Minutes - 03/20/1995 Workshop
COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES
March 20, 1995
TAPE
READING
0001
DATE. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY BALL, CITY OF WOODBURN, COUNTY
OF MARION, STATE OF OREGON, MARCH 20, 1995.
0003
CONVENED. At 7:05 p.m., the workshop convened for the purpose
of meeting with the Wastewater Advisory Committee to discuss
user rates.
ROLL CALL.
Mayor
Councilor
Councilor
Councilor
Councilor
councilor
Councilor
Kirksey
Chadwick
Figley
Hagenauer
Jennings
Pugh
Sifuentez
Present
Present
Absent
Absent
Present
Absent
Present
staff Present:
City Administrator Childs, Public Works Director Tiwari,
Wastewater supt. Sinclair, Asst. City Engineer Morrison,
Public Works Secretary Gerstner
The workshop minutes prepared by Public Works Secretary Lynn
Gerstner for the Wastewater Advisory Committee are attached as
a summary of the discussion held during the workshop.
The workshop concluded at 9:08 p.m..
C".-d
APPROVED /~
NANCY
OR
ATTEST
C-
nant, Recor er
Woodburn, Oregon
Page 1 - Council Workshop Meeting Minutes, March 20, 1995
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WASTEWATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF MARCH 20,1995
WORKSHOP wI CITY COUNCIL
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Members Present:
Scott Burlingham. Chairman
Preston Tack
Gil Flaugher
Rich Barstad
Walt Lawson
Forest Mills
JoAnn Bjelland
G.S. (Frank) Tiwari
Marv Shelby
Council Members
Present:
Richard Jennings
Mary Chadwick
Elida Sifuentez
Nancy Kirksey
Public Information:
Staff:
Barbara Lucas
Frank Sinclair
Dean Morrison
Chris Childs
Consultants:
Daria Wightman. CH2M Hill
Bob Tomlinson, CH2M Hill
Chairman Scott Burlingham opened the Wastewater Advisory Committee meeting at 7:05 p.m.
Gil Flaugherl Rich Barstad motioned and seconded approval of minutes of March 9. 1995.
Motion passed unanimously.
Frank Tiwari said that a memo from Terry Will. addressed to the city council. was forwarded
to all councilors and committee members along with the agenda and minutes of last meeting.
A sign-up list was distributed for attendance at the Wastewater Open House.
Daria Wightman had updated the Executive Summary of the draft facilities plan to include
comments offered at the March 20 Wastewater Advisory Committee meeting along with a site
plan. City Council members had received copies of the Wastewater Facilities Plan, Volumes
I, II and II, at the March 13 council meeting. The final facilities plan will be submitted to DEQ
by July 18. 1995. If regulatory agencies' approval is obtained by January 1996 and design is
completed by July 1997, construction may begin in 1997. and the first phase could be in
operation by late 1999. The estimated cost of these facilities is divided into two phases.
Phase I estimated costs (in 1998 dollars) are $38.3 million; Phase 2 estimated costs (in 1998
dollars) are $11.9 million.
A 3.4 percent growth projection has been approved by the Wastewater Committee and City
Council. The city has planned for treatment of septage from the Pudding River Regional Service
Area.
The Pudding River is a water-quality-limited stream. Total maximum daily loads are set for the
Pudding River and waste load allocations are set for the Woodburn treatment plant. Effluent
ammonia limits vary with Pudding River flow.
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Daria explained the recommended wastewater management program and explained the facilities
needed for the City of Woodburn. The plant improvements, other than the poplar tree
plantation, would be made within the existing plant site, so no adverse environmental impacts
are expected.
The present plant had adequate hydraulic capacity. Due to higher than anticipated commercial
and industrial loads, BOD occasionally exceeds the plant's treatment capability. The rotating
biological contactor (RBCl process does not effectively treat the current BOD load. The RBC
units are showing evidence of deterioration.
Dean Morrison explained the collection system. Woodburn has 58 miles of sewer lines valued
at $10.6 million. There are ten pump stations presently and six will be abandoned or upgraded.
Rainier and Mill Creek will be upgraded. The system currently serves about 2,087 acres and
will eventually serve an estimated 4,913 acres.
Phase I improvements will include Mill Creek Pump Station rehabilitation and construction of
a southwest sanitary sewer, southeast sanitary sewer, and north sanitary sewer. The project
cost is estimated at $3,555,500 and Phase II at $2,283,000.
Councilor Jennings thought that two user classes had been decided on at a previous meeting.
It was pointed out that there had been two residential classes, single family and multi-family
residential, but these had been combined to form a residential class.
Bob Tomlinson, in summarization of rates, explained that after doing a cost of service rate
analysis, costs were assigned to functional classes (flow, BOD, TSS). Then, those costs were
allocated to customer classes and rates were designed for each customer class.
First phase of rate methodology is to identify costs and determine revenue requirements that
need to be recovered through rates. For the five-year rate setting period under consideration
$16,500,000 will be collected through rates, $4.6 million will be generated by systems
development charges, and $0.8 million in interest on investment. Debt service cost is projected
at $13.6 million. The rate structure chosen by the committee was the volume rate plus
minimum service charge.
Brian Conroy, of Kerr Concentrates, had inquired whether future five-year increases would be
similar to the first five-year increase. It was stated that with annual growth of 3.4% and 4%
annual inflation, rates for the 2000-2005 period would be 22-25% higher than rates for 1995-
2000.
There was lengthy discussion on rate design, but general concensus developed that residential,
commercial and industrial customers must carry their share of the load. Frank Tiwari said that
the city wil be testing the concentration of waste in commercial, residential and laundromat
sewage samples to better determine the impact these sewer users have on the system. This
testing is expected to last until July, 1995. Council may want to delay the rate increase
proposed for July, 1995 until test results have been appraised. This obviously will require a
slightly higher rate depending on the amount of delay in implementation time.
It was noted there was little difference between rates paid by low-volume residential sewer
users and low-volume commercial. It was suggested laundromats may be placed in the
industrial user category because they generate large volumes of wastewater, but their
concentration of waste is lower when compared to other commercial users like restaurants.
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Walt Lawson and Dick Jennings shared comments they had received. While willing to pay their
fair share, residential users do not want adjustments to commercial and industrial rates made
at their expense. There have been complaints from industrial and commercial users on their
posed rate increases, but it was also noted that with the present rate methodology, the
residential user would no longer be subsidizing the commercial and industrial user as may have
been done in the past.
Walt Lawson asked if the Council would stipulate that income from the poplar tree harvests be
used to reduce sewer rates. It was noted the first crop may not be harvested for ten years and
there is possibility of a crop failure. Mayor Kirksey expressed that ratepayers have a right to
expect revenues from the project will be used to adjust their sewer rates.
Preston Tack! Gil Flaugher motioned and seconded the Wastewater Advisory Committee
requested Woodburn City Council stipulate the net return received from poplar trees go toward
adjusting sewer rates. Motion passed unanimously.
Gil Flaugher! Preston Tack motioned and seconded recommending the Woodburn City Council
send $2,240 to the Pudding River Basin Water Resources Development Association as the
City's membership in the organization. Motion passed unanimously.
The next meeting will be a workshop with the city council on April 18, 1995 at 7:00 p.m.
Frank Tiwari! Walt Lawson moved to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 9:08 p.m.
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