McMinnVille officials outline $300 million-plus wastewater master plan, cite December overflow and regulatory pressures

Summary

City staff presented a draft 20-year wastewater master plan that inventories aging pipes and pump stations, models peak wet-weather flows, and recommends a large capital program; the draft lists projects in the "300,000,000 plus range," and staff said rate and SDC changes will be needed to fund options.

McMinnVilles public works director, Jeff Hunsinker, told the City Council at a work session that the city is updating its 20-year wastewater master plan to meet regulatory requirements and prepare for future growth. "The biggest reason is for regulatory compliance," Hunsinker said, noting the city must maintain an NPDES permit and is working with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on an update expected this calendar year.

Hunsinker described the consultants scope as a hydraulic-modeling and flow-monitoring program across the conveyance system, a regulatory review of the treatment plant, and an added SCADA assessment to modernize aging telemetry and control systems. He said the citys flow monitoring and modeling are complete and that the consultants first-draft capital improvement program (CIP) lists a large number of recommended projects. "They gave us a pretty large number," Hunsinker said, placing the draft total in the "300,000,000 plus range." He emphasized that the figure is an inventory of all recommended work, not a proposed package the city must adopt as written.

Why it matters: DEQ guidance and the Clean Water Act set the…

McMinnVille officials outline $300 million-plus wastewater master plan, cite December overflow and regulatory pressures

Summary

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