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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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F CEO
CONC '' " EMBER ATE
ATTEST:
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City Clerk Mary Place, Mayor
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Minutes prepared by Marketa George Oliver. An audio of this meeting is available in
the City Clerk's Office
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