[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:00] The 630, 1 p.m., we'll call the agency to submit the workshop to order. First item, only agenda item, 2 a state reviving fund loan discussions.
[0:12] We have staff, you know, the Tracy Mercer, are you representing or someone else?
[0:16] Jith Westerges.
[0:18] All that choice, Jith Westerges.
[0:19] Jith Westerges, Michael.
[0:26] The minister with utilities.
[0:29] Department and Natalie is going to do the presentation.
[0:32] She filed the application for this state.
[0:36] Long revolving fund for utilities.
[0:41] Good evening.
[0:42] And this is a public meeting to allow for a common
[0:46] comments and questions from the public, as well as yourselves.
[0:50] So this is for the wastewater facilities plan, the wastewater improvements, and I'm
[0:58] Natalie with recent nearing it.
[0:59] I've been working in post coordination with tracing on all of these decisions.
[1:04] So these are the, if you can see on the screen, these are the main items we're going to talk
[1:08] about today.
[1:09] We're just going to go through the purpose of the project, the alternatives we evaluate
[1:13] which is required by FDEP, the cost analysis, the alternative we selected with the city, and project.
[1:23] So the main purpose of this is to address the consent orders that were issued by DEP over the last year and a half or so.
[1:32] The consent orders, they're a wide variety of them, so it touched on several areas of the waste bar plant, including reclaimed water storage and pumping,
[1:43] Where the flow comes in, and flow equalization, biological treatment, so where the treatment actually occurs,
[1:53] and then what weather just flows on where you put the treated wastewater at the end.
[1:57] We call that recline water.
[1:59] And the other purpose of this is just to hold a public meeting to allow for public comment.
[2:05] So on the recline water storage and pumping, this is a graphic showing
[2:09] It's an area of view of the current percolation storage pond that's at the site, and you can see it's really green. There's a lot of algae in it.
[2:17] What happened? It comes out of the glass jar there. That's what it looks like when it comes out of the chlorine contact tank. It looks like a regular glass of drinking water.
[2:26] By the time it sits in the pond, it gets algae and debris in it.
[2:29] And so we're looking at adding a storage to keep that because if you take sunlight out, you don't get the algae growth.
[2:37] And it keeps the debris out obviously.
[2:39] And then at the current headworks, there's been overflows,
[2:43] 96 have been documented at the headworks.
[2:47] And so we're looking, we looked at the alternatives
[2:50] to address that issue.
[2:52] At the biological treatment,
[2:54] they have two Kruger Biodine show.
[2:57] That's the brand name.
[2:58] So you'll hear that a few times.
[2:59] If two of those oxidation ditches,
[3:02] and so we looked at improving the aeration capacity
[3:05] to get better treatments.
[3:06] because there's been a few times a year when lowings are high coming into the plant that the
[3:13] treatment didn't quite meet to use requirements.
[3:18] And then the other thing we're looking at doing is expanding the rease capacity.
[3:22] So spray filled sites, wrap-in infiltration basings, there's a wide variety of things we can
[3:27] do that beneficial to use this waterfall for irrigation purposes.
[3:32] So the first alternative that we looked at was actually doing nothing, and so no action.
[3:40] We as the engineer for the city would do not recommend this, it will result in increased
[3:45] fines and more consent orders and ultimately the state can do far worse.
[3:54] So, and you'd have continued challenges with your reclaimed customers.
[3:57] you have eight or nine customers now, you'd have a heart
[4:01] on maintaining those customers long-term.
[4:04] I keep in that the confidence and the customers
[4:07] to want to buy well-requined.
[4:10] The second alternative, I won't go through all this text.
[4:12] There's four main unit processes.
[4:15] So we went through those same four that I've kind of outlined.
[4:19] So we claimed water storage and pumping,
[4:21] and I'll go through with photos in a second,
[4:23] Headworks, Flow EQ, Biological Treatment and Weather, and so I'll start in with, so the first unit process on this alternative to, we looked at an onsite storage tank, onsite at the wastewater treatment site, onsite compensation, and this option has already been approved for swift mud grants funding almost 4.4 million.
[4:50] The second alternative, I'm sorry, it's the same alternative to the second process, is to address
[4:58] that head works overflow.
[5:01] So actually, Jones Edmonds has proposed this as part of their design, is to do two new screening
[5:07] structures and to flow into these two tanks here, and it will actually allow more peak flows
[5:15] to come in without overflows.
[5:17] And the screens would look something like this,
[5:20] this is a picture of another facility,
[5:23] and they'd be up high between those two tanks.
[5:26] And then the third unit process for this alternative,
[5:28] we looked at where the yellow box is,
[5:31] where it says anoxic rearrangement,
[5:32] we looked at a post-anoxic post-rearration.
[5:36] And what this will address,
[5:37] it will allow the operators to take down a rotor.
[5:41] There's a lot of equipment inside this tank.
[5:44] allows them to maintain that, because that has been the source of their problems.
[5:51] Also, we're going to add additional erasian.
[5:54] So that's a picture of the type of erasian we've looked at for the city and with the operators.
[6:01] The fourth unit process, we'll call it is the disposal.
[6:06] So what happened to the city a couple years ago is the city has lost up big customers,
[6:10] It was Resnick property, about 150 acres, and about the last couple years, the city's really
[6:17] struggled with where to put that water, and they've had overflows from the percolation
[6:20] pond, and to a drainage ditch, and the city's been paying fines on that as well, and so
[6:29] what we were supposed to do in this alternative is to get a larger portfolio of customers,
[6:34] high schools, middle school, and all along, where you currently have 24 inch-pithane reclaim
[6:40] And then we also looked at some smaller rapid infiltration
[6:44] basins at seven genes, a couple of churches.
[6:49] So that's pretty much that one.
[6:52] I'll turn it three, same unit processes.
[6:54] I'm going to click through photos, make your life
[6:56] a lot happier.
[6:59] So we looked at two offsite storage tanks
[7:01] instead of onsite at the wastewater plant.
[7:04] And then pump stations to keep the system
[7:07] pressurized, just like you're a potable water you need to pressurized for irrigation
[7:10] has to pop open and everything.
[7:14] And then for the headworks overflowing, we looked at, for this, taking the existing headworks
[7:19] structure, raising it up with cranes, elevating it, changing out some piping, so it's a larger
[7:25] piping allowing more flow, and also using those flow EQ tanks as well to damp and peak
[7:33] And for the the erasian basin, the two ditches that we have now, we looked at adding just a third identical as an option, which would absolutely work too.
[7:46] And then for the off site, whether storage we looked at doing two breads sitting on property off of 544.
[7:54] It's about 30 acres and doing two risks there at that location,
[8:02] so we basically crunch the numbers for these two options and the third option, which is do nothing which is not recommended.
[8:11] There is a cost to that to the city to do nothing, in fact you know, some deep ramifications there.
[8:19] The second alternative costs rent at $14 million, the third option costs rent at $17.5 million.
[8:28] And I'll turn it at $2 with the $4.4 million of swift mud cooperative funding.
[8:34] It brings it to $9.9 million.
[8:37] So we recommend, let me go back to that.
[8:40] So, Reese's recommending option to, as the most cost-effective option to address these
[8:47] consent orders.
[8:49] And then the project impacts funding impacts to customers.
[8:54] So, a state-revolving loan is from the state of Florida through FTEP.
[9:00] That's such one a year loan.
[9:02] They're almost for hand-city will be under one percent of what they expect, and the exact
[9:07] percentage changes the data closes.
[9:12] PRMG, not RAPTELUS, they completed the finance and fiscal
[9:16] sustainability plan for you.
[9:19] And the project loan repayment will be funded through the utility
[9:22] revenues that were identified in the 2018 rate study.
[9:25] And what that means is that the proposed rates are necessary.
[9:29] I'm just going to read this work for Tracy Hillman with this.
[9:33] But the proposed rates are necessary in the 2018
[9:36] the proposed rates, they're necessary to provide the adequate net revenues to pay the
[9:40] principal and interest payments on all existing and proposed debts of the utility system,
[9:45] including the principal and interest payments on this.
[9:49] So if you have questions on that, you can ask tracing out of that.
[9:53] And that is our presentation.
[9:55] So I'm going to open it up to any public question from the question.
[10:02] Sharon Garrett, I don't know if Carl Bizarre is right. You said that some of the water from the reclaimed water when there was too much of it.
[10:10] The Resonate property was shown on where the Resonate property is.
[10:19] It flows into a ditch. Where is this ditch?
[10:23] The ditch parallels Johnson Avenue.
[10:26] Pleasant to Johnson? Correct. Okay, but then that doesn't really go much anywhere just the long jumps and then come
[10:34] Cool, right. It does flow towards the southeast, but it takes some thought to it. So then it flows through the wetland
[10:43] It's in the pastures
[10:44] Okay, so when you're on the other side of hints and then you're diving along that road
[10:49] There's a canal that they run the minzi nut machine suit all the time
[10:54] And I think that canal goes all the way out to Lake Mary and so some of that water going that way.
[10:59] I'm not sure exactly where you're talking about.
[11:02] Well, but it sounds like yes.
[11:04] It does go towards Lake Mary and so.
[11:07] Yes.
[11:07] If you go back now, thanks.
[11:10] And I was going to go along and say, did I do a certain thing?
[11:13] And I say, no, that's not me.
[11:15] Okay.
[11:17] And it's right when we pass that canal.
[11:21] And it happens several times, and it's not necessarily after a rank.
[11:27] Part of what this project was about.
[11:33] It should, I'm not 100% sure where the smell is coming from, but it will stop the discharge into that.
[11:41] I have a question, the swift mode for unavailability would that not be available for option 3?
[11:57] No, we went tracing and I went through several iterations with the swift mode board members and they had us do a separate alternative analysis for just that portion of the projects
[12:09] And they were not interested in that.
[12:15] We did verbally talk about it and they guided me on to which and alternatives they were most
[12:20] interested in as evaluating.
[12:23] And then the option that we've selected here that has received the grant funding, the City of
[12:29] Signed the Agreement for, that one is the one that they approve of.
[12:35] Scott.
[12:36] And the reason I'm asking is because my fellow seatmates are about to undergo something
[12:41] very similar to what I did when I was newly minted like they are, for some of it even predates
[12:49] commission of West.
[12:52] A rate study that said you can't rates, couldn't pay back the loan that you need to get that type of
[12:58] thing, then they're done that.
[13:02] The concern I think that they will be facing is without this, most of the activity that they have seen
[13:11] In the last few years old, we'll see in the future comes to a bit of a screeching hole.
[13:19] This is a big piece of the backbone that goes with, I mentioned the other night when somebody over there in the corner was talking about what fiscal standing we are,
[13:29] is there really is no surplus in our budgets.
[13:35] There's just things we haven't gotten to yet.
[13:38] This right here, if it's ignored, becomes a bigger problem.
[13:46] Being the new kid on the block back then, when I mentioned,
[13:50] even having a facility that treated wastewater to a point where you could.
[14:07] I knew that was going to slowly dissipate because the cow faster is going to go away.
[14:11] And, you know, going to work.
[14:14] So, the ability to reuse that reuse war and keep it to a level where
[14:19] because the Muzag is interested in purchasing it,
[14:24] is vital to the overall system by building.
[14:28] It's the same they wouldn't put that for me
[14:32] on something better because option 2 is kind of like a band-aid
[14:37] on a soul.
[14:39] It's not going to fix the problem.
[14:42] It's like ground storage tank or the...
[14:45] option 2 period.
[14:47] Yes, that means that we back to this table of wrangling with that all too soon in the end.
[14:56] We do, well, the plant has a limited permitting capacity of three inches.
[15:01] A very closely, especially with the grounds going on. So this will allow you to operate up to that 3MGD capacity.
[15:12] It's been very difficult for the operators to stay in compliance with the current plan as it is.
[15:18] The strength of the wastewater coming in. So you have a lot of low flush toilets and it gets more and more concentrated.
[15:23] it, the plant was designed in 1995, our friend Mike Clyburn, and that at that point in time
[15:31] the strength of wastewater was different. People used a lot more water, so now it's
[15:34] more concentrated, it's harder to treat it.
[15:43] It's not how you look at it, but in ways, it's
[15:45] just, it's not a disadvantage, but I would, because you're also getting to the point of water
[15:51] supply issues too, so I would definitely say, conserve your water absolutely. It's going to
[15:59] of the time.
[16:02] How many LGD does new plant will be able to obtain the hold within itself?
[16:12] This allows you to keep your current permanent capacity.
[16:16] I think I heard Ms. Gary from Northward.
[16:19] We're redumped in our reclaimed water now.
[16:22] So right now, you have southern dunes as your biggest user.
[16:27] And they have been very kind and been taking extra water more than they need to help the
[16:32] operators in our area.
[16:35] What's that?
[16:36] Don't think you're asking me.
[16:37] Don't think you're asking me.
[16:38] What are you using?
[16:39] I wanted to address the mayor honor of the years, but yes, so there's a couple emergency
[16:49] spray fields.
[16:50] We've set up to try to keep you out of the bank and send orders and that is on some
[16:56] the own properties. The 20 acres light is at the wastewater plant. We started the future
[17:00] cemetery, sign, and then the Melbourne Avenue for Larry Perish. I sit on the water carpet
[17:10] at board, and the biggest problem that I have is to take not reuse water, just water, and
[17:17] dump it back on online, anywhere, even in a residential pool. I think even residential should
[17:23] be using reuse water when they're taken in and put it back on their lawn because I think
[17:28] it's just with the upper aquifer about dry and we've got to go into the little aquifer
[17:34] now to get water and we're taking that water that could be used and dumping it all along.
[17:39] And I just think that going for it, if somewhere in a city can get online and take that reclaim
[17:44] water and start connecting to somebody's relative home and start using it all along.
[17:50] I don't know if that's feasible, that's possible, and it helps us.
[17:53] And that's a lot of what Tracy.
[17:56] That's a lot of where we're headed, especially with each new development.
[18:02] If they don't do Florida-friendly landscape, which ultimately would be the least cost to the city,
[18:08] to not use any of that water, and to actually use your reclaim to recharge the aquifer.
[18:13] So you don't buy as much expensive water, that's really your lowest downturn cost.
[18:17] But you're right, I appreciate you saying that.
[18:21] So that question is these other two locations you mentioned,
[18:25] where the new cemetery is, and Larry Parrish.
[18:33] Yes.
[18:33] So that's the area between Johnson and Melbourne.
[18:39] That's exactly right.
[18:40] And Melbourne.
[18:41] Yes, where the ball field is located.
[18:44] And we understand that eventually the city may use that for soccer fields or something.
[18:50] So for now, we're using that to keep from just staying compliance.
[18:54] Otherwise, it goes through this emergency outfall.
[18:56] And it's, you know, with the rain, we're still not at a point to having enough sites to 100% stop that this year.
[19:06] So the smell that Ms. Garrett was mentioning as far as the canal area,
[19:11] the residents in these other two areas or we haven't got any complaints as far as
[19:16] smell from it.
[19:29] Melbourne and right, Johnson and Melbourne, that's what I'm thinking.
[19:34] I've smelled it too.
[19:36] Also,
[19:39] the back side of Larry Pierce Park, there's a little area and I think there's
[19:45] can now, it comes out the back side of that, and that feeds into that marshy wetland area
[19:52] that should eventually feed into that canal that I'm sort of complaining about.
[19:56] But we're not just holding that rectangular, yeah, we're not just charging in place near
[20:01] that.
[20:02] What you have in marshlands, you have a lot of organics, and those smell in itself, if we
[20:07] discharge nothing from the wastewater treatment plant, reclaimed water, anything is still
[20:11] going to smell.
[20:12] because it has a lot of organics and organics has the same type of gas that your sewer has.
[20:18] It gives off and so you're going to smell it.
[20:20] I live in a marsh. My marsh does not smell like that now.
[20:24] Okay, my mom lives over here in a marsh. We've always had a slew on one side.
[20:28] I live, there's a creek that comes in and around my house and goes to a bayhead and there's a bayhead
[20:33] on the other side and there's swamp, it kind of swamped very behind it.
[20:36] They don't smell like that.
[20:38] So some storm drains or some storm water going into the swamp and things like that smell.
[20:44] And when I say that it's wetlands and it is decaying materials and so you're going to have some smell to that.
[20:52] I think our council has a question.
[20:54] I was going to say in Tracy has been very bold in this over the last several months.
[21:01] We've been negotiating with a large, very large property owner.
[21:05] the disease, the hand-city for a spray field, which would be basically a safety valve for
[21:14] reclaimed water. And I would like to say it is imminent that that will be in front of you,
[21:21] and I think it is imminent that will be in front of you. But that's one of the things that we've been working
[21:28] on for quite some time.
[21:32] other remark I'd like to make too. No matter how much a reclaimed water that we have available
[21:39] for use and for customers when it's weather like this nobody's taken it so we still have to
[21:46] have some place to put that and so that's part of the problem too so I think we'd have every bit of it
[21:54] going out and dry weather and then it went weather when nobody takes it because they don't need it.
[21:59] I don't know more will be able to take any of it.
[22:02] I don't think we have any pipes.
[22:04] We don't have pipes going to the end,
[22:06] some of the potential customers.
[22:08] And we lost that's not only stated earlier,
[22:10] we did lose a couple of years ago.
[22:12] A large development that was taking it.
[22:16] And so what Tracy and Fred have been working on,
[22:18] I think will help us to,
[22:19] because we have to get rid of this water.
[22:22] And it's tough, especially it's raining now.
[22:25] Southern doings don't want to put that much water on their golf course.
[22:28] And so those are things we're working on.
[22:30] Because of all of these consent orders,
[22:32] it is essential that we move forward this
[22:34] and through the resolution and the right settings
[22:35] that you all look at in January, it will help us
[22:39] to move this forward and something
[22:40] you'll be bringing back at the commission meeting
[22:41] to approve this.
[22:43] And the consent orders, the key thing that's making us go
[22:45] this direction and trying to find these additional locations
[22:49] that I can say that if we do get this developer
[22:53] to participate in a partner, a lot of that,
[22:56] we'll be going there, but that's the mayor stated, and Commissioner West trying to get lines
[23:02] out to those areas for reclaimed. So as developments come in, Mark Bennett and Richard Greenwood
[23:07] and April, they're working with them to say how to get reclaimed water in your subdivision.
[23:11] So we won't have this problem just going, trying to find a location for that water to go.
[23:16] How much are we discharged in the water a day and we claim water to this location?
[23:21] It's
[23:24] not patient.
[23:25] It's not.
[23:26] It's running to a certain location.
[23:29] Are we just charging so much per day?
[23:32] And I'll say, in line with Swift mud or how much we allow to send to this remote location.
[23:40] I think we'll see the manager referring to you.
[23:43] That's the 100-acre site that we're talking about.
[23:45] You're right.
[23:46] Yes.
[23:47] I think it's going to take about one and a half into the number.
[23:51] But it'll take quite a bit.
[23:52] Okay. All right.
[23:55] And actually DEP is pretty lenient on changing the facilities plan that if you decide you want to use the money for a different wet weather project that is they made that pretty clear to me when we're doing this.
[24:09] So we have that flexibility check.
[24:12] So I sit on the legs advisory committee with a group and they're trying to figure out how to get water and little like Eva.
[24:18] is there not a way to take this extra reclaimed water and put it into Lake Eva? Is it you
[24:24] don't have the piping or piping is not near there or what? It seems like that would answer
[24:29] your question. I mean, solve your problem on raising Lake Eva.
[24:33] Lake Eva is an impaired lake and they won't let us put any nutrients in it and reclaimed water
[24:38] has nitrogen phosphorus. Oh, okay. And so that's they call it the anti-degradation
[24:43] for surface water if it's impaired.
[24:46] So can you go to Tracy if it's not impaired?
[24:49] Or else.
[24:50] Potentially.
[24:51] But your best bang for your bucket to raise the lake
[24:55] Eva and to raise your aquifer
[24:56] and defer on high-cost water that's coming down the line
[25:01] as long as you can defer that.
[25:02] That's probably your neighbour's doing.
[25:05] If you take that reclaim water
[25:06] and you put it in Lake Tracy, Lake Elsie,
[25:09] and it's toxic.
[25:10] You could learn on the fish in that water, could you?
[25:14] That's the problem that you're going to probably have.
[25:16] We don't want to have.
[25:17] Great plain water is it meets secondary water standards and within a couple of things,
[25:26] a couple of parameters that you've made, drinking water standards, so it's not toxic.
[25:30] So it is still drinking water standards, just don't recommend drinking it.
[25:35] I was asking the mayor a question and maybe you guys, I know you probably looked at
[25:39] the possibility.
[25:40] What about boomerang, like boomerang?
[25:43] We have a project with boomerang if that project goes.
[25:47] We will be supplying reclaim water to restore that.
[25:50] We can take it all.
[25:52] It's not a matter of doing it.
[25:56] We also have one in Lake Eva.
[25:58] But we have to move far enough away from Lake Eva.
[26:02] About two million, two and a half million,
[26:04] we can raise it by about a foot and a half.
[26:09] So we have those projects, we're studying and looking at those projects.
[26:13] Well, you're a nod.
[26:14] I'd like to see you push as much in the point ring, because you still call it late boomerang,
[26:20] but it's a drive.
[26:21] Yeah, that's right.
[26:21] So it's like to come back.
[26:23] Yeah, that'll be a good project too.
[26:26] Thank you for that presentation.
[26:28] We look forward to resolution and going from there.
[26:30] Thank you.
[26:31] We're bringing that forward.
[26:32] We appreciate it.
[26:34] Any questions?
[26:34] comment said I will close the workshop where we are reconvening about one minute for
[26:40] the City Commissioner,
[26:45] they're right, they're a good point, it's a good point.