CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES February 3, 2014 5 ...
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES February 3, 2014 5:30pm 1) Call to Order Fischer called the meeting to order at 5:30pm In attendance: Community Development Director David Abel, Finance Director Brian Grimm, City Administrator Mike Funk, Mayor Cheryl Fischer, City Council members Mark Vanderlinde, Anne Hunt, Arlene Donahue and Bob Christians, City Engineer Mark Erichson and City Clerk Terri Haarstad Absent: None 2) Water Treatment Plant Discussion (Verbal) a) Design options b) Cost c) Review of rates d) Design, build, operate Erichson explained that the City Council authorized WSB to begin designing a water treatment plant based on Gravity Filtration. However, upon Council request, WSB has stepped back from this design to examine other filtration options. Tom Roushar, WSB Engineering, who provided an overview of Minnesota well water quality using the power point presentation included in City Council materials dated February 3, 2014. Of note: Well 2A exceeds the EPA maximum contaminant level for radium and gross alpha. It does not exceed the allowable limits of any other EPA contaminant levels Gravity Filtration and Pressure Filtration systems remove iron, manganese, ammonia, combined radium and gross alpha but do not change the hardness of the water or take care of emerging contaminants. Estimated project costs for two water treatment plants using gravity filtration are approximately $4,592,500 for construction and will also require an additional $31,450 annually for operation and maintenance Presentation of the tiered water rate structure recommended by Ehlers and adopted by the City Council in order to pay for a new Water Treatment System using the gravity filtration system Only ten cities in Minnesota use a reverse osmosis filtration system. All are outside of the seven county metro area, have their own sanitary sewer system and were constructed because of unique filtration needs. The only Minnesota city to use an ultra filtration system is the Minneapolis Columbia Heights Filtration System due to unique filtration needs and the technology available at the time of construction. An overview of Membrane Softening and nano filtration Nano filtration removes iron, manganese, ammonia, combined radium and gross alpha, changes the hardness of water and removes emerging
contaminants. However, no cities in Minnesota currently use it as it requires higher capital costs, higher annual operating costs and higher water appropriation due to reject water filled with contaminants During discussions with Wiggins Water and their chief engineer, WSB determined Minnetrista’s water is not a viable candidate for receiving a benefit from nano filtration. With a membrane filtration system, 13 – 21% of all the water pumped out of the well will be waste water filled with contaminants that will need to be discharged. Additional costs for a Membrane Filtration System would result in $3,951,100 construction costs more than the construction costs proposed for the Gravity Filtration System, $142,500 in annual operation and maintenance costs more than the construction costs proposed for the Gravity Filtration System and additional costs for the additional water discharge above the original costs estimates. Reject water discharge may be an issue as the Met Council has indicated that an increase in sewer discharge will not be permitted. Additional water will need to be pumped to meet demand and account for waste water; however, the City of Minnetrista currently exceeds allowable water usage as regulated by the DNR. Using figures from Ehlers, the average water user will need to pay an additional $169 per year to pay for water with a membrane filtration system. Based on a $500 water softener with a ten year life and average water softener user costs, the average homeowner will spend approximately $135 per year on softening the water in their home.
Discussion included: Cost calculations (The Met Council calculates charges based on the maximum potential discharge) Whether or not the City can encourage homeowners with water issues to install home filtration systems (Erichson stated that many residents have these but are replacing them monthly because the issues are so severe) Whether or not it is worth it to spend four million dollars to fix an aesthetic issue (For Well 2A it is more than an aesthetic issue) Whether or not it possible to get feedback to determine what our residents willing to pay Whether or not water could be purchased from St. Bonifacius (No. They do not have the capacity.) Alarming condition of Twin Cities aquifers – as noticed by a water quality seminar hosted by Metro Cities on January 30, 2014 Whether or not a Water Treatment Plant using Gravity Filtration could be retrofitted to add Reverse Osmosis Filtration in the future Why the condition of water has deteriorated and why we are getting more complaints (more users) Whether rushing a water treatment plant is a Band-Aid approach to the problem Whether there is a benefit to waiting another year or two to ensure the City is doing the right thing and has more time to garner support from the DNR and the Met Council
Irrigation issues and whether the City could stop watering parks and public areas with drinking water to set an example How often City water is tested for contaminants Of the 1150 units hooked up to the City water system, how many are residential users and how many are commercial users
Erichson stated that staff recommends moving forward with solving the water problem using the least expensive option by continuing with the water treatment plant design using a gravity filtration system. Funk provided the Council with a handout showing water usage history in Minnetrista. He reminded the Council of planned and expected development, of their goal to welcome new residents and pointed out that these upcoming demands on the water system will increase the need for water treatment. He also reminded the City Council that they recently changed the water rate tier to better reflect usages and encourage water conservation anticipating building a water treatment plant using gravity filtration. Ike Bradlich, MN Department of Health Engineer for the Metro-West District, pointed out that out of approximately 800 municipalities in Minnesota, 500 have water treatment facilities. Of those, only a handful of municipalities do not use gravity filtration. He stated that he has received numerous and increasing numbers of complaints from Minnetrista residents. He pointed out that while Minnetrista’s water issues are primarily aesthetic, there are some problems with Well 2a that do need correction. He explained the water testing process and pointed out that testing only takes place at the water source, not in the piping or at the source of water discharge. Roushar suggested the City Council has three options to correct the water problems: 1. To construct an iron and manganese removal filtration water treatment plant 2. To construct a membrane softening water treatment plant after authorizing and completing the required 30 day pilot study 3. To construct an iron and manganese removal filtration water treatment plant with a provision for future membrane softening By unanimous consent, the City Council agreed to refrain from further discussion until the appropriate place in the regular City Council meeting scheduled for 7:00pm. 3) Public Works- Sale of Equipment (Verbal) Continued to the 7:00pm regular City Council meeting. 4) Adjourn Motion by Vanderlinde second by Donahue to adjourn the special meeting at 6:55pm. Motion carried 5 – 0. Respectfully Submitted,
Terri Haarstad City Clerk
contaminants. However, no cities in Minnesota currently use it as it requires higher capital costs, higher annual operating costs and higher water appropriation due to reject water filled with contaminants During discussions with Wiggins Water and their chief engineer, WSB determined Minnetrista’s water is not a viable candidate for receiving a benefit from nano filtration. With a membrane filtration system, 13 – 21% of all the water pumped out of the well will be waste water filled with contaminants that will need to be discharged. Additional costs for a Membrane Filtration System would result in $3,951,100 construction costs more than the construction costs proposed for the Gravity Filtration System, $142,500 in annual operation and maintenance costs more than the construction costs proposed for the Gravity Filtration System and additional costs for the additional water discharge above the original costs estimates. Reject water discharge may be an issue as the Met Council has indicated that an increase in sewer discharge will not be permitted. Additional water will need to be pumped to meet demand and account for waste water; however, the City of Minnetrista currently exceeds allowable water usage as regulated by the DNR. Using figures from Ehlers, the average water user will need to pay an additional $169 per year to pay for water with a membrane filtration system. Based on a $500 water softener with a ten year life and average water softener user costs, the average homeowner will spend approximately $135 per year on softening the water in their home.
Discussion included: Cost calculations (The Met Council calculates charges based on the maximum potential discharge) Whether or not the City can encourage homeowners with water issues to install home filtration systems (Erichson stated that many residents have these but are replacing them monthly because the issues are so severe) Whether or not it is worth it to spend four million dollars to fix an aesthetic issue (For Well 2A it is more than an aesthetic issue) Whether or not it possible to get feedback to determine what our residents willing to pay Whether or not water could be purchased from St. Bonifacius (No. They do not have the capacity.) Alarming condition of Twin Cities aquifers – as noticed by a water quality seminar hosted by Metro Cities on January 30, 2014 Whether or not a Water Treatment Plant using Gravity Filtration could be retrofitted to add Reverse Osmosis Filtration in the future Why the condition of water has deteriorated and why we are getting more complaints (more users) Whether rushing a water treatment plant is a Band-Aid approach to the problem Whether there is a benefit to waiting another year or two to ensure the City is doing the right thing and has more time to garner support from the DNR and the Met Council
Irrigation issues and whether the City could stop watering parks and public areas with drinking water to set an example How often City water is tested for contaminants Of the 1150 units hooked up to the City water system, how many are residential users and how many are commercial users
Erichson stated that staff recommends moving forward with solving the water problem using the least expensive option by continuing with the water treatment plant design using a gravity filtration system. Funk provided the Council with a handout showing water usage history in Minnetrista. He reminded the Council of planned and expected development, of their goal to welcome new residents and pointed out that these upcoming demands on the water system will increase the need for water treatment. He also reminded the City Council that they recently changed the water rate tier to better reflect usages and encourage water conservation anticipating building a water treatment plant using gravity filtration. Ike Bradlich, MN Department of Health Engineer for the Metro-West District, pointed out that out of approximately 800 municipalities in Minnesota, 500 have water treatment facilities. Of those, only a handful of municipalities do not use gravity filtration. He stated that he has received numerous and increasing numbers of complaints from Minnetrista residents. He pointed out that while Minnetrista’s water issues are primarily aesthetic, there are some problems with Well 2a that do need correction. He explained the water testing process and pointed out that testing only takes place at the water source, not in the piping or at the source of water discharge. Roushar suggested the City Council has three options to correct the water problems: 1. To construct an iron and manganese removal filtration water treatment plant 2. To construct a membrane softening water treatment plant after authorizing and completing the required 30 day pilot study 3. To construct an iron and manganese removal filtration water treatment plant with a provision for future membrane softening By unanimous consent, the City Council agreed to refrain from further discussion until the appropriate place in the regular City Council meeting scheduled for 7:00pm. 3) Public Works- Sale of Equipment (Verbal) Continued to the 7:00pm regular City Council meeting. 4) Adjourn Motion by Vanderlinde second by Donahue to adjourn the special meeting at 6:55pm. Motion carried 5 – 0. Respectfully Submitted,
Terri Haarstad City Clerk
