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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - June 12, 2007 SSCITY OF LODI INFORMAL INFORMATIONAL MEETING "SHIRTSLEEVE" SESSION CARNEGIE FORUM, 305 WEST PINE STREET TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2007 An Informal Informational Meeting ("Shirtsleeve" Session) of the Lodi City Council was held Tuesday, June 12, 2007, commencing at 7:01 a.m. A. ROLL CALL Present: Council Members — Hansen, Hitchcock, Katzakian, and Mayor Johnson Absent: Council Members — Mounce Also Present: Deputy City Manager Krueger, Deputy City Attorney Magdich, and City Clerk Johl B. TOPIC(S) B-1 "Update on White Slough Permit" Deputy City Manager Krueger and Public Works Director Prima briefly introduced the subject matter. West Yost representative, Kathryn Gies, provided a presentation regarding the status of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Specific topics of discussion included permit process overview, new permit requirements, constituents of concern, aluminum and compliance, chlorodibromomethane and dicholorobromomethane and compliance, nitrogen and compliance, salinity and Compliance, mercury and compliance, flow increase, monitoring requirements, Title 22 requirements, studies, biosolid requirements, land application area requirements, and storage lagoon requirements. Public Works Director Prima provided closing comments regarding the political side of regulations, 7 million gallons per day (MGD), airborne regulations, and biosolids application. In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated every discharger does have to comply with ammonia requirements, which are based generally on pH levels in the water. She stated the City may want to contest this because the City's requirements are based on the Delta pH levels. In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated contesting may delay the permit process because it may be remanded to staff for further work through either the State or Regional Boards. In response to Mayor Johnson, Ms. Gies stated going through the appeal process may be worth it because the Regional Board is not necessarily clamping down through regulations and several agencies are contesting. In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated the term of the permit is five years; although, it may expire and be administratively extended by staff, which may take it to seven years. In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated the likely reason mercury compliance is not handled by the State is because it does not have the proper mechanism in place, funding or otherwise. She also stated there is a recent court case regarding mandating requirements without funding. In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated compliance will be an ongoing effort because the requirements are generally for the term of the permit and new requirements may come with a new permit. In response to Mayor Johnson, Ms. Gies stated the agreement with the agricultural community may need to be modified to ensure farming practices incorporate the biosolid land application requirement of three hours. Continued June 12, 2007 In response to Council Member Hansen, Ms. Gies stated that, while she is not sure why the three hour time frame was chosen, crops are important because of their nitrogen yield and alternatives to the land application may be available. In response to Mayor Johnson, Ms. Gies stated she is not sure if land application will still be needed in 15 years, but options may be available so that it is not needed. In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Prima stated no one really has an idea of what the financial offset program will look like at this time, but staff will bring that information to Council when it comes forth. In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Prima stated it would not be cost effective for the City to do as Sacramento County is doing in recycling and selling fertilizer on a grander scale, but Sacramento County may be interested in working with the City. In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Prima stated the cost of the studies is not built into the fund, but it may be available from the capital program. In response to Council Member Katzakian, Mr. Prima stated the monthly service charge from Flag City will cover the operational costs with a little extra. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. Prima stated Flag City is paying its share of necessary updates through one-time capacity fees and the construction costs on top of those amounts. He stated that Flag City can be no more stringent than the City's permit with the State. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. Prima stated the City does have the ability to control the levels of salinity received from Flag City into the City's system. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Ms. Gies stated the City is in front of other agencies in dealing with the permit issues because it already has the filters and is working on controlling the constituents. Ms. Gies stated this is advantageous to the City because everyone has to deal with the same requirements at some point and the Regional Board staff views this as proactive. She also stated that the specifics regarding the constituents themselves come from the Environmental Protection Agency; not the State. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Ms. Gies stated the most common practice amongst agencies is to discharge into some form of water, whether it is the Delta or a drain, and recycling is becoming very big. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Ms. Gies stated the current 7 MGD permit will increase to 8.5 MGD when the new construction project is completed. Ms. Gies confirmed this would provide an additional 2.1 MGD before more growth, not including the Flag City amount which is .3 MGD. Ms. Gies stated the estimated date for the 8.5 MGD is summer 2009. She also stated mercury can come from a variety of sources including fluorescent lighting and dentistry and public outreach is an important component of controlling the levels to the best of our ability. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Ms. Gies stated the only factors she can envision reducing the overall capacity for 8.5 MGD is ammonia and aeration level. In response to Council Member Katzakian, Mr. Prima stated that, so long as the City continues to process more internally while discharging less, it is fine. C. COMMENTS BY THE PUBLIC ON NON -AGENDA ITEMS None D. ADJOURNMENT No action was taken by the City Council. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 a.m. ATTEST: Randi Johl, City Clerk W AGENDA ITEM ZdP I CITY OF LODI Cts NCIL COMMUNICATION TM AGENDA TITLE: Update on While Slough Permit MEETING DATE: June 12, 2007 (Shirtsleeve Session) PREPANED BY: Public Works Director RECOAMENDED ACTION: None; discussion only. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The City's wastewater discharge permit is in the process of being renewed. Recently, Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board staff provided City staff with an administrative draft permit. Staff had a number of questions and comments on details of the permit and met with Regional Board staff who tentatively agreed to most of the City's comments. At the meeting, staff and our consultants, West Yost and Associates, will review the permit process and noteworthy requirements, as well as related issues. (We anticipate having the revised permit prior to the Shirtsleeve Session date but do not have it as of June 7, 2007, thus our presentation is not complete.) FISCAL 1114IPACT: FUNDING AVAILABLE RCP/pmf K%WP\WhilsSlough\CPermitUpdate.doc Not applicable. Not applicable. APPROVED: Richard C. Prima, ^ Public Works Director King, City Manager 6/712007