Item A-MWMC Facilities Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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by the DEQ. Revenues to support the anticipated capital project needs will be derived from user rates and systems development charges. In order to mitigate potentially significant short-term impacts to user rates, a significant amount of debt financing will be necessary. The MWMC Financial Plan, adopted in 2003, anticipates this need and provides financial policies and tools which will serve the commission in managing the revenue requirements over the coming years to minimize overall costs and user rate increases. (User rates have not yet been finalized, but the anticipated total increase for a typical residence over the first five years would range from approximately $5.60 to $6.50 per month.) SDC rates will increase by approximately 79% to support growth's equitable share of necessary capital improvements. Other Background Information The Facilities Plan is the culmination of a year-long effort involving significant public review. Facility planning analyses conducted by CH2M HILL began in March 2003, with the oversight of a 12-member Eugene-Springfield staff steering committee. The commission reviewed the draft Facilities Plan in a special, publicly advertised evening workshop on November 24, 2003, and gave consensus instruction to finalize the 20-Year Project List to include the recommended preferred solutions and new disinfection system. On January 8, 2004, the commission, after another review of the draft Facilities Plan and associated costs, gave direction to proceed with the finalization of the 20-Year Project List. A third public open house was advertised and held the evening of March 3, 2004. The commission held a public hearing on adoption of the Facilities Plan and 20-Year Project List on April 22, 2004, and carried over the hearing to May 6, 2004, to allow time for additional public review and testimony. Except for the original 1977 "208 Plan," MWMC has not until this time updated the formal Facility Plan to be approved by the DEQ. An approved Facilities Plan will incorporate the existing adopted plans (the WWFMP and the Biosolids Management Plan), contain updated technical analyses and projections of flows and loads, provide reasonable assurance of compliance with state and federal regulations and new limitations and requirements in the NPDES permit (see next paragraph), and revise the capital improvement projects to meet the needs for adequate operational facilities. Having a formally approved Facilities Plans will also make MWMC eligible for public loans and grants. As stated, the Facilities Plan will help to ensure continued compliance with regulatory requirements that govern the quality of effluent discharged from the treatment works as well as conditions for the collection and transmission ofwastewater to the treatment plant. These regulations present legal requirements for the provision ofwastewater services to the community and form the foundation for the design criteria used in formulating the Facilities Plan and associated 20-Year Project List. The DEQ reissued MWMC's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in May, 2002, which prompted the commission to pursue a thorough, updated Facilities Plan to include the new ammonia and thermal load limits of the renewed permit, as well as the new requirements to implement a Temperature Management Plan (TMP) and the WWFMP. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of the treatment plant's processes and hydraulic capacities has led the commission to include an evaluation and recommendation of alternative disinfection systems to mitigate worker safety and community risk concerns in the Facilities Plan. The treatment plant also currently faces a significant peak flow capacity deficit, which was projected in the earlier WWFMP and has been validated and updated to the year 2025 based on an updated modeling using more recent 2003-04 data. The present facility effort is prompted by the original intergovernmental agreement which specified that when the sewage loading into the treatment plant L:\CMO\2004 Council Agendas\M040519\S040519A. doc