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City staff warns Blair sewer system nearing capacity; sewer study, FEMA reimbursements discussed
Summary
City staff told the Blair council the city’s wastewater plant (2,000,000 gpd capacity) averaged about 1,300,000 gpd and experienced a storm peak inflow of about 3,700,000 gpd during last August’s event; staff outlined mitigation recommendations and said FEMA reimbursements covering roughly 75% of eligible expenses are incoming.
City staff on July 14 told the Blair City Council that the city’s sanitary sewer system is approaching capacity in some areas and recommended immediate mitigation steps and planning for reasonable growth.
During a staff presentation, Green summarized findings from a recently completed sewer study and related FEMA reimbursements. Green said the city’s wastewater plant has a capacity of 2,000,000 gallons per day, is currently averaging roughly 1,300,000 gpd, and experienced peak inflows of about 3,700,000 gpd during the August storm — a rate that temporarily exceeded plant capacity.
Green and staff highlighted inflow-and-infiltration (I&I) as a principal driver of excess flows. Green described typical sources — cracked sanitary pipes, flooded manholes and stormwater entering ventilation openings — and said mitigation could include isolating problem subareas, installing manhole mitigation devices and targeting manhole and sewer repairs. He encouraged the water and sewer committee and staff to prioritize mapping and phased remediation.
Green also updated the council on FEMA reimbursements tied to the storm. He said the city has already received some reimbursements and expected to receive an additional nearly $540,000, with another roughly $354,000 pending. Green summarized those and earlier payments as totaling about $1.2 million in 75% reimbursements of the city’s documented expenditures, and said most of the initial outlays came from the city’s street fund; reimbursed dollars will return to that fund.
The study includes recommendations for immediate work on existing system vulnerabilities and longer-term planning for ‘‘reasonable growth’’ over the next five to seven years. Green said the city’s wastewater fund and rates will need adjustments to fund the recommended remediation and planned growth.
Green also offered brief development updates: he said Elk Ridge has been removed from the original owner Von Lowe’s ownership, a bond from a new developer has been received and engineers are authorized to advance design, and staff will work to finalize permits and transition projects to the new developers.
The council did not take separate action on the sewer study at the meeting but authorized several related resolutions (engineering on-call agreements and amendments) that support remediation and continued planning. Staff said they will work with committees to implement study recommendations and share PDF copies of the study on the city website.
