city news
Vernonia City News...
november21
2013
5
At the November 18, 2013 City Council Meeting:
completed. In the event of a power outage, City Hall
Council Approves Airport Park/Airport Host now has the ability to use phone lines, some lights and
Council Discusses Health Clinic Site Development Agreement- Based on recommendations from the some computers.
Plan- Council has received an approval from the Parks and Airport Committees, Council approved a
Planning Commission for the Site Development Permit revised Airport Park/Airport Host Agreement.
Conner Completes Chief Requirements- Council
for the construction of the new Vernonia Health Clinic
was informed that according to DPSST, Police Chief
at Cougar and Weed Streets. The Permit was approved Council Approves Contract for Wastewater Mike Conner has met all training and management
based on a series of conditions being met.
Engineering- Council approved a contract with requirements for the position of Police Chief and will
Council and the Health Board are continuing Tetra Tech Engineering and Architecture Services to be issued a certification in early 2014.
to work on the legal arrangements which will allow provide services for construction administration for the
the Health Board to use the property. Council agreed completion of the Wastewater Improvement Project. Executive Session- Council entered into Executive
by consensus to have Mayor Josette Mitchell send a The contract is for an amount not to exceed $398, 816. Session under ORS 192.660(2)(i) Performance
letter to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Council later Passed Resolution 19-13 which allows Evaluations of the Public Officers and Employees.
which originally gave the City use of the property, to for the continuation of Engineering Services with Tetra Upon returning to Open Session, Council asked City
get approval to lease the property to the Health Board. Teach.
Administrator Bill Haack if he would like to have his
Erika Paleck, representing the Health Board
Performance Review on December 2, 2103 in an open
also asked about the timeline for environmental reviews Generator Project Completed at City Hall- Police or closed session. Haack requested a closed session.
for the site and was told that field testing on the entire Chief Mike Conner informed Council that the project
site will take place during the week of November 25. to wire an emergency generator at City Hall has been
City Administrator Report
WWTP ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT
We received word from DEQ that the EPA
review of the environmental assessment
is their first priority. I am very hopeful that
the EA will be approved in December 2013
without significant additional requirements.
FOR TOWING EMERGENCIES
IN AND AROUND THE
VERNONIA AREA
WWTP TREATMENT
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
The City Council will review a proposal at
their November 18 meeting from Tetra Tech
to continue serving as the design and con-
struction engineer through the process to
complete construction, initiate operations
and set in motion securing a new DEQ per-
mit. The flow chart that is attached to the
proposal shows final design and updates to
documents as step one, oversight of the bid
process as step two, and construction of the
improvements as step three. There is a post
construction project that includes as-built
drawings and project records. The proposed
schedule shows completion of construction
in 2014. Tetra Tech feels that this schedule
is achievable.
USDA FINANCING
City staff will meet with USDA in November
2013, to restart the process of securing fund-
ing through their program.
OTHER PUBLIC WORKS
ACTIVITY
SEASONAL STORMWATER
PROJECTS
The City of Vernonia Public Works Depart-
ment will cut a ditch into the right of way on
south edge of G Street to capture surface
runoff that has contributed to damage of
East Avenue, F Street, and private driveways
and improvements located on East Avenue.
It is estimated that this will take two staff
approximately one day to complete. The
Public Works Department will install a catch
UTILITY BILLING AUDIT
After reviewing the billing dataset for the four
dual water meters it was learned that earlier
this year three of the meters were reset
incorrectly causing a significant undercharge
to three accounts. I have asked the
Finance Administrator to provide me with an
accounting of this error and we will contact
the three customers to establish a repayment
plan. In a discussion with the City Attorney, we
reviewed Section 9 of Ord. 871 which permits
estimated meter readings when actual are
not available and permits adjustments when
actual readings are known. This section also
permits charges for each meter to be made
from one reading to the next based on the
established billing method. This permits
establishment of a proper billing method and
charge accordingly. A payment plan will be
developed for this undercharged amount
outside of the monthly billing cycle with no
late charges.
CUSTOMER LEAK BILLING
ADJUSTMENT POLICY
Last month I provided the Public Works
Committee with a sample water leak policy
borrowed from the City of Portland for their
review. The underlying rational for this is to
provide incentives to customers to fix leaks in
a timely manner. I am hoping to present this
to Council soon.
WATER RATE ADJUSTMENT
Vernonia
Dental
D
WWTP COST ESTIMATE
The Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)
facility improvements project cost estimate
is adjusted up to $6.3 million. This includes
the completed Flume Improvement Project
with final costs at about $300,000 and the
construction and design costs. The Biosol-
ids Removal contract is not let at this time.
If completed under a contract now under re-
view it could be completed by end of the cal-
endar year at a cost of about $800,000. The
Council asked for additional information on
the options that they will review on 11-20-13.
The City completed a small contract to cre-
ate a staging area for the biosolids removal
(costing about $21,000) to locate dewatering
centrifuges, pumps, conveyor belt, scale,
generator and a job shack for the planned
removal project. The estimate for the con-
struction of the pipe gallery, dike elevation
and additional constructed improvements as
well as overall project and construction man-
agement was estimated at $4.52 million in
August 2012. Council asked that this value
be adjusted by two CPI cycles to $4.80 mil-
lion. When a contract is let for construction
management the engineer of record will re-
vise the estimate prior to bidding.
basin and do minor roadwork at 2 nd Avenue
and Bridge Street to capture surface water.
Public Works Department completed general
ditch work on O-A and Corey Hill this past
month. Stormwater management projects
are funded from the Street Fund.
SEWER RATE ADJUSTMENT
The City will contact FCS Group to request
their assistance to author an Ordinance to
modify the sewer rate. The sewer rate will
be stepped into over the current fiscal year
and the next two fiscal years. The third year
may be a downward adjustment based on
the prospect of refinancing debt using USDA
resources.
EPA BROWNFIELD GRANT
I will be contacting EPA this month to ne-
gotiate a modification in the PBS contract
increasing their contract by about $20,000.
The increases in their cost are the result of
more costly Phase Two work plans required
by DEQ and the EPA requirement that all
Phase Twos consultancy also have a State
Historic Preservation Office Section 106
Consultancy and a Threatened and Endan-
gered Species Act consultancy completed.
This modification will reduce the funding for
City Staff and Other. The project will be com-
pleted early in 2014 so this reduction will not
impact the city’s management of this project.
The Grant oversight was originally estimated
at 24 months; it will likely be completed in 15
months. At this time the City will likely pursue
a second EPA Brownfield Assessment grant
in the cycle that opens in December 2013.
continued on page 6
Terry’s
Gym
e rm
Polife and County personnel are required
to use a rotation of available providers,
UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK
for a servife by name.
REQUEST TOWING SERVICE FROM
D
Shop Hours: Mon - Fri 9:00 - 6:00
There is a memorandum from the Oregon
Association of Water Utilities that recom-
mends an adjustment for the current fiscal
year and an estimate for an adjustment in FY
2014-2015. The two year adjustment is a
little under 3% per year of the base rate only.
I will present options to the Public Works
Committee this month.
DM
WASTEWATER TREATMENT
PLANT PROJECT
If there are additional requirements, there
will be new costs to update the plans to meet
those requirements and a new DEQ review
requirement.
an
By Bill Haack
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622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064
phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881
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16720 Noakes Rd. Vernonia
