Minutes 05-29-91MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING
HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH,
FLORIDA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1991 AT 5:00 P.M.
PRESENT
Arline Weiner, Mayor
Edward Harmening, Vice Mayor
Lillian Artis, Commissioner
Jose Aguila, Commissioner
Lynne Matson, Commissioner
J. Scott Miller,
City Manager
Sue Kruse, City Clerk
Jim Cherof,
City Attorney
Mayor Weiner called the meeting to order at 5:08 P.M.
Update on all water and sewer programs
currently underway as well as other planning
elements which make up the "global program."
John Guidry, Director of Utilities explained this meeting
would cover most of the key aspects of utility programs
during the period 1983 to present. The introductory
material included in a bulky handout was referred to which
provided the timing of events and the names of consultants
involved in various projects. Mr. Guidry remarked that one
item should be added to the list. On March 5, 1991, the
City signed a contract with Stanley Consultants for the
construction management of the West Water Treatment Plant.
Most of the material they would be covering at this meeting
covers the "growth period," namely, 1989 to the year 2000.
1991 through 1995 is considered as a "construction period,"
or a comprehensive planning period for the City.
There are several things that the Utility Dept. is doing on
its own, such as much of the pipeline design. On some pro-
jects the City will "piggy-back" with County road projects.
The large majority, however, the City's own construction
division will be handling.
Presentation by CH2M Hill on
Water and Wastewater Master Plan
Mr. Wayne Welch, Project Coordinator, explained they would
be taking a historical look at the water and wastewater
System through the Master Plan which is basically a living
document that needs to be updated as things change. Slides
were viewed on the overhead projector illustrating the City
Limits which are inside of the water service area. The
Wastewater system service area also extends beyond the City
~imits.
Relative to service area predictions, CH2M Hill was provided
population projections by the City's Planning Dept. The
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MAY 29, 1991
Planning Dept. based the figures on the growth rate in the
early 1980s and CH2M Hill then took historical operating
data on the per capita useage of water and'wastewater to
project through buildout. The maximum daily flow at
buildout for the water system is 36 MGD. The average daily
flow is 24 MGD. Concurrently, on the wastewater system
there is a maximum monthly flow of 17 MGD and an average
daily flow of 15 MGD.
Locations of the west and east wellfields were viewed. The
Master Plan identified water supply needs for the east
wellfields. At the time the Plan was done, there were 19
active wells. At that time, the City was replacing and
deepening five wells and looking toward putting in two
additional wells. The work was completed and currently
there are 20 active wells with a nominal capacity of around
20 MGD. In order to put in additional wells the City would
have to acquire property. Setback requirements and other
restrictions of regulatory agencies restrict further deve-
lopment in the east.
At the time the Master Plan was underway, there were three
wells that already existed in the west wellfield. Five
wells were under construction and up to five additional
wells were planned. The City now has 12 wells in place in
the west wellfield. In the future, beyond the year 2000,
they were looking at additional wells for the Nickles field.
Relative to water supply concerns, Mr. Welch explained when
the Master Plan was completed there was a potential short-
fall of capacity in the short term. That did happen to a
certain degree, but due to the drought and water restric-
tions placed, as well as operating at reduced pressure for a
number of years, the potential for a sharp shortfall was
alleviated.
As to recovering lost capacity of the Jarvis wellfield, Mr.
Welch stated the City has acidized those wells and brought
them back up, but it's not a real reliable wellfield.
Comments were made about the Consumptive Use Permit limiting
condition whereby to withdraw from a certain area you need
to reach an agreement with the Lake Worth Drainage District
(iLWDD). Mr. Welch stated that had been done. Mr. Guidry
explained the LWDD was trying to "put the City in the box"
by causing the City to agree to construct a large reservoir
i!n the conservation area and Mr. Guidry had difficulty with
doing that. He explained the LWDD's philosophy is that the
water goes to the farmers, onto the plants and they give it
all back to the LWDD and nothing takes place as far as root
~ptake or evapo-transporation. With the assistance of CH2M
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MAY 29, 1991
Hill, the City had negotiated an interlocal agreement with
LWDD to implement Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) as the
best possible approach to mitigating those impacts. The
City is currently under permitting on ASR.
Mr. Welch stated the west wellfield capacity shown in the
slides did not show any demand on it until the West Water
Treatment Plant comes on line. Up until that time they have
not seen a demand on that wellfield.
A schedule out of the Master Plan was examined showing
capital improvement projects for water supply. The schedule
had been extended out through 1994.
It was pointed out the City is upgrading capacity at the
East Water Treatment Plant to get it up to 20.5 MGD.
Potential future improvements at the East Water Treatment
Plant include the replacement of the softening basin and
terminals. Construction of the West Water Treatment Plant
is set up in phases. They were looking at putting in a
shell for 8 MGD, but only installing 4 MGD at the current
time. As demand increases, or if it slows up, the City can
go back and add more.
As to Safe Drinking Water Act required facilities, Mr. Welch
indicated they didn't know what those are currently. This
was something the City would need to be concerned with in
the future.
The well supply for the West Water Treatment Plant is
already installed. The second part is the membrane treat-
ment process where you have the 4 MGD first phase capacity.
In that you have 3 units at a million and a third gallons
a day each. Under construction at the present time is a
concentrated disposal well that is being built for ultimate
water treatment plant capacity. Also under contract will be
a 3 MGD ground storage tank.
Remarks were made about the proposed new water distribution
piping. They need to make sure the people are going to get
about 40 p.s.i, at their hoses during peak hours. During a
fire event, it might go down to 20, but they're still able
to get water. Mr. Welch stated when CH2M Hill did an analy-
sis they noticed some modifications needed to be made to
make sure people in the future maintain pressure at the same
level of service. Other remarks were made about increased
distribution system flushing and cleaning of pipes.
A dollar summary of all the capital improvements (from the
Master Plan) was viewed. Since the Master Plan had been put
together, some changes had occurred.
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MAY 29, 1991
Mr. Donald Munksgaard, P.E., Sr. Vice President of Camp,
Dresser & McKee discussed flow analysis from the Master
Plan. The City has an existing 24 MGD facility. Camp,
Dresser looked at the flow projections to buildout for
Boynton Beach and Delray Beach which are approximately
20/10. When they got into it they saw certain things that
needed to be looked at closer because the existing capacity
of 24 MGD became very critical. If you take the two
existing Comprehensive Plans, those Plans have some very
aggressive goals on how the cities are going to manage their
water and wastewater programs. If those goals are lived up
to, the number will be 24 MGD at buildout and we will not
have to expand the facility.
Mr. Guidry pointed out that Delray Beach, due to its con-
figuration and various County pockets, has concluded it is
only going to grow by 10,000 more households. A key element
is that in the Master Plan, an additional 3 to 6 MGD was
identified. That would probably be to the account of
Boynton Beach because it will not be shared by the
Commission in Delray Beach. Mr. Guidry stated we have
always had a 50/50 spending rationale, but the moment in
his~tory when that capacity becomes the responsibility of one
City or the other, it will probably be to our account.
Other technical marks were made about decisions that will
have to be made in coming years.
Mr. Munksgaard touched on the eight capital improvement pro-
jects that would need to be performed "over the planning
horizon." The first three are under construction, namely,
the effluent pumping station, the additional electric ser-
vice and the odor abatement project. These are projected to
be completed during the first part of the new year. The
fourth project, the chlorination/dechlorination project has
to do with the problem which has been a continuing
"irritant" for the Board. Hopefully, that will soon culmi-
nate in a T.O.P. for the Board. At that point in time they
will get into the dechlorination issue. The effluent reuse
program is shown starting late in 1991 or early in 1992. It
will take a couple of years to get that program implemented.
The other two major projects are the plant expansion and the
solids processing modifications. In the Master Plan, deci-
sions on those projects are shown in the 1998 to the year
2000 time horizon.
Repair and rehabilitation of existing facilities was
addressed. Mr. Munksgaard referred to the five projects
discussed at the last Board meeting and stressed there is a
strong need to move forward with this "R & R work."
The three phase wastewater reuse program was explained.
Due to the water quality issues in the two cities, Mr.
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MAY 29, 1991
Munksgaard stated we would only be utilizing the Boynton
Beach flow in the initial phase 1 flow. Phase 2 and 3 will
then be dependent on a number of factors, one of which would
be improvement in the water quality from the Delray Beach
side of the treatment plant. About 100 acres of park land
had been identified which Mr. Munksgaard felt could be
easily and cost effectively served from the reuse program
being implemented along Congress Ave. Numerous slides were
viewed and commented on.
Policy decisions made by the Board were commented on. One
of these deals with "inside the fence and outside the
fence." When the Boynton Beach City Commission meets as
part of the Board, they are responsible for the facilities
(literally) within the chain link fence. The Board had
decided to stick with that policy, which would mean it would
become a "wholesaler" of the reclaimed waters to the cities.
The City would then become the "retailer." Facilities built'
"inside the fence" such as storage tanks, filters, pumping,
etc. would be Board-related costs which would be spread
across to all sewer users within the service area.
Mains to deliver the water, and the crews associated with
maintaining those systems would become an "outside the fen-
ce'' responsibility. Since phase 1 is Boynton Beach related,
that responsibility falls on Boynton Beach's shoulders.
Phase 1 capital costs had been estimated at $5,000,000, if
split as a Board. If addressed as "outside the fence" for
phase 1 (City of Boynton Beach related) it would amount to
2.5 million dollars. The "O & M" costs are $500,000 a year
associated with the Board costs. Other technical remarks
were made.
Camp, Dresser & McKee had helped Boynton Beach, Delray Beach
and the SCRWTD Board in meeting the EPA regulations
regarding industrial pre-treatment. The SCRWTD Board was
not going to interfere with the city business and was not
going to become the issuer of the permits to various
industrial properties within the cities. The individual
cities would conduct that on their own. The Board holds the
N~DS Permit, so the Board is the one ultimately responsible
for the pre-treatment program. However, the Board has dele-
gated implementation to the individual cities. In 1989/1990
the EPA came to the two cities, conducted audits, looked in
the cities files and gave "passing grades." A decision had
been made to "marry" the programs together. The three inde-
pendent programs which existed had some conflicts in them
from a technical point of view, so a model Ordinance had
been prepared by Camp, Dresser & McKee and was under study
bY all three entitites.
Mr., Tom Tessier, Vice President of Geraghty & Miller sum-
marized his firm's involvement with various City projects
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MAY 29, 1991
which began in 1983. A slide of the eastern wellfield was
shown. Wellfield 1, 3, 4, and 5 are operational. Wellfield
2 which consists of two wells has been abandoned as there
were problems with contamination in that area. All of the
13 wells in the western wellfield are in place. There were
remarks about depth of wells.
Mr. Bill Voglesong, Project Manager with Geraghty & Miller
addressed pre-wellfield conditions in the eastern wellfield.
He remarked that production wells are screened in different
sections of the shallow aquifer. The easternmost wells (1,
2, and 3), are screened at a much shallower depth than most
of the other wells. Slides were viewed which demonstrated
current conditions under average day pumpage and what takes
place to the saltwater wedge in the eastern wellfield.
When water is withdrawn from shallow sections, it causes
saltwater to migrate towards those wells.
Mr. Voglesong remarked that the demand on the eastern
wellfield will continue to increase. The problem Geraghty &
Miller foresees is that the City will curtail a shortfall in
water supply capacity. A slide was viewed which showed
future conditions without shallow aquifer injections. The
two saltwater wedges will end up mingling and most of the
wells in the eastern wellfield could become infected with
saltwater. Other remarks were made about chloride levels
as contained in the "Model Report." Technical discussion
took place regarding "wipe out situations," water quality,
and raw water capacity that is needed to stay ahead of deve-
lopment.
Mr. Voglesong commented that back in the early 1970s the
City quit pumping from wells 1, 2, and 3 because they were
starting to see saltwater. Mr. Guidry interjected that now
that wells 4 and 5 have been abandoned to the north, the
City needs every one of them. The "Model" which had been
produced identified effective strategies on how to control
the saltwater intrusion. The most promising scenario was
injections into certain wells. They will need a source of
injection water. Various water source options would be raw
Shallow aquifer water from the eastern wellfield, treated
shallow aquifer water from the eastern wellfield, raw canal
water or treated shallow aquifer water from the western
Wellfield. Other remarks were made in this regard.
Construction Projects
Drainage Element
Mr. Wayne Welch of CH2M Hill explained that in January of
11989 they presented the Utility Element for the
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MAY 29, 1991
Comprehensive Plan. They were now talking about the
Drainage Element for that. Most drainage within the City
and west of 1-95 is provided by private systems. Drainage
is a regional issue that requires cooperation between the
City, the Water Management District, the Lake Worth Drainage
District, the State and County D.O.T.s and others.
Occasionally, nuisance street flooding occurs. There are no
plans for major drainage facilities. There were objections
to the Drainage Element that would require a Master Planning
effort, as required by the D.C.A. and the Water Management
District. The items they would like to highlight are the
quantified current demand on drainage facilities, iden-
tifying existing and projected facility needs, analysis of
drainage impact on adjacent natural resources, problems and
opportunities for facility replacement, expansion and new
facilities. The outcome that the City agreed to with these
agencies was to produce a Master Plan prior to 1991. Mr.
Welch stated the City is in the process of looking for a
consultant to do that.
Mr. Guidry pointed out that all stormwater control and per-
mitting by the regulatory agencies in the past has been to
get it off site as rapidly as possible. Now we are seeing
dry retention coming in. Mr. Guidry thought if we could do
some things relative to our groundwater, such as retaining
water on site during a rain (for as much as three days), we
might see some significant changes in the saltwater intru-
Sion scenario. He thought it was something they should look
at.
Project Status of
East Water Treatment Plant Improvements
The contractor on this project is Elkins Constructors, Inc.
The start date or notice to proceed date was July 9, 1990.
The expected contract completion date is July 9, 1991. The
original contract amount was $2,440,000. Due to change
Orders to date, the revised contract amount is $2,458,385.
The key elements are to increase filter capacity from 2 to 4
gallons per minute, per square foot, eliminate hydraulic
restrictions, new chlorine feed/storage facilities, improve-
ments to lime dust collection system and new storage,
Workshop, and training facilities.
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR)
The contractor has not yet been selected. The approximate
~tart date is July, 1991. The contract completion date is
ctober, 1991. The amount for the project will be somewhere
etween $550,000 to $650,000. The exact figure will be
determined once a contractor is on board. Key elements of
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MAY 29, 1991
this project are that we expect DER comments by May 30,
1991. The ASR is expected to shave 2-3 MGD of seasonal
demands. Mr. Welch explained ASR is nothing more than
injecting treated water between two confining layers, below
ground, and using it as an underground storage tank. The
water can be drawn out when there is a demand. This will be
located right next to the East Water Treatment Plant.
Concentrated Disposal Well
This will take the concentrate from the membrane process and
inject it down as the way stream from the process. We will
be taking water that has higher salinity and putting it down
below grade in the zone where the water is sea water
quality. This form of disposal is not damaging to the
environment. .This well is currently under construction by
Youngquist Brothers. The start date was March 18, 1991, and
tihe expected completion date is November 13, 1991. The
Contract amount is $2,098,650. The key elements are that it
iis a 3,300 ft. well with a 13 and three eights inch tube.
Iis is cased to 2,700 ft.
Project Status of
West Water Treatment Plant
Mr. Jim McClellan, Resident Construction Manager for this
project explained his firm is currently working on sche-
duling and working to get the permits. One thing that is a
llittle unusual is that they are working to get all the
building permits. This is normally done by the contractor.
Iit looks like they will be able to have the building all
aipproved so when the contractor does come on board, the time
s!pent on permitting will be very little. The schedule for
the DER and building permits was examined. Meetings had
occurred with the agencies along with City staff and CH2M
Hiill to expedite the process. DERM will be involved in the
OPerating Permit at the end of the process.
Mr. McClellan stated one of the things they were concerned
aibout was obtaining the permits prior to bidding. A slide
dlemonstrating the bidding schedule was viewed. If they are
a~le to get the information back to the appropriate agency
by the middle of June, Mr. McClellan stated they will be
able to start advertising for bids by the first of July,
11991. There would be a "30 day street time" for persons to
viiew the plans and then return their bid. Recommendations
w~uld then be made to the City Commission. Hopefully, by
the middle of September, contracts will be in place for the
cionstruction of the Treatment Plant as well as for the
m~mbrane system itself.
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MAY 29, 1991
City Manager Miller thought perhaps only 30 days on the
street for the bids was a little short. He thought it
should be 45 to 60 days for a project of this magnitude.
After some discussion, Mr. McClellan agreed they could add
another 15 days (making it 45 days) in the schedule, without
affecting the actual contract time. There will be a pre-bid
conference. It will cost about $14,000,000 for the entire
job.
Raw Water Piping
Mr. McClellan stated his job also includes raw water main
construction. The notice to proceed was given on April 26,
1991, to the contractor. The contractor's submittal for
piping, equipment and materials is currently under review.
Underground Industries is the contractor on this project.
It looks like work will actually start in the first half of
June, 1991.
Mr. McClellan remarked we are looking at mid-September for
the start of the other contracts. With the membrane proof
testing, the contract will be from the middle of September
through the end of the year. The injection well site work
should be finished by December. The surge tank system
should be finished in February, 1992. The membrane building
Construction will be finished around September, 1992. The
membrane installation will be completed near the end of
1992. All final construction on all of the other site
buildings should be finished near February, 1993.
Funding - Cost of Service Analysis - Five Year Rate
Mr. Guidry stated this was adequately covered in the hand-
out, Utilities Memorandum No. 91-193, with its attached
charts showing the breakout of funding requirements. He
explained the City is pretty much locked into a $30,000,000
bond that should be spent in three years. He stated the
only "curve" that had been thrown relative to general re-
serves, was unplanned 1992 expenses for the elevated storage
tiank replacement and unplanned expenses for the wastewater
rieuse project. Those are two figures that are not part of
t~he reserve funding and they are not part of the bond issue.
By the time we got to bonding requirements in 1990, Mr.
Guidry stated we knew we had a very large capital improve-
ment project put together. Mr. Guidry and Grady Swann,
Fiinance Director, had some concerns about the rate. Mr.
~uidry explained that any time you look at a very large
clapital improvement project like this, you are looking at
tlremendously high rate adjustments. They were convinced of
the need to get cost accounting data in. They literally
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MAY 29, 1991
took the data back ten years and projected forward. They
are confident the numbers are good and that the study was
good. Just about every guideline as' far as operational
requirements is pretty much on target.
Vice Mayor Harmening asked if anythihg had been done as far
as the Sterling Village master meter rate study. Mr. Guidry
riesponded they had not done anything as far as their rate
Study other than that they are paying the same rate as
everybody else. That went into effect on October 1, 1990,
by means of the "Rate Ordinance." The Rate Ordinance covers
t~e rate for five years.
Elevated Storage Tank Replacement
Bob Kenyon, Deputy Director of Utilities explained the City
owns two elevated storage tanks. The south tank is a
r~iveted, steel tank which holds 500,000 gallons of water.
Iit was purchased in 1952 in used condition. This tank
lleaks. The last time it was painted (four years ago), it
cost $140,000. The City has attempted to fix the leaks
three times and each time, within a month, it leaks again.
The roof of the tank also has problems. It has been recom-
mended by the tank inspector that the bolts that hold the
rDof in place be replaced, as the bolts are rusting.
Because of the lattice work on the legs of this tank, there
is a lot more surface area that needs attention. There is
hugh maintenance cost attached to this tank.
Slides were viewed of the City's second tank (500,000
gallons) which was purchased used in 1958. This is a welded
seam tank instead of a riveted tank. Remarks were made
about maintenance costs on this tank which are less than
those for the south tank. Mr. Kenyon felt this tank had
also gone beyond a reasonable life expectancy.
The recommendation was to construct a new concrete tank
which would require minimal maintenance. The size and
height needs to be determined by sound economic engineering.
It should probably hold at least 1.4 million gallons and be
about 165 ft. high. It will probably cost about 1.5 million
dollars. After construction, both of the existing tanks
could be taken down.
Mr. Kenyon explained another problem. The second tank is
14' lower than the south tank. It was fine when the City
was doing 5 MGD but now we are averaging about 12 MGD with
peaks higher than that. The second tank is useless until
the south tank is one-third empty. Most of the time the
second tank sits idling.
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MAY 29, 1991
Remarks were made about Bell South Mobility putting some
communication equipment on top of the south tank with the
understanding that this is a temporary situation as the tank
will be coming down.
Mayor Weiner thought the presentation was very informative.
She stated the Commission wants to be kept apprised of
whether we are moving ahead on schedule and within budget.
At this stage, Mr. Guidry responded affirmatively on both
points. He stated we are currently, in the tenuous per-
mitting stage. He pointed out that with regulatory per-
mitting,, once we respond to their questions, they have
90 days to either issue or deny the permit, and Mr. Guidry
didn't think they have a basis for denial.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting properly
adjourned at 6:50 P.M.
CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH
ATTEST:
~;ice Mayor
C i tfCl e rk
Deputy Clerk
(Two Tapes)
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