Trouble in River City: A Need to Fix City Sanitation
by Anne Scheck
Independence drinking water got a sparkling report recently, but results are much murkier for its sanitation system. Years of producing wastewater that, periodically, doesn’t meet discharge standards for piping it into the Willamette River means fish-or-cut-bait for the city’s wastewater treatment methods. Now, nearly $6 million in state loans is pending for those upgrades.
The project arrives at a time when Independence seems already squeezed by the annual budget the city council approved this past month. At the same meeting, an additional million dollars – and more -- were allocated to the Urban Renewal District (URD), which presently is in a deficit. The URD’s center, now the site of building activity for the long-awaited hotel, also required several millions of dollars for infrastructure construction costs in 2017.
Then, this past year, Independence declared itself as having a population that now approximates 9,500 and “is amongst the fastest growing cities in the state.”
The growth means the wastewater system will have to be improved, according to the city’s own program for capital improvements over the next dozen years, which states that the plan needs to be carried out to accommodate the vigorous residential growth being proposed.
Though Independence currently considers its public utilities a benefit – citing "modern water and sewer systems" on the city’s website – two years ago sewer pumps were labeled "aging" and "inefficient" by a consultant’s report, which urged exploring "design options in a new sewer system." Such a system could also ease demand on the plant's storage lagoons, which are considered antiquated.
In December, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded Independence a $5.9 million loan to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant – money that will be reimbursed after the city embarks on its plans to do so.
And, although DEQ officials declined to go into specific details about the city’s intermittent record of non-compliance, they confirmed that, when a city has difficulty consistently meeting water-quality standards for discharge, that status actually can add a few points in favor of the loan application.
In fact, the Independence wastewater-treatment facility, which last expanded in 1974, "has struggled in recent years to provide adequate storage to handle a growing population," according to the DEQ. Also, as cities like Independence surpass population benchmarks like 10,000, they may be subject to permitting processes that could require more stringent monitoring, observed Mark Riedel-Nash, stormwater coordinator for the DEQ.
The nearly $6 million loan will allow the city to design and build improvements to the plant. However, the DEQ also considers Independence a city it expects "to enact one of DEQ's biggest recommendations for accommodating future growth and managing wastewater: developing a system to use recycled, or treated, wastewater to irrigate about 500 acres of agricultural land outside the city's urban growth boundary."
This spring, when bids were solicited for improving sewer-pump capabilities at one site, cost estimates came in so much higher than expected that city staff decided to postpone awarding the contract for months. The engineer’s estimate from Independence was listed at $831,000; The bid response, from three different engineering firms, was between $1.2 million and $1.3 million.
As a result of the half-million-dollar difference between the estimate and the competitive bids, the city put off awarding a contract for the pump station until later. "It's hoped that a larger pool of interested contractors will respond in the winter, a time they are likely to be more actively seeking work," said David Clyne, Independence city manager.
"The extra competition could certainly drive costs down," he noted. DEQ officials confirmed that bids may come down by several thousand dollars when re-submitted – but the savings isn’t likely to be dramatic. Whether bids come down several thousand dollars or tens of thousands of dollars, the savings would be worthwhile, Mr. Clyne stated. "Moreover, staff is undertaking a record level of public work at this time so spacing out these efforts allows for more efficient use of these resources," he added.
Soon, the financial clock will begin ticking on the agreement for the 30-year loan with DEQ, which was signed in December 2017. Under the terms of the loan, the city is required to begin work on the project within two years of the agreement – or request an extension, according to Katherine Benenati, DEQ spokesperson.
In its loan application, the city stated that due to increased population it needs to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility to meet the requirements of the "discharge elimination" permit which allows the city to pipe treated wastewater into the Willamette River.
Water-quality issues affecting the Willamette River – including the mid-Willamette – have meant much of it is "impaired" by pollution, making control of discharge contaminants increasingly important, said Ron Doughten, water reuse program coordinator for the DEQ.
Disbursement of the $5.9 million loan is done incrementally, after the project begins. "We don't disburse money until we see the invoices," said Bob Haberman, DEQ project officer. However, some reimbursable costs don't need to meet the overall goal of the loan – Independence, for example, aims to expand treatment capabilities for discharge but the facility will require landscaping.
"Those are considered necessary expenses," Mr. Haberman said. Goals of the facilities plan must be followed. Expenditures are checked by DEQ; So is construction, by on-site inspections.
Once the site is proving operable and successful, the city qualifies for $500,000 of principal forgiveness on the loan.
Even with the low-interest loan, Independence faces the need for millions of dollars in improvements in its water system. Yet the city was once seen as a forefront of water treatment. Independence began adding fluoride to it water system 25 years ago.
The facilities for Independence are considered a “Community Water System" – a classification under which cities of 3,300 to 10,000 are categorized. So, despite more scrutiny from DEQ in the past few years, Independence has avoided some of the more intensive monitoring other cities have to undergo by outside regulators, including federal ones. Additionally, Independence residents are widely seen as successful water conservationists.
An analysis of water-consumption patterns a few years ago indicated that residents are under-utilizing the system now – per-capita water use has dropped over several years.
However, even such success makes storage capacity one area of concern as the population grows; And the result of hitting the 10,000-plus population milestone – which likely could mean more inspection and oversight – is another future challenge.
At times, the city has had to request that discharges be made early into the Willamette River, to prevent the lagoons from over-flowing., according to a report by GHD engineering consultants of Portland.
When asked recently at a "livability panel" he moderated in Independence, Rep. Paul Evans called safe water and secure sanitation services a municipal priority. Though it is more visible to spend revenue on the "cotton candy" of higher-profile projects, water that is safe to drink and water that is properly cleansed for discharge are "part and parcel of how a community should grow responsibly," he said.
by Anne Scheck
Independence drinking water got a sparkling report recently, but results are much murkier for its sanitation system. Years of producing wastewater that, periodically, doesn’t meet discharge standards for piping it into the Willamette River means fish-or-cut-bait for the city’s wastewater treatment methods. Now, nearly $6 million in state loans is pending for those upgrades.
The project arrives at a time when Independence seems already squeezed by the annual budget the city council approved this past month. At the same meeting, an additional million dollars – and more -- were allocated to the Urban Renewal District (URD), which presently is in a deficit. The URD’s center, now the site of building activity for the long-awaited hotel, also required several millions of dollars for infrastructure construction costs in 2017.
Then, this past year, Independence declared itself as having a population that now approximates 9,500 and “is amongst the fastest growing cities in the state.”
The growth means the wastewater system will have to be improved, according to the city’s own program for capital improvements over the next dozen years, which states that the plan needs to be carried out to accommodate the vigorous residential growth being proposed.
Though Independence currently considers its public utilities a benefit – citing "modern water and sewer systems" on the city’s website – two years ago sewer pumps were labeled "aging" and "inefficient" by a consultant’s report, which urged exploring "design options in a new sewer system." Such a system could also ease demand on the plant's storage lagoons, which are considered antiquated.
In December, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded Independence a $5.9 million loan to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant – money that will be reimbursed after the city embarks on its plans to do so.
And, although DEQ officials declined to go into specific details about the city’s intermittent record of non-compliance, they confirmed that, when a city has difficulty consistently meeting water-quality standards for discharge, that status actually can add a few points in favor of the loan application.
In fact, the Independence wastewater-treatment facility, which last expanded in 1974, "has struggled in recent years to provide adequate storage to handle a growing population," according to the DEQ. Also, as cities like Independence surpass population benchmarks like 10,000, they may be subject to permitting processes that could require more stringent monitoring, observed Mark Riedel-Nash, stormwater coordinator for the DEQ.
The nearly $6 million loan will allow the city to design and build improvements to the plant. However, the DEQ also considers Independence a city it expects "to enact one of DEQ's biggest recommendations for accommodating future growth and managing wastewater: developing a system to use recycled, or treated, wastewater to irrigate about 500 acres of agricultural land outside the city's urban growth boundary."
This spring, when bids were solicited for improving sewer-pump capabilities at one site, cost estimates came in so much higher than expected that city staff decided to postpone awarding the contract for months. The engineer’s estimate from Independence was listed at $831,000; The bid response, from three different engineering firms, was between $1.2 million and $1.3 million.
As a result of the half-million-dollar difference between the estimate and the competitive bids, the city put off awarding a contract for the pump station until later. "It's hoped that a larger pool of interested contractors will respond in the winter, a time they are likely to be more actively seeking work," said David Clyne, Independence city manager.
"The extra competition could certainly drive costs down," he noted. DEQ officials confirmed that bids may come down by several thousand dollars when re-submitted – but the savings isn’t likely to be dramatic. Whether bids come down several thousand dollars or tens of thousands of dollars, the savings would be worthwhile, Mr. Clyne stated. "Moreover, staff is undertaking a record level of public work at this time so spacing out these efforts allows for more efficient use of these resources," he added.
Soon, the financial clock will begin ticking on the agreement for the 30-year loan with DEQ, which was signed in December 2017. Under the terms of the loan, the city is required to begin work on the project within two years of the agreement – or request an extension, according to Katherine Benenati, DEQ spokesperson.
In its loan application, the city stated that due to increased population it needs to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility to meet the requirements of the "discharge elimination" permit which allows the city to pipe treated wastewater into the Willamette River.
Water-quality issues affecting the Willamette River – including the mid-Willamette – have meant much of it is "impaired" by pollution, making control of discharge contaminants increasingly important, said Ron Doughten, water reuse program coordinator for the DEQ.
Disbursement of the $5.9 million loan is done incrementally, after the project begins. "We don't disburse money until we see the invoices," said Bob Haberman, DEQ project officer. However, some reimbursable costs don't need to meet the overall goal of the loan – Independence, for example, aims to expand treatment capabilities for discharge but the facility will require landscaping.
"Those are considered necessary expenses," Mr. Haberman said. Goals of the facilities plan must be followed. Expenditures are checked by DEQ; So is construction, by on-site inspections.
Once the site is proving operable and successful, the city qualifies for $500,000 of principal forgiveness on the loan.
Even with the low-interest loan, Independence faces the need for millions of dollars in improvements in its water system. Yet the city was once seen as a forefront of water treatment. Independence began adding fluoride to it water system 25 years ago.
The facilities for Independence are considered a “Community Water System" – a classification under which cities of 3,300 to 10,000 are categorized. So, despite more scrutiny from DEQ in the past few years, Independence has avoided some of the more intensive monitoring other cities have to undergo by outside regulators, including federal ones. Additionally, Independence residents are widely seen as successful water conservationists.
An analysis of water-consumption patterns a few years ago indicated that residents are under-utilizing the system now – per-capita water use has dropped over several years.
However, even such success makes storage capacity one area of concern as the population grows; And the result of hitting the 10,000-plus population milestone – which likely could mean more inspection and oversight – is another future challenge.
At times, the city has had to request that discharges be made early into the Willamette River, to prevent the lagoons from over-flowing., according to a report by GHD engineering consultants of Portland.
When asked recently at a "livability panel" he moderated in Independence, Rep. Paul Evans called safe water and secure sanitation services a municipal priority. Though it is more visible to spend revenue on the "cotton candy" of higher-profile projects, water that is safe to drink and water that is properly cleansed for discharge are "part and parcel of how a community should grow responsibly," he said.
The CIVICS LESSON:
Rainwater Runoff is a City Problem with Residential Solutions
When does a city start regulating landscape weather-proofing? It already does, as incentives to build ponds and rain gardens increasingly are being offered by Oregon cities. Independence also hopes to entice residents to put in plants and "swales" to reduce the stormwater that can swell city drainage pipes and cause standing water on streets. That's the opinion of Zach Pelz, the city's contracted planner, who made the comments after hearing testimony of resident Marianne Holtzinger, who lives in Sunset Meadows, the city's newest neighborhood. She expressed concern that water accumulation threatens to become a problem. With two new developments on the way in the area -- Brandy Meadows and Liberty Park -- she and others are worried about drainage from heavy rains. Following the meeting, Mr. Pelz said the city is going to take a fresh look at the code this fall, perhaps expanding the limits for current catch-basins around houses -- known as "swales" -- from 5,000 feet to 10,000 feet. Rain gardens, which are depressions in yards where water-absorbing vegetation can be planted, also offer a way to help control run off, Mr. Pelz said.
The INDY HOP:
Roosters Who Can’t Hold Their Tongue Unwelcome in Town
With summer solstice now past, isn't it time to proclaim the dawn of continual sunshine? That is exactly what some chickens often do. Around this time, hatchlings have matured into the poultry equivalent of teenagers, and though most were culled to make sure they're hens ... sometimes a chick with a Y chromosome escapes early detection. This can mean a disruptive cock-a-doodle-doo during a time of slumber for some people. Independence has a chicken ordinance -- look for the pamphlet at the civic center with the profile of a proud hen to read all about it -- but, alas, there is no official rooster-removal system. However, should complaints come in, a volunteer squad flies into action, to try to obtain any offending urban fowl. Sue Barker, who helms the Riverview Farmers' Market, usually is the one to carry out this "rooster round-up." This summer, "we haven't received any calls yet," she said. But should she be called upon to find any male chickens who are doing irksome sunrise vocalizing, she will take the culprit to a local farm who has agreed to receive roosters. Now that's something to crow about ...
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