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City Council Minutes 09-10-2007 Biosolids Workshop Special Council Meeting: 9/10/07 MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING - MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL BIOSOLIDS WORKSHOP Monday September 10, 2007 - 5:30 p.m Members Present: Clint Herbst, Wayne Mayer, Tom Perrault, Brian Stumpf and Susie Wojchouski Members Absent: None 1. Call to Order. Mayor Herbst called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the future of the biosolids dryer at the wastewater treatment plant. Public Works Director, John Simola, summarized what had taken place on the project. In April of2007 the Council rejected the bids and tabled the project for 60 days to allow for discussions with Sunny Fresh on the proposed project and to work on financing for the improvement should it proceed. Most likely the City would bond for this project if it is approved. To pay the debt service it is proposed to increase sewer rates by 60% over the next three years with the balance of the funds to come from trunk fees. It was noted residential growth has slowed down but commercial growth has made up for that. The City had anticipated rebidding the project this year. If the project is delayed 3-4 years it could result in a $3,000,000 increase in cost. The PCA is almost ready to send the NPDES permit out for the public comment period. The PCA is delaying publishing it until they know what City is going to do with the biosolids. The City's present permit will expire on October 31, 2007. Paul Stafford said the first issue is the permit. If the City does not have capacity to produce Class A sludge that would have to be removed from the permit and the City would have to re- apply for the permit. John Simola said at this time they don't think the PCA will be putting a phosphorus limit on the City. If the permit does end up having a phosphorous limit there could be a 20% increase in biosolids. John Simola said if the phosphorous limit does not come in this permit it will undoubtedly come in the next. Sunny Fresh has prepared a plan to treat their wastewater and has been looking at other ways to reduce the amount of BOD (biological oxygen demand) coming to the plant by 30%. John Simola believes the increase in BOD is coming from the increase in commercial growth, such as restaurants. The main concern is the nitrogen and Sunny Fresh's flow is high in nitrogen. John Simola reported that the PCA sent a letter regarding the permits issued for expansion of the collection system. John Simola did respond to this letter noting that many of the facilities extensions were for staged improvement so the capacity of the system is not fully utilized. The PCA is holding the extension permits for the Monticello-Big Lake Hospital expansion and the Chelsea Road Improvement project. Rick Gilbertson talked about the nitrogen level. It appears that the nitrogen level is going up. At the farm they are trying to match the application of sludge to crop removal. They question the amount of nitrogen per acre that can be applied to the land. The City's permit requires 1 Special Council Meeting: 9/1 0/07 incorporation ofbiosolids into the soils within a short period of time. This process means that perennial crops, such as alfalfa are basically eliminated for crop use. Rick Gilbertson said where they have problems is with high flows containing a high percentage of nitrogen in the material. Corn is needed to pull nitrogen out and not allow it to leach through the soil. Chuck Keyes said one of the options would be to landfill the excess biosolids. The landfill site would have to be lined. Brian Stumpf asked if the Ewings had other property that would be suitable for this use. Chuck Keyes responded most of their property is in a different county. John Simola said they have calls for Class A sludge but there is not much interest in Class B. Chuck Keyes said a number of years ago PSG and city staff had looked for other sites. If the City would pursue going after additional land, they would need a large site. In addition it would take approximately 9 months to get the site permitted for land application. Chuck Keyes noted there are 7 monitoring wells on the site. Rick Gilbertson report was based on high flows. The period the existing site could be utilized could be extended if the flows were lower. Chuck Keyes said that within 3-5 years the City could be looking at improvements to the liquid side as well as biosolids. At the present time 62-63% of the plant design capacity for BOD (biological oxygen demand) is being used and 66% of the design capacity for tss (total suspended solids) is being used. John Simola said the mixer needs to be put in at the wastewater treatment plant regardless of whether the City goes ahead with the biosolids dryer. John Simola felt since the mixture is not homogenous as it is taken out of the holding tank that may have some impact on the nitrogen level. John Simola said if they want to continue to go with Class B sludge they would have to make some changes to the digester. John Simola said if the goal is Class A sludge then it is just a question of when the biosolids dryer goes in. Staff does not want to apply more nitrogen on the fields. The City is walking a fine line with the nitrogen application. Rick Gilbertson is the intermediary between the City and the farmer. Brian Stumpf asked if the City is limited on what the City can landfill. Staff indicated because the landfill site has a liner they are not limited to how much they bring in. Brian Stumpf talked about the sewer rates being increased by 60%. Tom Kelly talked about increasing the sewer rate 20% in each of the next three years and what that would generate in the way of revenue. Brian Stumpf asked about the impact of a 20% increase to the users. John Simola said the monthly sewer bills is about $22.71 but he will get information back to the Council on the impact specifically. Clint Herbst suggested taking the bills for a restaurant like Applebee's and see how that compares for the Applebee's in Rogers and Buffalo. The sewer rates should be increased whether or not the biosolids dryer goes in. John Simola felt the best way to handle this was to charge for the waste being handled. Chuck Keyes said when the City gets to 80-85% of their design capacity the PCA will be asking for the City's plan to finance future improvements. Bret Weiss said in an earlier study of trunk fees, that their firm had done, there was some allowance the expansion of the WWTP. The Council discussed whether it made sense to hold off building the project for a period of time in order to build up the fund. John Simola said the cost of the mixers as part of the biosolids project was $250,000. There is approximately $1,000,000 in the sewer fund. In addition there is approximately $700,000 left from the settlement with the contractor on the previous wastewater expansion. Clint Herbst felt that perhaps bidding the mixers and vehicle storage building could be done at this time with the balance of the biosolid project to wait until the funding issues are resolved. He felt it was premature to proceed on the biosolids dryer. John Simola noted some additional costs 2 Special Council Meeting: 9/10/07 that would be involved by breaking the project out such as additional mobilization costs and preparing new bid packages for the mixer and vehicle storage building. John Simola felt bidding them as separate contracts would result in better prices, especially since mixers were more of a specialty project than the vehicle storage building. The Council and staff discussed other study that had been done as far as possible locations for a wastewater treatment plant and capacity to expand at the present site. Representatives from Sunny Fresh spoke to the Council regarding the biosolids project. They noted they are a community oriented company and the third largest employer in the City. They discussed the agreement they had made with the City in 2002 for more expansion. They bore a large portion ofthe cost for the gravity belt thickener and are expected to contribute when the fourth SBR tank and the storage tank goes in. Sunny Fresh explained what steps they have taken to reduce effluent at their facility. BOD has been reduced 42% since 2001 and there was a 45% reduction in TSS and 80% reduction in phosphorous. They stated that although they are not using their allotted capacity, they are reluctant to reduce the amount they are permitted for. The permit with the City is up in October. Sunny Fresh and City staff have discussed various options but have not come up with any results. Sunny Fresh retained a consultant, A TI, to review their operations and that of the wastewater treatment facility or POTW (public operated treatment works). They discussed the impact the biosolids improvement would have on Sunny Fresh which they claim would be a 40% increase over the maximum payment Sunny Fresh would have under the agreement. They looked at what could be done to reduce the biolsoids for the city. Recommendations include expanded testing, sampling more periods through the week and they agreed to look at pilot program on alternative technology that could be used at the Sunny Fresh facility. They have completed their own site pre-treatment and have spent $40,000 since May studying the existing site and looking at alternatives. They are waiting for the final report from the consultant. The consultant indicated they could reduce the loading but it would cost Sunny Fresh between $750,000 and $1,000,000. He felt it would be possible to defer expansion of the biosolids in the short term. Don Roberts from Sunny Fresh stated they don't want to get into the wastewater treatment business but they don't want the $2,000,000 expense of the current biosolid proposal. Clint Herbst said the City needs to look at the numbers on this. John Simola questioned whether the increase in rates would be strictly for utility operations. Clint Herbst said those funds should only be for utility operations. Construction time is two years for the dryer system. Tom Perrault noted that although Sunny Fresh has been trying to reduce their flows, their facilities have expanded. There was discussion of the loading from Sunny Fresh. Much of what goes out from Sunny Fresh is from washing equipment. Wayne Mayer asked if Sunny Fresh could reduce their loading by 30%-40% what would that do to the City's time frame for the biosolids dryer. John Simola said it could extend the time frame by 2-3 years. Clint Herbst felt before Sunny Fresh proceeds with any improvements, they should sit down with the City and look at all options to see what makes the most sense. Chuck Keyes said they need to fast track the mixers so they are in place before the nitrogen is applied on the farm. The workshop adjourned at 6:45 p.m ~ ~S~~ Recording Secretary , 3