Public Works outlines wastewater, refuse, parking and stormwater capital needs; warns stormwater fee unchanged since 1994

Nathan Wynne, director of public works, gave the City Council a department overview and detailed four public‑works enterprise funds — wastewater, refuse, parking and stormwater — and the capital investment program the department will manage in the coming year.

Wynne said the wastewater treatment plant is a regional facility that serves Live Oak, Aptos, Soquel and Capitola and that the department manages about 160 miles of sewer collection pipes. He described the Headworks project, currently under construction, as a roughly $20 million investment and said staff are evaluating a proposed electrical upgrade at the wastewater facility with an early cost estimate near $60 million.

On refuse and the resource recovery facility, Wynne described a temporary methane flare the city installed after winter 2024 storm damage caused power outages; a permanent flare system is now underway. The refuse fund has historically operated on a pay‑as‑you‑go basis, Wynne said, but long‑range capital needs may require borrowing.

Wynne discussed the parking division’s work to modernize permits and multi‑space payment systems and said the division manages four city garages and many surface lots. He noted the division’s role in downtown maintenance and enforcement.

On stormwater, Wynne said the city still collects about $7.51 per parcel (the stormwater tax) and that the rate has not been updated since about 1994; the fund brings in roughly $570,000 annually and a downtown overlay generates about $325,000. Wynne and staff said the stormwater fund is on an unsustainable path and that the city will return with options, including potential fee increases, to right‑size the fund.

Wynne outlined several ongoing and planned capital projects: Westcliff emergency seawalls and Westcliff/Bethany Curve reconstruction; the Murray Street Bridge replacement (total project cost cited at about $62 million with a $55 million federal share); rail trail segments; and the Headworks and electrical upgrades at the wastewater plant. He said about 66% of CIP projects are grant funded and that the department is monitoring federal reimbursement timing for large federally funded projects — a cash‑flow issue because reimbursements can lag construction outlays.

Wynne also briefed the council on a joint Title 22 tertiary treatment project with Soquel Creek Water District intended to produce recycled water. He said the system’s current performance is not meeting expected water quality or volume; Soquel Creek, the contractor Black & Veatch and city staff are evaluating potential engineering fixes and costs.

Council members pressed staff on rate recovery and fund balances. Wynne and finance staff said that when capital outlays are excluded, enterprise operations largely cover operations and maintenance, but adding capital projects creates deficits that have been covered by drawing fund balances or by borrowing (Wynne cited a roughly $26 million IBank loan taken earlier for sewer work). He said the department expects to discuss rate work and debt financing as part of the upcoming wastewater rate public hearing in June.

Wynne warned that some federal and state grant programs have been scaled back or reprioritized and pointed to one regional EV charging grant that was cut at the federal level; staff are pursuing state funding alternatives. He also said FEMA BRIC funding for a levee pump station’s construction phase is uncertain and under review.