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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014.08.13 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES, FLOOD TASK FORCE 1 August 13, 2014 Mayor Richard Woodland Council Members: President Sally Smith Jordan Busby Donna Benfield Jerry Merrill Christopher Mann Brad Wolfe City Staff: Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Matt Nielson – Finance Officer John Millar – Public Works Director Val Christensen – Community Development Director Scott Johnson – Economic Development Director Blair Kay – City Clerk 6:00 P.M City Hall Marianna Gonzalez said the prayer. Attending: Council President Smith, Council Member Benfield, Council Member Mann, Council Member Busby, Council Member Merrill, Council Member Wolfe, and Mayor Woodland. FLASH FLOOD TASK FORCE (Members of the Task Force include Mayor Woodland, City Council, City Staff, Cammie Muir and Todd Smith) A. Palmer/Ricks subdivision 1. Investigate options to improve the wastewater pumping station. (Engineering wise it is adequate; it would cost $120,000 to move it to the park.) 2. Investigate options to prevent future water flow issues including keeping trash out of the ditch. (monitor the ditch for debris and log it) 3. Investigate sewer service line backflow preventer options. (engineering will investigate) B. Hidden Valley Subdivision 1. Investigate options for watershed drainage away from homes. (City Clerk will contact ditch owner Gene Palmer to see what the city can do with his ditch.) Schedule a meeting with Gene Palmer and City Staff with City Council participation. 2. Investigate options for storm water retention including subdivision ordinance revisions. Public Works Director Millar will investigate the water retention options for the next City Council meeting. 3. Investigate options to control storm water from Hidden Valley’s storm runoff. Public Works Director Millar will investigate storm water control options for Hidden Valley residents as discussed. Guest Engineer from DEQ – Willie Teuscher Mayor Woodland asked to have a review of the history of the area. The Hidden Valley area was reviewed on the overhead screen. The Subdivision was built in phases. The Millhollow Trailer Park was originally developed as a subdivision; however, HUD put in the mobile homes. Public Works Director Millar said when HUD put in the mobile home park with a wastewater pumping station specific for a mobile home park. New pumps along with new guide rails were installed in 2007. New VFD controls were installed in 2007. The normal run time for two pumps at the pumping station runs one hour a day. The pumping station could handle three times the normal volume. Average flow is 2.8 million gallons per day; however, on July 15th during the flash flood the flow ran up to 5.8 million gallons per day. The storm hit Rexburg at approximately 5:00 pm; it took 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Phone: 208.359.3020 x2313 Fax: 208.359.3022 blairk@rexburg.org www.rexburg.org City Council “TASK FORCE” Meeting August 13, 2014 2 until 11:30 pm for the lift stations and the treatment plant to be caught up to the flows that were taken on by the flash flood. The flash flood caused the Millhollow lift station pumps to run 16 hours. The Millhollow lift station normally runs two hours in a 24 hour period. Each pump runs one hour. The designed capacity of the lift station is a lot more than it needs, based on wastewater flow that it is designed to handle. The lift station is not designed to handle wastewater and storm water flow together. There has only been two times of severity that claims have been made due to flooding from the drainage ditch. No other times, have there been issues even in all the power outages that the area has experienced; we have always handled it. An onsite generator would be lovely but that still doesn’t fix the ditch flooding of the lift station. There are three ways to get water into the pumping station: 1. Manhole lids 2. Water from floor drains, etc. from homes. 3. Storm Drains Council Member Wolfe asked if there was a failure in the lift station’s electrical work. The electrical circuit breaker was tripped. Public Works Director Millar said excessive flow from homes and manhole covers caused the overload of the pumping station. There are some fixes that can be a help to keep water out of manhole covers. Discussion on moving the pumping station that services Millhollow Subdivision to the pocket park inside the Millhollow Trailer Park. The pump station is currently located at 142 Syringa Street. Council Member Busby asked if the lift station were to be moved to the pocket park would the elevation be higher than where it is currently, to keep the electrical work from water. He also asked about the cost of moving the lift station to the pocket park. Public Works Director said there are three benefits of moving the lift station. 1. The lift station is currently located on a property owner’s front yard. 2. By moving the lift station, it would be built with more room to fit a backup generator. 3. The lift station would be elevated. Discussion on moving the pump station when more subdivisions are built south of Hidden Valley Subdivision. Council Member Wolfe asked if there were further development above Hidden Valley would there need to be changes, to the current pump station. What changes would need to be made in regards to location and the capacity of the lift station. Public Works Director Millar said when the pump station was originally put in, most of the property to the East was not developed. With this pump station there is a pressure line that comes across and dumps into a manhole in front of the Rexburg Medical Center where gravity takes it from there. As far as capacity, the pump is as big as what can be put in without over taxing the gravity levels. The whole area that could potentially drain into the Millhollow lift station is about 300 acres. He would look into a couple options, one be putting in a new pump station in the pocket park and a new pressure line to tie in with the K-Mart pressure line. Council Member Wolfe said if they’re looking at a capacity issue, moving the lift station would only be one issue. The other would be to add another pressure line on the downhill side to pump into and help with hydraulic capacity. This would be for future growth. Discussions on the K-Mart lift station. (25 Hp pumps) Engineer Keith Davidson reviewed the grant request to put the ditch into a pipe. The city applied for two grants from Home Land Security. They originally applied for the grant a couple of years ago, 3 and were denied. They reapplied and were denied this spring. Home Land Security has a mitigation grant. The cost of the project would be about half a million dollars to pipe the whole ditch. Council Member Mann asked if funds to pipe the ditch would come from the enterprise fund. Engineer Keith Davidson said the funds would come from the general fund or the street budget. The street budget is about a million dollars a year, however; those funds are used for street repairs. Council President Smith asked how necessary is it to pipe the ditch and if the ditch is left uncovered would it create flooding? Engineer Davidson explained leaving the ditch uncovered there could be potential for the ditch to overflow causing home’s with basements close to the ditch and with low window wells to flood. Cammie Muir was concerned with the extra water coming from the Hidden Valley area into her subdivision’s ditch. Council Member Wolfe asked about the capacity of the ditch. The ditch was originally designed at a 40 cubic feet per second capacity. Engineer Keith Davidson reviewed a map showing where the water flows started on the hill before the flood water drained into the ravine above the Hidden Valley Subdivision. The green area seemed to handle the flood water ok; however, the yellow area flooded homes. Council Member Wolfe asked to summarize the solutions: 1. In the past, two ditches drained the area (the city ditch and the Woodmansee ditch) 2. Restrict the flow from storm water to a slower pace from the Richard Smith farm. 3. Convert part of the lower flat area of the drainage area into retention basins. Discussion on the dirt piled up above the drainage area for road construction. Discussion on Hidden Valley ditch built when the subdivision was created. There has been debris thrown into the ditch since the flash flood. Cammie Muir reviewed the problems that debris causes when the water backs up because it is dammed up at the culvert. Discussion on debris in the ditches by Hidden Valley Subdivision and the Millhollow (Ricks – Palmer) Subdivision. 4 Debris in the ditch by the Hidden Valley Subdivision: Debris in the ditch by the Ricks – Plamer Subdivision Ditch 2 Public Works Director Millar said the biggest problem is debris building up on the culvert or piping grates. Cammie Muir asked if there is a maintenance log kept of when the ditch is cleaned out. 5 Engineer Keith Davidson said the ditch was cleaned out in July. He said they were asked by the canal company to clean out the ditch. The canal company didn’t want any city water coming down into their canal. The only way to stop water from getting into the canal is by letting it go through this section of the ditch. Discussion on drainage/greenway areas. The west ditch goes south to north The east ditch goes south to between the Junior High School north along the east edge of and the Mobile Home Park. Ricks – Palmer Subdivision Ricks - Palmer Subdivision. (Picture of silt deposits in the current storm water path through Hidden Valley) 6 Public Works Director said greenways are excellent filters to clean up storm water. They don’t often stay green due to all of the silt that comes with runoff. Council President Smith asked how many drainage areas there are in the city and does the city maintain them. Public Works Director said there are several around the city. There is one on Mariah Drive, which is deep and was able to hold most of the storm water. Council President Smith said the other drainage areas need to be dug out like this one to be able to hold large amounts of storm water. Council President Smith asked to be proactive in keeping a maintenance schedule and maintenance log for drainage areas and ditches. Public Works Director Millar suggested digging out the extra soil and debris from drainage areas this fall. Cammie Muir said she has lived in the area for 30 years without any flooding; and now they have seen flooding twice in the last eight years. She asked to make the changes to the ditch in phases as funding is available and to move the lift station. Council President Smith asked what the possibilities of being awarded the grant to cover the ditch. Engineer Davidson said they look for opportunities to apply for grants, unfortunately it based on how much damaged is done to homes. The more damage, the more they will consider the grant request. There was a grant submitted through Trials of Madison County to cover a section of the ditch to make it safer for pedestrians to cross. The grant request was denied. DEQ Engineer Willie Teuscher said the grants do not fund storm water projects. Discussion regarding funding for storm water projects. Public Works Director Millar said in the last seven or eight years new projects have added storm water detention in Rexburg. The best solution is to contain the runoff water and control the storm water flow. Moving the lift station would not solve the problem. We have to keep storm water from getting into the wastewater system. Council Member Wolfe said it is important to understand there are two different events. One of which was man made, by filling the ditch with snow; which could have been avoided. The other couldn’t be avoided however; keeping the ditch clear of debris would have helped. Cammie Muir again referred to the need to have a ditch cleaning log. Discussion on dumping debris into the ditch from Millhollow Trailer Park. Council Member Busby asked to post the area with signage to warn neighbors of a possible fine for dumping into the ditch. City Attorney Zollinger said a letter needs to be sent to properties adjacent to the ditch warning them of putting debris in the ditch; then have Compliance Office Natalie Powell watch the area for debris. Council Member Busby asked who owns the ditch. Public Works Director said there are two owners; Gene Palmer and Mark Berntsen who owns a small section of the ditch by his lot. City Attorney Zollinger said an easement will be needed from ditch owner Gene Palmer before any debris maintenance can be taken care of. Discussion on the Woodmansee ditch and building detention areas to the north. In the future a road is planned for this area too. 7 Discussion on the design of the ditch by Todd Lieshman’s property. Council Member Busby asked to summarize: 1. Dig the retention ponds the city owns deeper. 2. Window wells higher 3. Back flow preventers Cammie Muir expressed her concern regarding the cost of the back flow preventers. Discussion on the different types of back flow preventers. DEQ Engineer Willie Teuscher discussed some possibilities for possible low interest rate loans for wastewater management. Todd Smith summarized Public Works Director Millar’s report so he can report to his neighborhood. Public Works Director Millar will contact Richard Smith to build a retention pond on his property. Self-protection like window wells and landscaping need to be addressed to educate the public. Discussion concerning the landscaping allowing the drainage to flow away from the house instead of to the house. Council Member Benfield requested a time line for the completion of the suggested changes. Public Works Director Millar said this was an unprecedented event. It was a 1% event or it was a one in a hundred year event. It could happen again tomorrow. City Council Member Merrill said it would be good to build up your window wells. He said residents need to be proactive and do their part to protect their property. Cammie Muir said it would be good to work together as a group to solve the flooding problems. Council Member Wolfe said it is important to realize that no one is at fault. He wants to do everything they can to solve as much of the problem. Mayor Woodland asked to find a way for drainage to bypass the ditches. City Attorney Zollinger explained water management is a long standing discussion. Discussion regarding homes throughout the city that had flooding. Public Works Director Millar said there were other homes flooded in two homes in the area of 5th South and 2nd East and 4th West between 5th and 6th South. City of Attorney Zollinger said there were homes flooded in the Henderson Subdivision. This is relatively flat area and the drains worked properly. The storm brought a deluge of water, which collected in their yards and flooded their basements. He agreed with Council Member Merrill’s message to inform city residents on being proactive and doing their part to protect their property. Properly graded yards will help with not allowing water to collect. He said the singularity of the event is what caused the floods in a number of areas which brought to our attention two areas as a whole needing immediate attention, not because of the homes alone, and not because of the singularity of the event which pushed it over the top; however it brought to our attention the problem. Task Force meeting Sept 3 at 5:30 pm Adjourned at 7:55 P.M. APPROVED: _______________________________ Richard S. Woodland, Mayor _______________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk