HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 03/13/1995 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
MARCH 13, 1995
PRESENT: Paul Mann Roger Lubovich
Tim Clark Gary Gill
Jim Bennett Jack Spencer
Don Wickstrom Mr & Mrs Rust
Surplus Equipment
Wickstrom referenced a list of heavy equipment items we are requesting to declare as
surplus and auction at the State Auction. In response to Bennett,,, Jack Spencer stated
that there isn't any way in determining how much money we will dot for,these mowers. He
stated however that the larger equipment will go for about $1500. Spencer stated that
money received from auction sales will go into the Equipment Rental pool.
Committee unanimously recommended that this equipment be declared as surplus and
authorize the sale thereof at the State Auction on April 29th.
26th Place Street Vacation
Wickstrom said that we have received a petition for vacation of a portion of unopened right
of way on the West Hill, west of Pacific Highway on 26th Place. He ridted that we have the
petition and it meets the requirements and therefore we need to act,on it.
Committee unanimously recommended adoption of resolution to set:the hearing date for
the 26th Place South Street Vacation.
Traffic Concerns in the Lakes DevelgpMjot
,t
Wickstrom stated that at the last meeting, the Committee had intro**"d a problem at the
Lakes Development with regard to speeding. He said the Traffic sbw is looking into this
and we will report back to Committee,on our findings, at a later date.
Drainage Utility Rate Increases
Wickstrom said that we haven't put all the numbers together yet we are still reconciling
some accounts which may mean we can start off with a bigger cash",w,into the program,
therefore cutting the rates more. He said we should have this batik for the March 27th
meeting. Wickstrom stated that when we met with the financial consultant they looked at
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the combination of a three year program .spread out over a three year period using
Councilmanic bonds or possibly a utility rate bond issue where we cut our coverage factor
down. Wickstrom said that the impact of that would be a reduction in the rate. Clark
asked what the trade-off would be. Wickstrom said essentially it would be playing one off
the other; we hope that Council would authorize either the sale of revenue bonds or
Councilmanic bonds, depending on which one presents the best rate picture. He said for
the revenue bond, we would not even be approaching the bond debt; in Councilmanic
there is $39 million to date . At the time of selling, there would probably be $9 million more
with the annexation. With Councilmanic, we don't need to generate more cash than we
need to pay off the bills and the financial consultant said we could reduce our debt
coverage on our revenue issue. Clark stated that with the pending Boeing layoffs, there
is a danger of local recession and that could impact tax collection. He said his concern
is that if we sign on to this increase in indebtedness, we could find ourselves 'strapped'.
He said if we were running a 'hold the lire budget' and it does shrink, we could find
ourselves with a problem, Wickstrom said the utility will generate the revenue to cover that
debt, not the general fund.
Committee unanimously agreed to continue this item onto the March 27th Committee
meeting for action.
Water Quality
Wickstrom referenced a memo in the Committee packet from our Water Superintendent
explaining the type of testing that we do on our water system. In response to Mann's
request for the testing, Wickstrom stated tha Cryptosporidium has never been found in our
groundwater supply. In response to Mann, Wickstrom said that testing for chloroform is
done monthly in 52 different locations. Wickstrom noted that if the State determines that
our groundwater sources are really surface water supplies, we could be faced with having
to build treatment plants. That could be a'significant cost. He said we have a certain
amount of lead time before they (the State) make this determination -we are working on
supplying them with data. Based on the dat ,fhat we have taken, it doesn't appear that it
meets their criteria but we won't know that until they make their final ruling. Mann
expressed that he would be more comfortable knowing that our sources were more
controlled. Wickstrom said.that to put in a treatment plant would cost us $1 million per
million gallons per day and would this really benefit us? Wickstrom said that regulations
are becoming more stringent and yet the cost to comply is escalating, especially when you
build a treatment plant.
Wickstrom said the problem of water rights.exists - there is a backlog equivalent to a
moratorium. There are numerous districts throughout the state that are on a,moratorium
even though they have wells to develop -they can't secure the water rights.
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In response to Mann, Wickstrom said the only new water source in the region is the
Tacoma Pipeline #5 project as far as additional supply to the region. The only other
potential source is the Auburn Aquifer. He stated that the state has completed a study on
the Duwamish/Green Basin in terms of water rights and amount of-water available. As a
result of that study, they feel that two recommendations will be adopted - 1) no more
surface water rights and, 2) no more shallow groundwater rights.
Meeting adjourned: 5:00 P.M.
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