HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/29/1988 Adjourned Meeting 3 046
NOVEMBER 29, 1988
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ADJOURNED MEETING - PUBLIC HEARING
The City Council met in session on this date at 7:00 P.M. in the Council
Chambers of City Hall, Yakima, Washington. Council members present were
Mayor Pat Berndt, Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan
(present after 7:15 P.M.), and Jerry Foy. Council members Lynn
Carmichael and Bernard Sims absent and excused. City staff members
present were City Manager Zais, Dennis Covell, Director of Engineering
and Utilities, Chris Waarvick, Wastewater Superintendent, and City Clerk
Roberts.
This being the time set for a hearing on the Comprehensive Sewer Plan,
Mayor Berndt opened the hearing for public testimony. Leonard Sherry, 204
South 69th Avenue, County resident, stated that if the City is still
considering the 96% sewer surcharge for County residents connected to the
City sewer system, he is still opposed to that 46% increase. City Manager
Zais explained the sewer surcharge increase would be deleted from the Plan
if adoption occurs before the end of this year. He said the surcharge
increase would then be considered around March of 1989. Mayor Berndt
commented that the City is waiting to hear comments on this proposal from
the County Commissioners. Mr. Sherry reminded Council that County
residents are already paying 50% more than City residents for sewer
service and Council is considering a 16% general rate increase next year.
He stated he also had to pay the Capital Cost Recovery Charge (CCRC) to
help pay for the main sewer lines, and in addition, the City collected
interest, which he was not advised he would have to pay. Mayor Berndt
asked Mr. Covell to make note of this comment and advise staff to inform
people about the interest which would be charged on the CCRC.
John Klingele, 1312 W. Walnut,, noted several errors and commented on the
Updated October 1988 Plan as follows: 1) opening letter proposed $10
million for collection trunk improvements and $8 million for sewer
extensions if money from the State or Federal agencies is available.
Mr. Klingele commented he believes that type of funding is not too likely.
He further commented that statement needs some reconcilation with the
statement on page I1 -5 regarding "No new projects being considered to
extend sewer trunk lines in new areas ". 2) Page 11 -9: last sentence on
page, "If the City relocates collection system maintenance to a new
operation center, facility modifications and improvements at the Regional
WWTP would not be necessary." Mr. Klingele - stated he believes that
statement is slightly out of kilter with the fact that new lab equipment,
and lab space would still be needed no matter what is done with the
operations and maintenance. 3) Chapter 6, figure VI -2, states there are
two primary digesters, and there are three. 4) Table VI -1 and VI -3, page
6, 9 and 13 seem to need to be updated with our new equipment installed at
the aeration basins and their capabilities. 5) He stated he was missing
the page IX -1 in his book, but has two pages of IX -3. 6) Chapter 10,
pages 10 -15 talks about removing the present aeration equipment and
putting in the new blowers. He stated that work has been done and
suggested staff may want to consider taking that part out of the table.
7) Page X -26; requirements for bio- monitoring have been added to the
NPDES permit and he would like'to see these kinds of things listed in the
required text so we will know what kinds of things will have to be
monitored in the future. 8) Page X -27 talks about adding dechlorination
facility; however, he has not found anything in this book that describes
the landscape or equipment that will be needed, or the dollars. He asked
what kind of operating costs will there be? Chris Waarvick stated that
information will be available in the Pre- Design Report. 9) Page XI -7 and
XI -15 shows a listing of allocation of capacity for the City, Union Gap
and Terrace Heights; he stated he believes those figures should be
adjusted because they have been changed. He commented that no where in
this report does it state what kind of impact these changes or dollars
would have on. Union Gap or Terrace Heightsw systems and their customers.
City Manager Zais commented Union Gap and Terrace Heights have all been
sent copies of this report and have been kept informed about the impacts
on their users. Mr. Klingele commented he believes the City of Yakima
can't expand the Treatment Plant without Terrace Heights' approval and he
hopes we have it. 10) He commented that page H -3 in the Appendices is
unreadable. 11) He asked at what stage will Environmental Impact
NOVEMBER 29, 1989 ADJOURNED MEETING 0 4 v:kk
Statements be required. Mr. Waarvick stated -:the; Facility Plan Update will •
address the issues, as required; however, because the service area has not
changed since the original Facility Plan's adoption, a full EIS is not
required according to DOE. He said there will be requirements for SEPA:_
for certain projects. 12) Mr. Klingele commented about the CCRC, saying
he doesn't think it's reasonable to collect it from people who have
already paid, or from those who have already signed the CCRC agreement.
Council member Barnett responded by saying the increased CCRC would only
be applicable to new connections. Chris Waarvick explained CCRC
recommendation, saying there are two different propoals. One proposal is.
a housekeeping measure so the existing CCRC reflects actual construction
costs of the last major improvements at the Treatment'Plant. This would
generate an estimated $27,000 per year. He said the second proposal is
for funding $8 million of new trunk lines in the urban service area. He
stated the engineers suggested this alternative as a funding mechanism.
He said our recommendation that until funding is found, or dollars found
for the $8 million of construction, we do not spend money for that
project. We have more pressing problems with .facility and. collection
systems. •
Barbara 'Harris, P.' O. Box 812, Yakima resident, stated that Council was
elected to represent the City 'residents and she is interested in the
least. expense to herself. She said she looked at this table in the
Council _packet and it looks like #1, which would implement the 16%
increase with 96% outside surcharge for the County resident, should be
considered. If the people live in,the County and want the City services, .
they should pay for it or annex their property to the City. She,also
Commented that if the industrial users are not paying their share of
industrial waste costs, then that should be .considered, too. The majority
of the common people should not be picking ::•.up their tab.
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Larry Mathews, 805 South 17th Avenue, referred - to the outside sewer
charge, and commented that three years ago he attended a meeting when
Chuck Greenough, City Finance.employee, explained the need to increase the
surcharge for outside. the City. He stated -Mr. Greenough charted the costs
to service the outside area. If they want to come into the City, they can
annex and if they don't, they should pay the fair charges; based upon
modern utility accounting principals. He stated he has no quarrel with.
the 16% increase; which goes towards the needed improvements. He said
there are some things that are not being addressed in a forthright manner;
the strong waste charge. Administratively, there has not been an adequate
charge for the industrial users contributing the strong waste and it would
seem Council should initiate a charging program and discover where those •
wastes have been coming from. He said industrial waste has. been in limbo
for three years and only half of the costs has been collected. He said
the industrial users did not agree with what the City was charging them so .
they stopped paying'for it. He said Snokist, in Terrace Heights, built
its own treatment facility. That is a cost of doing business and we
should not be subsidizing their operations. He further stated the City
should not be subsidizing the LID costs for people who are not connected
to the sewer. Speaking about the proposal to abandon the leaky irrigation
system and converting to domestic water, he said the engineers are
estimating a cost of $50 -$150 for people to hook up; however, the
contractors he spoke with said the'costs are more likely to be $500 - $1,000
and may require some people to re -plumb their house. He said there are a
lot of unanswered questions about how much water is being provided by the •
different canals. He said he thinks Council is moving in the right '
direction with the pipe sewer lining or grouting technique. In fact, he
said he recommended the purchase of two units, not just one. City Manager
Zais stated Council is going to be holding a hearing on the Water
Comprehensive Plan on December 20th, however, the irrigation component
will be deleted from the.Plan at this time.
Raymond-Arnold, 44 W. Mead, owner of an 8 -unit trailer park at 48 W. Mead,
in the County, asked about the amount of increase he would experience if
the 16% .increase is adopted. After ascertaining that he presently. pays
$96 for sewer, Council member Foy stated Mr. Arnold's bill would .go up .
about $15 per bill, or approximately $8 per month. Chris Waarvick
conunented that would be about $1 per unit per month. .
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0 4 8 NOVEMBER 29, 1989 - ADJOURNED MEETING
There being no further citizen interested in, speaking at this time, Mayor
Berndt closed the public hearing.
City Manager Zais commented since the full Council is not present this
evening, staff would prefer to bring this issue back next week for a final
discussion so the appropriate rate legislation can be brought to Council
before the end of the year.
Council member Foy asked Larry Mathews. if he understood that the 16%
increase would be followed by another 16% increase and that one follwed by
a 10.5% increase in 1992. Mr. Mathews stated he did not go through the
first proposal and he would have to think about this some more. City
Manager Zais explained the total cost impact is $3.03 per month for the
average user after the two 16% increases, and the increases are driven by
State and Federal mandates placed on the City.
It was MOVED by Beauchamp, seconded by Barnett, that this meeting be
adjourned at the hour of 7:50 P.M. Unanimously carried by voice vote.
Carmichael and Sims absent. r
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: e 1 / 'I P a t '
COUNT ' j � y s DATE
COU I MEMB1" DATE
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MAYOR
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CITY CLERK
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