staff has made some changes. Mr. Liegel highlighted some changes regarding the right to entry. Mr. Barnett said that the ordinance contains an appeal process to the Council. He suggested it should probably go to the Hearing Examiner instead of the Council. City Manager Zais clarified that prior to the appeal to Council, there is an administrative appeal. Council Member Puccinelli said he does not like the administrative appeal process because he feels the citizens should be able to come to an elected official. Mayor Place said she wants to remove the language limiting the evidence that comes before Council. Council Member Puccinelli agreed. Mr. Liegel suggested adding language indicating that the City Council may remand the issue for administrative review. Mayor Place asked for other input on the ordinance. Council Member Barnett asked about enforcement of the regulations. Mr.. Hobbs said the City would be handling primary enforcement and DOE would be secondary. Mr. Zais asked what happens if there is a failure to enforce, who is liable. Mr. Liegel said the real exposure rests with the City, but EPA has the ultimate oversight with DOE in the middle. The bottom line is making sure the City is meeting its commitments. The worst violation is if due to inadequate staffing, things are not enforced or went unnoticed. Mayor Place asked if Council needs to make any decisions about funding. Mr. Hobbs responded it was not necessary to do that at this time. Council Member Barnett asked if the businesses had been advised of what is occurring. Mr. Hobbs said that they have been informed about the fully- delegated pre- treatment program and most are more comfortable dealing with City staff than State staff. Mr. Puccinelli stated the constant monitoring of restaurants is unnecessary and the restaurants are being charged for it. He said that if the restaurant is inspected and it passes, it should not have to be inspected again. Mr. Hobbs explained that restaurants have to be re- inspected to ensure it is maintaining 4 • 303 MARCH 21, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING compliance. Mr. Mayo said the pre- treatment program is being subsidized by the average rate payer by 50 %. He said that'staff is working on a new cost of service study for these types of businesses which will come to Council mid -year. At that time, Council will have some decisions to make about cost sharing for the program. Mayor Place said that Council needs to direct staff to prepare legislation to adopt the sewer treatment ordinance and bring forth special agreements with Union Gap and Terrace Heights for consideration during a Council,meeting. Council Members agreed. The. meeting was adjourned at the hour of 9:05 a.m. to the 11:30 a.m. meeting with the Yakima Housing Authority Board in the Fir Room at the Convention Center. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY/ , a7 D 0 COUNCIL MEMBER DATE • X/f; _ F CEO CONC '' " EMBER ATE ATTEST: • City Clerk Mary Place, Mayor • Minutes prepared by Marketa George Oliver. An audio of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office • 5