12 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
Local
Public
Works
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 7
Schwin added, “It was
actually a leak you could
see. You could watch the
reservoir start to drop.”
Owen also told the
committee that she and
Schwin had been working
on the water facility plan
update with Murray Smith
& Associates, and that the
committee should expect
to see a draft plan in front
of them in the next month
to approve before present-
ing to City Council.
She advised the com-
mittee to expect that there
may be some really big
items in this plan such as
possible well-drilling and
hydraulic improvements.
She cited supply and
demand as a reason as well
as having a plan in place
to supply water if there is
a fi re in the watershed as
there is no fi ltration system
currently in place to reduce
particles that would be
present in the event of a
fi re and water would still
need to be provided to the
City in that scenario.
She mentioned that the
Forest Service could help
reduce that risk by reduc-
ing fuel in the watershed
but stated that has been
in the works for over a
decade without much prog-
ress being made so it was
in the best interest of the
City to have a backup plan
in place and that plan may
be having wells.
Discussion of upcom-
ing Wastewater Effl uent
Disposal Options
The City has for years
been operating under an
NPDES (National Pollut-
ant Discharge Elimination
System) permit.
This permit allows for
wastewater to be dis-
charged into the Powder
River.
The permit expired in
2008 but was extended
by the DEQ however, the
extension is due to expire
and a new plan must be
presented to obtain a new
permit.
DEQ has issued new
standards and discharging
into the river at the levels
that have been maintained
is no longer an option.
Something new needs to
be done.
DEQ has been elusive as
to what the new standards
are and will be thus mak-
ing the process diffi cult.
In the past, the City has
worked with Anderson
Perry out of La Grande to
develop new ideas with the
last update being done in
2010.
The City Council at that
time looked at the updated
plan and directed Owen to
explore the option of dis-
charging the City’s affl uent
wastewater into a wetlands
option.
DEQ had been working
with the City on that op-
tion, but is now unsure as
to whether that will work
as new contaminants such
a phosphorus has become a
problem, and it is looking
as if arsenic will become
an issue as well.
Owen said she felt some
new eyes on the project
may be in order.
DEQ has suggested a
plan for that water dis-
posal that uses it to irrigate
crops, the “easy button”
as they call it. The prob-
lem? It is an extremely
expensive alternative—
“Primarily because we
have to acquire property,”
explained Owen.
She added, “It takes a lot
of space to store our water
because of course we can
only irrigate our crops here
in our growing season and
then we have to store the
rest of the time therefore
I’d need to increase our
pond sizes. DEQ also says
you must own or control
the land on which the af-
fl uent is ‘sprinkled’ so that
means buying more prop-
erty and it’s not like our
log time century ranchers
are wanting to give away
their land to the City.”
Keven Shreeve, engineer
with Shreeve and Associ-
ates based in Kuna, Idaho
has been brought on board
as a professional consul-
tant for the wastewater
issue to help explore more
options that may be avail-
able.
Shreeve has experience
with similar tasks and
successfully worked with
the City of Caldwell on
wastewater concerns for
that City.
His idea to create what
is called a white paper
concept. The idea with this
concept is just to give a
general overview of a spe-
cifi c topic without getting
into the nuts and bolts and
in depth costs of the idea.
He said, “My intent is
to fi rst of all go meet with
DEQ and see if I can get
from them exactly what
they are looking for, what
the issues are and just be
a sponge willing to absorb
as much as they are will-
ing to tell. I’m not afraid
to ask questions and see
if I can’t get more defi ni-
tive answers from them.
However, it seems DEQ
doesn’t even know what
is going on as they stated
at the last City Council
meeting things are chang-
ing constantly as far as
standards.”
This option seems to
be the best route for the
City right now rather than
spending a lot of money
on a new study having
Shreeve gain insight and
report back to the City to
develop the best plan of
action for the City to take.
Owen advised the com-
mittee she was bringing
this to them because they
are the citizen committee
and the direct link to the
citizens of our community.
Whatever choice the
City makes will refl ect in
the community as they
will likely pay for a good
portion of it through rate
increases.
There is some money set
aside but not a great deal
and there are loan options
available; however, those
loans hinge on factors like
ability to repay based on
current rates and our rates
would need to be increased
to meet those requirements
as we are currently at
about $18 and the average
is around $20-$25.
Community support will
be critical in Council’s
decision of what choice to
make that will be right for
our community.
This Committee will
prove crucial in providing
a link between the City
and its Citizens through
outreach throughout this
process.
T hankful for my family
and friends who have served.
Honoring you all today and
always. Love you!
—SS
4th Annual VFW Youth Shoot
November 21, 11 a.m. until fi nished
at the VFW Memorial Club
2005 Valley in Baker City
Open to kids ages 10-15. 3 age categories with 3 rifl es
given to the top shooter in each!
Over $4,000 in prizes including rifl es!
Grand prize is a Savage .17 Super mag!
Age classes are: 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15
$10 to preregister or $15 day of shoot.
Safety meeting held just prior to shoot.
Call Karen at 541.403.2214 or Alan at 541.403.2214
Proudly sponsored by:
Steve Ritch Environmental and Construction, Inc.
Kevin Logsdon of York’s
Th e Sword Family of Swords Lawn Care