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Home My WebLink About05/18/1998 Work Session . MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MAY 18, 1998 The Springfield City Council met in Work Session at Springfield City Hall, Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon at 6:05 p.m. with Mayor Morrisette presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Morrisette and Councilors Ballew, Beyer, Burge, Dahlquist and Shaver. Councilor Maine was absent (excused). Also present were City Manager Mike Kelly, Senior Management Analyst Rosie Pryor, Administrative Aide Shari Higgins, Development Services Director Susan Daluddung, Planner III Mel Oberst, Planner I Sarah Summers and members of staff. Drinking Task Force Members Present were Chair, George Grier and Dean Trotter, Neil Forester, Bill Bennett, Bill Carpenter, Virginia Lauritsen and Jack Gischel. 1. Discussion of the Drinking Water Protection Strategies Recommended by the Planning Commission. . Planner I Sarah Summers presented the staff report. She asked council to discuss the Drinking Water Protection strategies recommended by the Planning Commission and provide direction to staff for development of a Drinking Water Plan. Councilor Beyer ask what modification the Planning Commission recommended. Ms. Summers said the new recommendation included the word "chemical" and the use of chemicals (sinkers) that cause the most damage. Ms. Summers referred to Fire Marshall Dennis Shew regarding the specific listing of chemicals and what it might include. Councilor Burge shared his concern over possible future disagreements regarding what type of chemicals are high risk. Ms. Summers said they would be clearly defined and specified in the final Drinking Water Plan. Councilor Ballew asked where funds would derive from for the purchase of property where SUB is looking to place new wells. Springfield Utility Board (SUB) representative, Chuck Davis said funds would be procured from SUB to purchase right-of-way or get restrictive easements. TaskForce Chair George Grier said the ultimate cost would fall to the rate payers of SUB. Mayor Morrisette spoke of cluster wells and asked how many are located on the Willamette River. Mr. Davis replied, 11 wells. He said SUB was not successful in finding new wells a along the river and there was not much resource on their purchase from Georgia Pacific. . Councilor Shaver asked about water usage and rate breaks for high users. Mr. Davis said it would be only apply to large commercial users and rate breaks would not affect the average citizen. City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 5/l8/98 Page 2 . There was a discussion over finding ways to help citizens with illegal wells. Mr. Davis suggested a method which plugs the pipe and is then filled with concrete to help seal the casing and eliminate future problems. He spoke of contaminated wells and at what point corrOSIOn occurs. Councilor Shaver asked Mr. Davis how many wells there are currently within the city. Mr. Davis replied there are 1,500 wells. Councilor Shaver suggested checking both the flow level and water quality by sampling methods. Councilor Burge asked if all recommendations by the Drinking Water Task Force were achieved unanimously. Mr. Grier said not all were unanimous, but the recommendations were achieved through group consensus. Councilor Burge asked task force member Dean Trotter how the consensus was achieve. Mr. Trotter replied there was a large differential in the scoring of items, but the ranking lists were agreed upon by consensus. All members present felt consensus was reached in an acceptable manner. Task force member Jack Gishel said he agreed with the Planning Commission recommendation to change "business" to "chemicals." Ms. Summers said there was an industry representative on the task force, Sue Zeni. . Task force member Bill Carpenter spoke of section B-5 Transport, specifically, time of travel zones. Ms. Summers explained how the transport of chemicals in the 0-5 year time of travel zone, included transport by rail also. Mr. Davis said there are 15 businesses in the time of travel area. He explained secondary containment and.minimized use of solvents. By following the task force recommendations, most businesses will be able to continue to operate, with the new standards in place. Mayor Morrisette spoke of issues which may arise with new businesses asking for development permits. Ms. Summers spoke on review of development permits. Mr. Davis said even with state of the art procedures and polices, accidents can occur. Ms. Summers said businesses within a one mile travel area will need to know what the repercussions are for chemical accidents. There was a discussion on how to protect existing businesses, while also providing education to property owners with wells. Planner III Mel Oberst said there is a wealth of technical information in our community and most businesses would like to comply but they just need the proper education and information. He spoke of the task force recommendation to form public-private partnerships. Mr. Oberst reviewed the Gitizen Task Force and Planning Commission recommendations, including: . A. Implementing a Public Education Program. B. Adopt a Drinking Water Protection Overlay Zone. C. Develop and Implement a Ground Water Monitoring Program. D. Enhance the Existing Hazardous Waste Collection Program. City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 5/18/98 Page 3 . E. Develop and Implement a Septic System Upgrade and Maintenance Program. F. Use and Enhance Existing Spill Response Plan. G. Form Public-Private Partnerships. H. Implement a Water Conservation Program. I. Use Property Purchase/Donation to Provide Protection Areas. Additional Recommendations: Intergovernmental Coordination Storm water Management Abandoned Wells New Well Site Location Mr. Shew said part of the City's Emer~ency Plan has a contingency for groundwater contamination. Mayor Morrisette asked Rainbow Water District representative Tim Hanley if there were many failing wells in their service area. Mr. Hanley replied no, per information received from the Lane County Sanitarian. Also, the Rainbow Water District tests regularly for elevated amounts of nitrate. Mr. Oberst said besides intergovernmental cooperation, the city would need to continue to work with Lane county and the City of Eugene. Mr. Grier said the city regulations do not apply to areas outside of the city limits. Mr. Oberst explained the city does have an Intergovernmental Agreement for land-use in the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). . There was a discussion of the safe amount of wells, at one per acre. Ms. Daluddung said it would be a judgment call on the amount of wells allowed for development of less than one acre. Councilor Shaver commented the task force did excellent work and the Drinking Water Plan is well balanced. The process used and plan recommendations are sound policy. As development occurs there might be some adjustments needed to the plan, but it is typical of most new policy. Councilor Burge said the task force did a good, thorough job and commended their efforts. By consensus, council approved the recommendations of the Drinking Water Task Force and the Planning Commission, as presented in the staff report. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Shari Higgins . ( ~ (Q::;U1.)\l.Al'-- corder, Julie Wilson /!d(?1~ Mayor, Bill Morri ette , ATTEST: