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Calistoga public works outlines 10-year CIP: aging pipes, FEMA remap and Riverside Ponds near completion
Summary
Public Works Director Derek Raynor presented accomplishments and a 10-year capital outlook including sewer liner repairs, replacement of corroded cast-iron pipes, FEMA flood remapping, Vine Trail repaving tied to Riverside Ponds work, and plans for grant-seeking and possible Measure U bonding.
The Calistoga City Council on Aug. 12 received an update from Public Works Director Derek Raynor on the city’s capital improvement program (CIP), including recent accomplishments, near-term projects for fiscal year 2024–25 and 2025–26, and a 10-year outlook for roads, water and sewer infrastructure.
Raynor summarized work completed in the last fiscal year, including replacement of an aeration-basin liner at the wastewater treatment plant, procurement of a new street sweeper through a grant, off‑site sewer replacements totaling about a half-mile of pipeline that he said amounted to roughly $2 million–$2.5 million in infrastructure work, new generators and updated SCADA systems, and park improvements including a new walking path and bocce courts at Logbie (Logby) Park. He also reported replacement earlier this summer of a corroded airline that supplies air to aeration basins at the wastewater plant.
Looking ahead, Raynor said the city is inventorying 75-year‑old cast‑iron pipes that have narrowed from corrosion — in one photo shown to council he said a 6‑inch pipe had been reduced to about 3 inches — and that the city is developing a strategy to replace old utilities alongside road resurfacing where needed. Raynor outlined an overlay design project to identify roads with newer below‑grade utilities that can be paved sooner and noted the plan to produce a 10‑year replacement outlook to inform grant-seeking and possible bonding (Measure U) to finance larger projects.
Raynor also told the council that FEMA will remap flood areas from the base of Mount Saint Helena past Bale Lane, producing updated 100‑ and 500‑year floodplain data paid for 100% by FEMA. He described the Riverside Ponds project as nearing completion; the ponds were regraded and lined to address an existing cease-and-desist order and to improve bank slopes and flood protection.
Councilmembers asked about related items including repaving of the Vine Trail adjacent to the Riverside Ponds (Raynor said that section is planned for repaving and staff is seeking change-order funding to extend paving to Dunnoil), replacement windows at City Hall and the police department (Raynor said some windows suffered seal failure and were replaced), and details about the corroded air pipe (Raynor said that pipe was only about 20 years old but corroded due to proximity to a chemical building and a prior spill).
Vice Mayor Lopez Ortega raised water-quality concerns from residents. Raynor said corrosion in old pipes can affect taste and odor and reduce free chlorine residual; he outlined routine hydrant flushing planned for September–October, a Rutherford pump-station project that would add granulated activated carbon (GAC) filtering to address taste/odor and disinfection byproduct issues for roughly 70% of the city’s treated water, and a longer-term plan to convert an existing Kimball filter to GAC.
Councilmembers praised the public works staff for their work on multiple projects and asked that the city’s CIP materials be made easily viewable on the city website. Raynor said the staff posts the 10‑year outlook and updates the CIP schedule every four to five months.
No formal council action was required; the presentation provided direction and a status update as staff prepares designs and pursues grants or other funding mechanisms to implement the long‑range CIP.
