Item A: City of Coburg Request for Connection to Regional Wastewater Facilities

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M E M O R A N D U M Eugene City Council To: Springfield City Council Lane County Board of Commissioners From:Eugene, Springfield and Lane County Executive Officers Date:September 16, 2005 Discussion of City of Coburg Request for Connection to the Metropolitan Subject: Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) Wastewater Facilities. ISSUE A meeting of the joint elected officials (JEOs) is scheduled for October 11, 2005 to review and discuss the City of Coburg’s request for extension of wastewater treatment and disposal services to Coburg from the existing service area covered by the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC). When Coburg officials made this request in June, 2004, the JEOs requested a report identifying relevant issues and steps that would need to be addressed, and an assessment of the scope of work, timing and resources needed to address them. This memo and attachments were prepared at the direction of the Springfield, Eugene, and Lane County executive officers (SEL) to respond to the JEOs’ request. BACKGROUND The City of Coburg is being driven to provide city-wide wastewater collection, treatment and disposal services because of known ground water quality problems in the Coburg area as well as an interest in providing for economic development. Coburg first prepared (in 1999) and updated (in 2004) a Wastewater Facilities Plan, which includes a sanitary sewer collection system, and two general options for providing wastewater treatment, including: 1) construction of dedicated treatment facilities to serve Coburg; and 2) conveyance of Coburg wastewater to the MWMC wastewater treatment facilities. During this five-year period, Coburg’s planning and community growth projections changed significantly. Coburg’s planning horizon has been extended from 2022 to 2028. The population projections have increased from the 2022 build-out population of 2,980 to a 2028 population of 3,255, and a projected build-out population of 6,700. This increase corresponds to an increase in the planned area within the Coburg urban growth boundary (UGB) from 547 acres to 812 acres. As noted in Coburg’s draft 2004 Facilities Plan Update, “these changes contribute to the need for significantly larger and more costly wastewater collection and treatment facilities than were envisioned in the 1999 plan.” The summary chapter of Coburg’s draft 2004 Facilities Plan Update, included as Attachment B, provides additional background on Coburg’s planning and evaluation of wastewater treatment options. Coburg has vigorously sought State and Federal funding assistance to partially fund the estimated $16.5 million (in 2004 dollars) in costs associated with building a collection and treatment system. As Coburg has sought funding, Federal and State agencies have requested that the option of connecting Coburg to the MWMC system, currently serving Eugene-Springfield area, be evaluated. Several State agencies, including the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD) have actively supported Coburg Page 1