Board Members Present: Dorothy Anderson, Susie Smith, Sandra Bishop, and Patrick Lanning. Vice President Bartel was excused.
Others present: Randy Berggren, Jo Andersen, Jay Bozievich, Tom Buckhouse, Marty Douglass, Mel Damewood, Dick Helgeson, Mark Oberle, Karl Morganstern, Jean Meyers, Lance Robertson, Jim Wiley, Dick Varner, and Krista Hince of the EWEB staff; and Joe Sams, City of Eugene Minutes Recorder.
President Anderson called the Work Session to order at 5:30 p.m.
GROUND WATER DEVELOPMENT STATUS
Jay Bozievich, Senior Water Distribution Engineer, provided a presentation on the status of the Ground Water Development project. The presentation included:
He distributed maps showing the groundwater development sites as well as graphs showing peak storm water runoff months, constituent levels in well water, a project schedule, different types of well construction, and cost estimates.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding what would be done with the water that was extracted during pump tests, Mr. Bozievich cited storm water drainage sites nearby that the water would be drained to. He noted that the water could not be dissipated on the ground because it would skew the data being gathered.
In response to a question from Commissioner Smith regarding how ground water could be treated for radon, Mel Damewood, Water Engineering Manager, said air stripping could be used. Mr. Bozievich added that granule activated carbon pressure filtration could be used.
Mr. Damewood said staff would return to the Board in February with a funding strategy for the project and the URBA process. He added that there would be a public comment period after February to be completed by May.
Dick Varner, Fiscal Services Supervisor, outlined some next steps for the short term. He said staff would seek Board approval of the plan in February, followed, as soon as possible, by City Council approval of the resolution and have the authorization in place by late April. He said staff would come back to the Board seeking authorization for bond issuance in May and have funding in place in June.
Regarding debt service for the bond, Mr. Varner said there were several options. He said staff were considering wrapping the debt service for the project around existing debt service because approximately $1 million in debt service that would be eliminated in 2008. He noted that there could be some systems development charge, (SDC), reimbursement money that could be used to pay part of the debt service. He said there would be a more definite strategy for debt service in May.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding the use of SDC funding to help pay the debt service for the project, Mr. Varner said SDCs were made up of three components improvement fees, reimbursement fees, and administrative fees. He said the project might be eligible for SDC funding because it would supplant the need for another reservoir. He added that reimbursement money could be spent on any capital improvement.
Commissioner Smith noted that the valuation of the improvement fee had been changed and the ground water development fund had been taken out. She noted that there had been no collection of improvement fee SDCs attributable to the valuation side.
Mr. Varner said another full review of SDCs was planned for the current year. He said staff would be presenting recommendations in the fall for levels of SDC funding.
In response to a comment from Commissioner Bishop regarding not being able to use SDC money to help pay for the project, Mr. Varner acknowledged that the groundwork had not been laid for using improvement fee money. He noted that the Board had complete discretion over reimbursement fee money and was not limited to things which increased the capacity of the system.
Mr. Bozievich said ground water was less expensive than building more storage capacity.
Commissioner Smith noted that there was sensitivity around the blending of ground water with the usual water source. She stressed that higher constituent levels needed to be closely monitored to alleviate any potential public concern.
Regarding communication with the public about the project, Lance Robertson, Communications Coordinator, outlined the communication plan staff would use to explain the project:
Mr. Bozievich stressed that the ground water system would be a back up water supply to be used when the primary source was curtailed or limited in some way. He said the ground water would be of a very high quality that met or exceeded all State and Federal standards. He added that staff would work with appropriate parties to develop a well field protection plan. He noted that neighborhood associations would be notified about the proposed drilling so that more public input could be solicited.
In response to a question from Commissioner Lanning regarding how long the initial wells would last as a reserve and when more wells would have to be constructed, Mr. Bozievich said the target was to keep a winter's day worth of water demand on hand for use at any time (20 million gallons). He said that if there was a problem with the primary water source during the summer, then the public would be asked to reduce its consumption to winter levels.
In response to a question from Commissioner Lanning regarding how many more years the primary water source would be able to meet peak demands, Mr. Bozievich said staff was currently reviewing the issue. He noted that there had been a downward trend in use and added that there were inconsistencies in the previous demand analysis.
Mr. Bozievich stressed that Eugene was fortunate in that the recharge area for the ground water system was entirely within the City of Eugene's control.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bishop regarding whether Eugene had a well field protection ordinance, Mr. Bozievich said there was none at the current time but added that EWEB staff were working with city planning staff to develop an ordinance over the course of the next year.
In response to a question from Commissioner Smith regarding the cost of power for pumping costs, Mr. Bozievich said the cost would be approximately the same as pumping from an additional reservoir.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm.
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Assistant Secretary President