Good afternoon. I'll call the meeting of the Board of Public Utilities for the City of Santa Rosa to order if we may have a roll call, please Yes, chair Galvin chairman Galvin here vice chair Noni here board member Banford here board member Bannister Board member Grable here board member Watts here board member right here Any statements of abstention by board members? Okay, we have no study session the minutes are being held over to our fall meeting Before we get to the staff briefing I see there's quite a few members of the public here if you intend to speak on an item Please fill out a card up above and bring it down to Gina so that she knows and so that we can make sure everybody has time to Have their say okay So we'll move to item 5.1, which is our first staff briefing Director Thank you. So item 5.1 is going to be a staff briefing on our fix a leak week activities and the upcoming st. Patrick's Day 5k Claire Nordley our sustainability coordinator and christie buffo our marketing and outreach coordinator with our recreation department speaking Welcome ladies board members. I'm christie buffo. I'm the marketing. Thank you Hello board members. I'm christie buffo. I'm the marketing and outreach coordinator representing the recreation center Rosa recreation in parks and As mentioned we're here to talk about fix a leak week and the st. Patrick's Day 5k We are now in our ninth year of the st. Patrick's Day 5k and this year it's scheduled for march 15th in courthouse square our sort of our Tagline is go green for good. That's because this is a fundraiser for the center Rosa recreation and park scholarship fund It benefits the scholarship fund which provides swim lessons and summer camp experiences It is a chip timed run walk, but it is for everyone in the family so Everyone from babies and strollers to very elite runners who are very competitive do participate in this race Following the race we have a post race festival And the water department is one of our long-time ardent supporters and sponsors And we have over the course of the past nine years Raised over a hundred thousand dollars for the scholarship fund Again providing swim lessons summer camp experiences senior memberships to our senior centers and other Wonderful benefits Good afternoon. I'm claire nordley sustainability coordinator And as you can see in this lovely picture a couple of our staff We have a booth every year at the st. Patrick's Day 5k run and there are happy watery sufficiency staff up there kicking off fix a leak week So for our fix a leak week activities, we do have an article in the city connections newsletter We're blasting it out on our website. We've got social media posts every day There will be a bill insert as well describing both our relationship with the st. Patrick's Day 5k run As well as describing to customers how they can find and fix leaks at their house And then of course, we're kicking off fix a leak week which runs from march 16th through the 22nd We'll be kicking that off at the st. Patrick's Day 5k run So, uh, lastly, please join us. Uh, the race is sunday the 15th starting at 11 in courthouse square And water use efficiency will be there with the booth Thank you Thank you. Any board member questions or comments? Thanks for the presentation. Good luck with the event. I hope you get lots of runners out there Thank you Item 5.2 is a water supply and recycled water supply update Dr. Burke Item 5.2 will have calling close our senior water resources planner Provide the water supply update and joe schwell our deputy director of regional operations Providing the recycle water update Good afternoon chairman galvin members of the board I'm calling close senior water resources planner and as you know, there's been a very dry february. So i'm sure you may have Some sense of concern, but I have some good news for you about our water supply Uh, looking at lake mendicino It's currently at 111 of storage and that serves that upper lake community And this really reflects again that, uh, forecast informed reservoir operations the benefit of being able to have permission to Store some water in that flood plain of the flood pool of that water supply lake The average releases are about 150 cubic feet per second And lake pillsbury is at about 80 percent of storage And lake van arsdale's got about a 209 acre feet What I want to do is zoom in on this flood pool and simplify the graph a little bit. I got permission to use This graphic that the sonoma water agency used in An article that they recently published in aqua the association of california water agencies printed newsletter And here's where you can really see the advantage of that forecast informed reservoir operations You can see that that about 11600 acre feet of water over and above what they would normally be able to store So that's a really significant in going into This upcoming water year for that upper lake community or upper river community so So this is really good news for them and Looking at lake sonoma You can see that we are currently at about 91 percent Of storage So there's over almost 225,000 acre feet of storage right now The releases are about 90 95 cubic feet per second And again, as you know, it's been an unusually dry February and this has been true throughout california but again the good news is the Storage in the lakes that are pertinent to our water supplier in very good condition Sonoma water has inflated its rubber dam. You may have seen the press release about that It's usually inflated in spring or early summer But because of the lack of measurable rainfall in february, they took the precaution of going ahead and inflating that dam And there is of course fish fish passage available to make sure that The fish are able to use those fish ladders and continue to migrate We thought you might also be interested just to see our current rainfall conditions in a little bit of context So i'm going to start with the first part of the rainy season just october through december When we were having rains and you can see that october through december earlier in this water year We received eight inches or about 76 percent of the 30 year average for This portion of the water year this early part of the water year So things were starting out quite well and then when we Integrate january and february. So we go from october through february You can see that we've had 10 inches or about 46 percent Of our 30 year average in terms of rainfall Typically Any given year there's about a 50 50 chance of course that we will be at our average the last 15 years We were below average out of i'm sorry out of 30 years there were 15 where we were below average this time of year In 2017 at this time of year We've received 51 percent of our rainfall and then we went ahead and received another eight or nine inches of rain And back in the winter of 90 91 We were only at 35 percent of rainfall at this time of year and we received another 20 inches of rain So the jury's still out. We just don't know quite yet what the rest of this water year season will bring for us So we have good Water supply levels in our lakes. We have a tremendously successful water conservation and water use efficiency program And and we'll be out there in our community as you know with fix a leak week And then in may with our water awareness month And as there's no way to know at this point what exactly will be happening for us By the end of this wet season We still will be implementing all of our normal programs offering all of our rebates and incentives All of our support our water efficiency checkups We definitely have our same three messages as always. We're encouraging our customers to use water wisely Check and fix leaks and to make sure that they use efficient appliances and fixtures whenever possible So folks are concerned and they want to contribute and help out make sure they're using water water wisely in their homes They can contact us either online through our water smart page at srcity.org Slash water smart or they can call the hotline at<PHONE_NUMBER> But again at this point our water supplies are looking healthy And i'm happy to take any questions that you might have or we can move directly into the recycled water update if you prefer Any questions for mr. Close? Okay, we'll move forward then Thank you. And so with regard to recycled water storage um as you're Well aware and remember we started off with a real high storage in because of the impact of the fires in november and december but since the calpine A geysers project was able to start taking our water again in december And the lack of appreciable rain our storage has been really quite flat in the past One month because of no rain at all in february the our average flow into the plant and into Our system is actually average less than the Flow to the geysers like alpine steam fields And so that shows that that's that That down tick that we're showing in most of february um and as you can also see that we've Crossed over at the first of march. We're crossing into the We've crossed the average mine for our past historical Storages storage at this point in time so we're really Kind of back where we expect to be except for the fact of course that There's really no appreciable rain on the horizon and if We were to get rain it would really take because it's been so long and the soil is so dry it would take A really good one or two storms before the soil is saturated enough that we would really expect to see an impact at the plant so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that for the next several days It's not going to rain much and so our storage is going to continue to tick down They are predicting some rain later in this in later in the weather hoping for rain later in the in the month So if we used our average march flows Beginning sometimes they call it the 10th of march If we started getting normal rain at that point then we could expect our stories to creep up again but You know again Time will tell What is interesting is that we are going to have to start strategizing our storage Um processes to Meet both our needs for agricultural irrigation Our commitment to calpine and also our storage constraints that we're going to Be facing come july 1st because on july 1st is when we have we will be turning over the delta pond to a contractor for levy repair so that's so that's On the graph the upper operational limit, which is flat lining at about 1400 Million gallons and tilled by first and it drops to roughly 800 million gallons That's shows the impact of taking delta pond offline and so we will Operationally will need to be below that line by july 1st And with that i'll entertain any questions you may have Thank you any questions for deputy director schwall Thanks for the reports. Thank you. We have one item on the consent calendar item 6.1 regarding the decommission contract for Tank r9c I'll move approval to the consent calendar Again Motion by vice chair Arnone seconded by board member baden fort to approve item 6.1 on favor say aye Aye any opposed Passes unanimously. Thank you Item 7.1 is the report on the contract approval for the general services agreement for bio solids voice management services deputy director schwall Thank you. So what i'm hoping to do today is um I'll be showing you The reasons behind and the recommend for our recommendation for approval of a general services agreement for our biosolids processing service services And so doing i'll go through the background of our biosolids program The process we went through for a request for proposals the um Regarding those proposals versus our needs for the program And we'll talk about the agreement themselves and ended up with the recommendation So regarding biosolids biosolids as you will remember are the solids that are removed from wastewater During treatment at the lagoon and treatment plant Biosolids can be beneficially reused if they're treated to certain epa standards Uh in the case of uh the lagoon and treatment plant The biosolids that leaves a plant have been anaerobically digested to meet epa standards for class b biosolids And class b biosolids are available or um approved for use uses such as agricultural Fertilization and soil amendments, which is where about 65 of our biosolids is reused But class b biosolids can be further processed To a higher standard Which will can then be reused With fewer restrictions regarding the reuse Class b biosolids has restrictions regarding Public access to where the biosolids are are used setbacks defense lines and and waterways and such Class a biosolids has fewer restrictions and is a considered a much better product Composting As as we currently do it at the lagoon and treatment plant is one of the processes that can produce a class a biosolids So the biosolids program Has five major goals Uh regulatory compliance, of course operational um flexibility Reliable performance Resilience and value to rate payer and those I think are pretty self-explanatory except maybe resilience and in this case I'm speaking of the ability to meet changing conditions in regulatory world the marketplace or technology so Because biosolids come in day after day after day every day and they don't stop We need a a process a program that can be resilient to changes In the world around us our program consists of four Use and reuse options of the the 32,600 wet tons are produced each year of that About 65 as I mentioned before is land applied on agricultural fields where Uh Farmers and can grow fodder crops It's a dry season option only Uh in Sonoma county. We're not allowed to apply biosolids In the wet seasons from november through april Uh Another option that we currently use is composting that's that even though it's more expensive It is our most expensive option. We've used it for 20 years as a wet season alternative to land application 10 of our biosolids can go to a landfill currently It is an all year option though there are currently restrictions on how much we can send there and that Option is being phased out through regular regulations sp1383 specifically And currently about 1% of our production goes to list tech, which is a A facility in Fairfield it is an all year Option for us and we'll speak about that. I'll talk about that a little more later over the course of time we've Continue to analyze our program And we've noted some significant challenges that are facing us Uh specifically regarding the compost and our landfill options Compost as I mentioned before has the highest unit cost. It's about three percent higher Higher than our next most expensive option The facility is over 20 years old and it's showing its age And is in need of about a five million dollar five million dollars in improvements to keep it operational The landfill as I mentioned is closing the biosolids So between these two we have about 11 000 tons a year that We need to find a home for with that we Analyze our options. We are working worked with a biosolids consultant and between you know through a series of analyses of different options We came to the conclusion that there was the potential to save upwards to about 10 million dollars over 20 years By replacing the compost process with a third party biosolids server provider We would save Potentially save in annual o and m costs as well as avoiding The three or five million dollars worth of capital improvements that are currently needed But closing the compost facility, of course has has impassement or staff There are five skilled maintenance workers who are currently I am assigned to the compost facility. We have Looked for other opportunities to use those those employees and we've Determined that we have opportunities for four positions within the department where they can For the workers could be reassigned And with through talks with city staff We're confident that we'd be able to find the fifth assignment by late in the year So with that information we Went in front of the city council bpu liaison subcommittee in august With the recommend they're asking for a recommendation to go out for requests for proposals for Outside biosolids processing services We received that recommendation And then in september came to this board to ask for approval for the To put out the request for proposals and receive that approval in november the rfp was released The rfp itself had a is a general services agreement With a five-year initial term and two three-year options for 11 years total The The term is Really a compromise between the Desire for long-term stability But the also the desire for flexibility in a changing Marketplace the effects of sp13e3 have not yet really been fully felt by the biosolids Marketplace and so Having some off-road off-ramps are we thought was a reasonable Strategy The proposals were received on in december december 19th of last year and two proposals were received in january 6th the Selection panel was convened and the panel Consisted of the chair of the board of public utilities Myself the deputy director of regional operations or biosolids coordinator the deputy director of engineering resources and our water resource water reuse engineer The two proposals the first one We'll talk about as is list tech. List tech is a canadian company with a Fairly new facility and in fairfield at the fairfield Sassoon sewer district treatment plant it is a Indoor process that takes the typically takes class b biosolids Changes the ph adds heat and mixes it in order to produce a class a biosolids the class say biosolids in are in in liquid form and are injected in Land applied on farmland similar to Our class b biosolids except that it's Has more opportunities to be used for all sorts of different crops And all sorts of different conditions the farmlands that is currently primarily Reused on is this long a county The list tech facility can can they also accept biosolids that do not meet the class b classification that's a That's a bonus for flexibility though we've never Not made made class b biosolids Standards it's we've been close and it's always been a concern of mine of what we would do how we would best handle it if we did not The list tech facility is year-round and it's not weather dependent at all. It's all um asphalt and concrete and inside buildings and so Tipping there and and their processing is not bothered by the weather Their proposal was less expensive than our current composting But it was 19 more than the second proposal The second proposal It was is a land application process Very similar to what really exactly what we do with our land application program down in the south county There are those in sacramental county. So it does have different rules One of those rules is that it they they aren't restricted by time of year as we are here So it is a year-round option They they can only use class b biosolids on their land application though they can accept sub class b biosolids and then dispose of it for a fee Though it's a year-round program they do have some wet weather limitations if it's in Severe weather They can't land applied. They do have some storage though. There's a potential for limitations there You know, as I mentioned, it was less expensive than the composting or list tech So the two the two programs are Compared here against our program goals Both the second proposal met regulatory compliance standards for our program Uh, the list tech proposal Scored a little higher for operational flexibility because of the ability to Accept even during very severe weather Um and operational flexibility. They scored higher as well with their ability to ability to take Class b biosolids Or so class b biosolids It's part of their normal operations They scored high for resilience for Two primary primary reasons one of which is that it's a class a product and that is a superior product and it is much less susceptible to regulatory changes Though we don't have regulatory Pressures currently on class b biosolids. We went through that a few years ago And if they were to come up again, it would it would hit class b biosolids first also The list tech facilities in somano county, which is significantly closer than the Sacramento Fields That the second proposal would use so I calculated about 35,000 fewer truck miles Going to list tech versus proposal b And proposal b to score higher in cost So looking at the costs these costs include Hauling as well as tipping fees As we'll talk about a little bit later the list tech Proposal is for tipping fees only Which Was fined by us as part of our request for proposals to split that out But to roll them both together. So we're looking at apples to apples The list tech proposal came in at about 112 112 75 a ton versus 95 dollars a ton for proposal b Which is about a little less than 200 000 a year Difference Then comparing the list tech proposal versus our current Program for composting and landfilling Now this is kind of a check on what we Where we went into it where we thought that we might see a 10 million dollar up to a 10 million dollar Savings over 20 years With the stick is in red and the composting and landfilling is in is in black You can see it in year one Composting has a five million dollar additional Cost then the list tech proposal because of the capital improvements that are required for that And then over a course of 20 years between the capital improvement avoided costs and the Savings and operational costs It would expect the Savings to be a little over 8 or 8.7 million dollars not quite the 10 million dollars, but pretty close So comparing the two proposals both Proposers provide the cost savings that we were looking for compared to our current program But list tech because of providing a class a bio solids and Provides greater benefit and value to our program So the agreement that is before you today is as I mentioned is of has a five year initial term with two three year extension options It is for approximately 11 000 tons per year to be delivered between november and april Though there are optional deliveries For other months that gives us the flexibility to If we can't get into the fields yet in may or for if early rains come in october We still have a place to bring our bio solids The unit cost for tipping fees is 92 75 per ton We did ask for Firm pricing for the first three years through negotiations and so The agreement would be for the second year to have a second and three years each to have a 3.3 percent increase And then the fourth and fifth to be driven by the cpi The the contract amount is not to exceed six million four hundred five thousand dollars seven seven sorry six million four hundred five thousand seven hundred seventy dollars and Hauling would be by a third party our hauling contract. We're very happy with our hauling contractor right now and Having our own hauler For bio solids gives us a lot of flexibility as well So on any given day we can tell the hauler exactly where to take the bio solids We did review the environmental Documents associated with this project the Fairfield Sassoon sewer district in 2015 adopted their initial study and mitigated negative decoration And upon review, we determined that This this contract fits within that project We are within the 100 mile radius of the study and the List of our additional capacities keeps them within their operational Capacity that was in the study Last week we brought this before the city council board of public utilities liaison subcommittee and Review the general services agreement and the committee did unanimously unanimously recommend approval of this proposed general service agreement and with that I would like to Make the recommendation that it is recommended by the water and finance departments that the board by resolution approve a five-year With two three-year renewal options general services agreement with listech international limited To provide biosolids management services as required by the water department for the total not to exceed Six million four hundred five thousand seven hundred and seventy dollars With that I will answer any questions you have Thank you board questions Is whatever right Just a simple question Does this eliminate the need to store biosolids Around the plant? Will they just take it out of the hopper and get rid of it immediately? Or does it have to be moved twice the way it is now? No as They'll be able to take it directly from the hopper We we will continue to store at the alpha barn for our land application program But uh, well what listech will take uh from us will be directly from the plant Thank you for mayor badford Thank you very much. Um, just hopefully an easy quick one. How long have we been? Sending the 1% of our biosolids to listech I'm sorry. How long have we been For how long have we been sending our the 1% to listech? Uh, we started in 2016. Okay And I appreciate the um the way that you've staggered the frequency Of the potential for the additional contracts I know it's not um It's not easy to predict but as much as you can if this ends up being a successful relationship over the The 11 years is is listech an option kind of even further out into the future Oh, yes. Yeah, they're they're um a large company and They should be going for years great. Thank you Any other board member questions vice chair arnone? So Since we've been working with listech for some time and with the 1% we've had good experiences Is there anything fundamentally different about what listech is going to do with this greater volume? Or are we merely increasing the volume of having them do the same thing? That's my understanding. Uh, they'll be uh, um They have contracts with farm farmers and farmlands They are you know finding more customers. They have plenty of customers for what we'll be providing them But right They'll be producing the same product and on different lands Thank you All right, I have uh two speaker cards a reminder if you want to speak on an item Please fill out a card and bring it down to jena There's microphones up top and then there's one in the front row Uh down below here but right behind deputy director schwaugh. So the first card I have is for wendy kruppnick I'm sorry Okay Dwayne duit Hello, my name is dwayne duit. I'm from roseland in santa rosa now I was hoping that perhaps you could just do this for three years And during that time look for the possibility of doing something more locally so we could take trucks off of the roads the city recently declared a climate emergency And essentially if we're going to be having a climate emergency We should be perhaps looking to make different measures Starting as soon as possible on some of these types of activities It may seem like a little bit But every little bit helps. I've been told in an emergency. Thank you I have no other speaker cards for item 7.1 Seeing no one else rise, uh, we have a resolution before us On monkeying. Go ahead. I move to adopt second Motion by board member right seconded by board member grable to approve item 7.1 all in favor say, hi. Hi Any opposed? Carries unanimously. Thank you Thank you, deputy director schwall Item 7.2 is a report item on the approval to negotiate the reuse of the city's biosolids composting facility Director Burke. Yes. Thank you. So we have uh, emma walton our deputy director of engineering resources Who'll be giving the presentation? Good afternoon chair galvin members of the board. I am emma walton deputy director of engineering resources for the water department here today seeking approval, uh for the potential site location For the reuse of our biosolids composting facility for the purpose of locating a potential regional organics processing facility Start off with a little history on in county organics processing in 1992 zero waste sonoma, which is formerly the sonoma county waste management agency formed Uh, they're a joint powers authority For the unincorporated areas and the nine cities and towns in sonoma county And they have a mission of waste aversion a cornerstone of which is composting Shortly after their formation in 1993 they began operating an in county municipal composting facility out on mechum road in december of 2011 Zero waste sonoma released a draft environmental impact report To attempt to locate a new compost facility in county in an april of 2013 That environmental impact report was finalized Unfortunately through that process zero waste sonoma was unable to find a new location for a composting facility and in october of 2015 The in county processing facility was forced to close due to stormwater issues Since the closure in 2015 Organic material has been being hauled out of the county And zero waste sonoma and its member agencies have a very strong interest in supporting the development of a project to return That organic material Back to the county to be processed and beneficially reused in county Um This effort would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It would aid in Meeting the state's objective of diverting 75 percent of organics from the landfill by 2025 Um, it provides needed services in sonoma county that have been uh lacking since the closure of our compost facility in 2015 And provide our community community with locally produced high quality organic soil amendments Kind of walking through a timeline of How we got here today and how renewable sonoma was selected as the developer preferred developer and operator of this potential facility After the closure of the niche and road facility zero waste sonoma Rather than continuing efforts on their own to locate a facility they reached out to the private industry And solicited interest from third parties who would be uh wanting to site develop permit design builds operate a county facility Um in exchange for the commitment of the material that is produced in the county So they released an rfp in may of 2017 Soliciting interested interest from third parties in their rfp city of santa rosa included or issued a letter Offering up a potential site location to any of the proposers Who would be interested in proposing on zero waste sonomas? rfp The letter included a number of potential synergistic benefits including The use of digester gas if the proposed facility were to have anaerobic digestion The exchange of green material If they were interested in providing green material for our composting facility If they were interested in potentially taking our biosolids and biosol composting or processing our biosolids The exchange of recycled water and use of recycled water Just a number of benefits that were just put on the table as options for proposers to consider when formulating their responses We received a lot of interest from that letter and many Potential proposers Reached out to us and we realized that we needed to have our own proposal process to pre qualify Who would who we would be willing to lease land? for the potential site so in july of 2017 we released an rfp Soliciting proposals from parties interested in citing their facility on our acreage adjacent to the treatment plan We received 10 proposals and went through a selection and interview process And narrowed those 10 proposals down to four Contractors who we would be willing to work with in the event that they were selected by zero-way Sonoma those four proposers in addition to eight others then submitted proposals to zero-way Sonoma in January of 2018 um They ultimately received 12 proposals which they reviewed and went through their own selection process And ultimately selected renewable Sonoma as the preferred vendor to provide in county composting and Arabic digestion services for green material Their board in august of 2018 Authorized an exclusive negotiation agreement with renewable Sonoma So a little bit about the proposal They are proposing an enclosed receiving facility to accept residential commercial Food material and organic material as well as wood scraps and other self haul yard debris Their composting technology is a covered reverse air rating static pile composting In addition to composting they are proposing anaerobic digestion to process food scraps Some of the key features of the proposed facility as outlined in their proposal They are anticipating a negative pressure receiving facility in order to maximize the amount of Emissions that get captured from the transfer process The covered reverse aerated static pile composting is a process by which air is forced through the piles and also pulled through the piles which will be placed pushed through bio filters for emissions treatment The anaerobic digestion process will produce biogas that will provide A resource for renewable energy for their process to utilize They are anticipating or planning to have a zero discharge facility. So any storm water runoff or process water generated by the development would be Treated at the luguna treatment plant and not allowed to run off They are also looking at photovoltaic systems to offset their energy needs and looking at the potential for electric equipment where possible So as identified in their proposal, they did Identify the acreage west of the treatment plant as their preferred location This is the location of the city's existing biosolids composting facility The acreage that they are proposing is not only to the west which encompasses our facility, but also a portion of the acreage to the north As an alternative to that site Because we do operate a biosolids composting facility there currently An alternative location to the north of the plant was proposed as well We ultimately um after a zero waste sonoma entered into an exclusive negotiation agreement with renewable sonoma this city also entered into an exclusive negotiation agreement with renewable sonoma and As outlined in that negotiation agreement, we agreed to take kind of a two-phased approach to selecting the site on which they We would negotiate the first phase would be to first examine our biosolids management plan and explore opportunities and alternatives to our biosolids compost facility that process Was a lengthy process and Came to you just as the previous item and we were able to identify an acceptable alternative to our biosolids composting facility Since that approval has been granted And agreement has been reached with a third party party processor for our biosolids We would like to then move into Phase two of the project which will first start by Identifying the preferred location over which we will negotiate with renewable sonoma So that just as a reminder to the two options are the greenfield development north of the plant Or the repurposing of our biosolids composting acreage As well as a small portion of the acreage to the north for the potential facility So just kind of a recap of what I Mentioned on the previous slide. We entered into an exclusive Negotiation agreement with renewable sonoma They were interested in use of our biosolids compost facility. So we needed to go through a process to Determine if there were alternatives to that We with the with the recommendation from the city council bpu liaison subcommittee as well as approval from the bpu released an rfp for that process And today You approved the agreement for a third party to process our biosolids The next thing we would like you to consider is the site location for the organics processing facility We did take this item to the city council bpu liaison subcommittee whom we've been working with over the last year about And having conversations regarding this process We did go to them last week for a recommendation on this item And we did receive unanimous recommendation to bring this to the full board for consideration So that brings us to today where we are seeking approval to negotiate on the reuse of our biosolids composting facility For the purpose of locating an organics processing facility If we are to receive approval today Zero waste sonoma will then work in concert with renewable sonoma to develop pre-development agreement Zero waste sonoma will take that pre-development agreement to their board for consideration And after that occurs we would be taking a pre-development agreement with renewable sonoma to Ultimately to our city council After first working with the city council bpu liaison subcommittee then this board and ultimately to the council for final approval To put it in context, there's an aerial view of the preferred location You can see in the foreground our existing composting facility and in the background the laguna treatment plant Some of the benefits of the preferred location are that it is an existing permitted composting site, which has existing storm water and Water infrastructure that could be utilized by the new development Because it's an existing site. There's less environmental impact in addition A lot of the acreage around the plant is California tiger salamander habitat and utilizing prepaved pre-developed land reduces the mitigation that would be required for greenfield development This location is also further from our neighbors We have had a lot of community concerns Brought up over the last year as we've been going through this process One of the things we're hearing is reference to the 2013 environmental impact report that zero waste sonoma completed A number of years ago in attempt to locate a new facility That document does identify impacts The impacts associated with those that previous EIR will be different from this project It was a different site location different design Different technology This process this development will require a new sequad document So any potential mitigation or potential impacts will need to be identified and addressed through that process We've also heard concerns about flooding the area does receive sporadic flooding as does the treatment plant The site itself does not flood but the access to the site does Temporarily impact the access To to the site so that will need to be addressed Stormwater runoff as I mentioned earlier. It is a proposed zero discharge facility Groundwater contamination the plan is to operate on impervious surface. So there will would not be Infiltration in potential groundwater contamination airborne emissions and odors as I mentioned earlier The proposed facility would have a negative pressure building that would draw in Emissions and treat it in a bio filter. Similarly the composting technology itself Has the potential to draw in emissions and mitigates through a bio filter Traffic zero waste sonoma and renewable sonoma are committed to looking at opportunities to minimize traffic impacts in the area noise we would have As a requirement constrained hours of operation For greenhouse gases the proposed facility is a net carbon reduction facility For lighting we would look for opportunities to minimize lighting impacts and Finally public engagement It's also as are all of these concerns A requirement of sequa In addition to the requirements in sequa We are looking for opportunities to reach out to our neighbors Make sure they're informed and get involved in the process In in support of that effort we have developed an informational brochure that we plan to Continually update to provide the most recent information We've developed informational websites that can be found at zero waste sonomas website our website as well as renewable sonomas website We've sent letters to all of our neighbors in the area So make sure that they're aware of the project You can sign up for email updates at any one of those websites mentioned above Participation and attendance at public meetings is always welcome And we have started to send out monthly newsletters Our first of which went out about a month ago and we are planning to send another in the coming days So hopefully the board has received that and reviewed That newsletter and there will be more to come We have heard from our neighbors and hear a lot of Similar concerns, so we did develop frequently asked questions which Got included and posted on our website recently So that some of the questions that we Consistently get can be Answers to those can be found there So next steps in the near term summer of this year We will be looking to bring an item to the council for a pre-development agreement We're anticipating that that agreement will clearly outline all of the steps Required for renewable Sonoma to move this this proposed project through the process all of the approvals the permitting requirements So that's our kind of first step and then long term after Approval of a pre-development agreement they would get into conceptual site plans and project descriptions Sequa move through the sequel process and permitting process and then into design construction and commissioning of a facility This has been a very Complicated process with a lot of board and a subcommittee involvement And we will continue to involve our subcommittee and the board in this process to keep You informed We anticipate that the city council bp liaison subcommittee will continue to meet regularly and Provide a recommendation on lease terms lease terms and a project agreement This board will also be asked to provide recommendations on lease terms and project agreements The planning commission will be Involved with respect to land use and sequa documentation But ultimately because this is such a large project And a very a quite large endeavor the city council Will ultimately be the decision on all land use project and sequa documentation and any lease terms That we potentially would reach with renewable Sonoma In addition to The city's involvement in this project and this process zero waste Sonoma is also going through their own process and To help this project come to realization And before I move on to the recommendation and open it up for questions I'd like to invite leslie lucash down Who is the executive director of zero waste Sonoma to talk a little bit about the efforts that zero waste Sonoma has been going through To support this project Great, thank you for the opportunity to be here today and present in front of you I do appreciate the potential collaboration with the bpu and then eventually the city of santa rosa on this project I did want to let you know that zero waste Sonoma did go through a very public process and through issuing that rfp And in that process the renewable Sonoma project received 19 letters of support And when our board was making this decision, we had eight letters of support For bringing compost composting back into Sonoma county as well as 42 letters of support from the community for the renewable Sonoma project So we had a lot of support going into this So why is this important? You know right now we're outhauling all of our organic matter at a cost to a half a million dollars a year to our residents and we're outhauling to mendicino county to Marin county and all the way down to richmond And so that's a lot of ghg production in the trucks going in and out of our county Not only that um, there's a high demand for organic or for organic compost. You know, we are in ag county um, the When we used to have a compost facility Um, our compost facility would run out of compost every spring There's more demand for compost than there is actually that we were that Sonoma county was producing at the time So now all that compost is being trucked back in from all different areas back into our county So we really do need to be self-reliant and produce and manage this resource In addition the state passed um sp1383 which requires every single city in the state of california to Reduce the organic matter going to the landfill by 75 percent by the year 2025 So that means all counties are going to be uh facing Capacity with compost facilities of their own. So if we don't have our own compost facility We're going to be relying on on, you know, uh, other Counties that need compost facilities and they'll want that capacity further for themselves So we you know california has very strict environmental policy Which was outlined by emma through sequa, you know anything that uh, you know It's premature right now to talk about those impacts because we need to go through the eir process And those will be addressed through that process Last week. I was able to meet with six of the neighbors And hear their questions gather their feedback and concerns Um, you know, uh, we we address those concerns and we hope and look forward to continuing the dialogue with them Um, I did offer that we could go all do a field trip together and take a tour of a compost facility Napa has a it's not the same, but it has a similar facility So I will be scheduling that with the neighbors so that they can actually go and look at a compost facility and look at On the type of technology that we are talking about so I can remain here and and address any questions you may have Thanks, thank you. So that brings us to our recommendation Which is that the board of public utilities approved negotiations with renewable sonoma on the lease of land near the treatment plant A portion of which is currently occupied by the city's pile saws composting facility for the purpose of potentially relocating of For the potentially locating a regional organics processing facility and we would love to take any questions Thank you both board member questions or comments As was mentioned, this did come before the city council and bpu lays on committee last week And three of us were there for the city for the bpu and we all voted unanimously to approve this this recommendation Board member watts Thank you. I had a quick question just trying to connect this earlier item that we had Right before this to this when we're talking about the location selection process and Determining alternate locations for our biosolids. Is that what's led to the? Um realization that our current facility needed that five million dollars in improvements or did we already know that prior to that process We have been well aware and we've been budgeting for and anticipating having to Make major capital investments in that facility It's our biosolids program is something that we continually reevaluate It happens to coincide with a good time to because that facility is Over 20 years old and it's nearing the end of its useful life and requiring substantial capital investment The timing happens to coincide Thank you Any other board member right just one clarification these negotiations Therefore the preferred location Yes, that's the rec. That's what we're requesting and the the recommendation that we're making today is To negotiate with renewable sonoma Regarding the preferred location. Thank you Okay, I have several speaker cards again. There's a microphone down below and two up above You have three minutes First speaker card is wendy kruppnick I'm sorry. My name is michael murphy wendy is giving me her time to uh Because I have to be in sabbasta pull it three o'clock I'm trading not giving I appreciate that. Okay, mr. Murphy. Go ahead. I'm the founder of the sonoma county horse council I represent 27,000 equines in sonoma county Defocating a cubic foot every day We haven't had a composting facility in sonoma county since meachem road closed We need this we need it now. I did a I did a best management practices I'm an equine environmental management consultant meaning i'm northern california's horseshit expert And I want to I want to express to you I did a survey of 50 facilities in marin county and in marin county. They were spending 150,000 a year hauling their manure away Now little frankie dairy has a composting What's it West marin compost And they're putting at all to valuable use and and and marin has nowhere near as many horses as we have So please recommend this facility. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Murphy now. We'll move to uh wendy kruppnick And by the way, please make sure to identify any groups or organizations that you're representing Thank you very much and thanks for your flexibility here My name is wendy kruppnick and I represent community alliance with family farmers the Sonoma county chapter and we did submit a letter which I hope that you received about a week ago Regarding this issue, which is of great concern. We participated quite extensively In the public process that was outlined by staff a little while ago about the regarding the selection of both the company And this site and we really believe in respecting that public process that happened That that led to the determination of both this company and this site So in addition to some of the points that we made in our letter Which have to do with um as michael said the need for the horse people and the horses to have a composting facility The need for our farmers in this region um Compost is a really critical ingredient in building soil health and adding to the fertility of the soil And also the county as well as the city have declared a climate emergency Adding compost to the soil stimulates microbial life so that it takes that carbon Dioxide out of the air and turns it into Humus and healthier soil so it helps to mitigate this climate crisis In addition it adds to the water holding capacity of the soil and since we seem to be alternating flood and drought This is really critical for um for not just the farmers, but our entire region But you know back to this democratic process. I'm really concerned That um, there's many threats to our democracy and this is a local one if a small group of neighbors are um Allowed to undermine an extensive democratic process That's really not good for our democracy democracy and our faith and our public participation in these processes so um I think that it's no matter what happens what kind of facilities and what kind of developments Somebody's going to be impacted somewhere And I do think we need to Respect the process that I really am grateful that you're going through here And move forward as quickly as possible in uh with this company and with this preferred site for our compost facility. Thank you Thank you. Ms. Krupnick joey smith Hello, my name is joey smith. Can you hear me? Okay? um local farmer in the area And i'm here wearing this i support renewables Sonoma sticker because I do um It's amazing to me that it's been almost five years since our uh local Compost facility shut down I'm here to speak for my farm. Let's go farm. I'm also an adjunct Instructor at centers of junior college where I teach classes on ecology and sustainable agriculture And a few my friends who are farming right now and they can't make it Uh At pedaluma bounty at blue leg farm At red age farm in sabastopol Farm to fight hunger up in healdsburg strong arm farm And there's more. Um, we are hungry for locally produced high quality accountable to the community compost and I wanted to speak for my farmer friends and also, um Similarly as a citizen to me it makes no Uh We need it now because it makes no sense to send our carbon out of the county Uh That's treating it like trash and it's actually as previous speakers have said an amazing resource especially For putting carbon back in the soil Um Also, I just want to say I've worked alongside uh will backs at the junior college We sit on the sustainable ag advisory committee board and I've watched him teach passionately about the about soil science and the incredible importance of compost to Many many students out at the junior college his class is very popular there. Um, I've watched him support a On a smaller scale at shown farm a static Aerial I wrote it down An aerated static pile As he's being proposed there I know that he cares about producing a high quality product and doing it in a Low carbon way in this case, uh zero carbon neutral way Thank you for your time and for listening to the farmers of the county many of whom can't be here Many of whom share my thoughts All right, recommend you go for it soon Thank you. Mr. Smith Bob rossin Good afternoon. Honorable council members Um, uh, rossin. Um, I live about a mile from the proposed site I'm by vice president of california river watch and the president of international organic solutions corporation. I have no, uh economic interest With the applicant From the standpoint of river watch, we're interested in reducing transportation induced greenhouse gas And uh, this project, uh appears to be something that would support that idea and just from the standpoint of the us Having about 35 years of productive soils left to produce our food and our fibers We need compost to build carbon into our soil and and enhance the mycelium and which is the fungi in the soil Make it productive And we don't need it in our air So, uh, this is opportunity to accomplish two things with one One, uh stroke. Uh, I hope you'll support the project. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Rossin Brita Baskerville Hi, um, I my name is Brita Baskerville I work with the uc cooperative extension though. I am on maternity leave. So officially I am not here representing them Um, I am a resident of Sonoma county. I live in sabastopol and I am a compost nerd And I've been working with farmers in this area and up in mendicino county For the last year as a technical assistance provider for the cdfa's healthy soils program I Through that program. I know that there's hundreds of thousands of dollars being granted to farmers in this area That are then being spent at composting facilities out of county The compost application Management practice is the number one practice that is being applied for for this program So there are a lot of people who are interested who are being granted money In this county that are then spending it out of county And it doesn't really make any sense for farmers to be Paying to ship their organic matter out of county to then have it return to their soils And it negates a lot of the environmental Benefits of putting compost on their soil when that fossil fuel is being burned to transport it So I just wanted to say that I am very much in support of a composting facility here in county and I hope that you I hope that you approve this Thank you, miss bascarville katie bombgrass Hope I pronounced that right Hello, I'm katie bombgrass and I just I brought in a list of people that couldn't be here from the sonoma climate action group And neighbors in support of the composting facility renewal sonoma. Thank you Thank you Greg eiker Good afternoon. I'm greg eiker I want to acknowledge The numerous persons who attended last week's liaison committee meeting And and as well as those today who are speaking in favor of composting It should be noted that many of the speakers Last week That were asked to voice support for the project once informed express dismay And even anger When pointing out that In the words of one of those speakers The neighbors are getting screwed quote end quote So I'd like to thank those folks for adding their voices to our concerns To others that have been asked to attend today to voice support I would ask That you also consider the fact that by locating this project in the midst of so many homes and so many residents People will be hurt They will be hurt physically psychologically and financially I also appreciate and identify the voicing of concerns related to climate change In our need to act our need to act to stop this disaster But you cannot claim to commit yourself to protection of the environment Without embracing the fundamental concept of environmental justice Which demands equal distribution of environmental burdens You cannot have the former at the expense of the latter Our community believes in the importance of composting as much as anybody in this room We would like to support a composting program But we have been deprived of the opportunity Instead the health and well-being of our community is threatened And what is unconscionable Is that the county has options Where this industrial operation could be located In industrial areas Or in remote areas without surrounding homes and schools But they continue to ignore them A yes vote by the board today Sends a message to our local community You are expendable Or as the speaker said You are getting screwed I want to reiterate this is not nimbyism This is neobiism Not in anybody's backyard I wouldn't wish this operation in anyone's neighborhood For the same reason I won't allow it to occur in mine Thank you Thank you, mr. Eicher Dwayne DeWitt Hello, I'm Dwayne DeWitt. I'm from Roseland Which is now in the city of Santa Rosa I've never met the gentleman that just spoke but I could sympathize with him because my neighborhood of roseland has been getting screwed for decades I definitely wanted to come here and ask just a couple of questions with not weighing in on either side The main questions were we had flooding in the past Out at this facility It's been stated that they're looking into how to avoid Problems with flooding I would think you need to have that assured before you go forward on a full-scale Capital improvement programs such as this I'm all for composting. I'm all for good environmental planning and the gentleman brought something up That's never heard here before probably that's environmental justice It's rarely addressed by any Santa Rosa city office or agency or border commission anything along those lines Although the state has now put in To its guidelines that for general plans and cities you have to deal with environmental justice So that's a very difficult conundrum. You're going to be facing in the future Frequently from my previous appearances I've realized that my words fall on deaf ears And I never really have any influence on any of the discussions that occur But I would like to at least say if you're going to go forward with this that you at least Repurpose the facility acreage that's already been used in the past So you can lower the costs to the taxpayers and the ratepayers And the benefits as mentioned here stated that This would have The existing water and storm water infrastructure and also less environmental impact Farther from the neighbors. I don't know. I used to go out that area a lot, but I haven't been there recently The gentleman that just spoke said hey Some neighbors feel they're getting screwed I don't think that's a good way for things to go forward, but That's not anything I can stop so From me to you sir who've never met me my apologies to you for what happens in the name of the community Last night there was a meeting over in uh, the right school district And it was near rosalind where i'm from And they pretty much just told us hey, it's our way or the highway So let's all get used to traveling on the same highway. Thank you kindly Thank you. Mr. Dewitt will box Good afternoon. My name is will box with renewable sonoma First I like to thank everyone that came out here both People that are expressing concerns as well as those for support This is in the middle of the day and it's really a hardship for people to come out in the middle of the day So I really appreciate that For those that are here in support not everyone's going to speak because they we want a safety time I'm going to ask if everyone could stand up or raise their hands who are here in support for renewable sonoma Thank you. I appreciate that and thank you for coming out during the day Depending on what happens here today We look forward in moving forward to develop a Pre-development agreement and after that a sika at which point really a more In-depth process will develop to work with the neighbors here their concerns if they'll be listening now already and that's why I'm Pleased that they are here But that we can more in-depth address those issues and we're looking forward to the process. Thank you Thank you. Mr. Box. Todd Sutton Good afternoon. Todd Sutton Santa Rosa resident also owner of a company called waste luth and associates as a sustainability consulting Company. I've been in the business for almost 30 years I started in my environmental career teaching home composting. I still teach that It's one of my favorite things to do Organics has been and continues to be a very important Issue to address I'm here to ask you to approve the siting of the new organics material processing facility on the west side of the lagoona waste treatment plant The former president of the american institute of architects carl alfante has an interesting quote He says quote the greenest building is one that already is built or or exists I will extrapolate upon that idea and say the greenest property is one that has already been built upon Reusing the soon-to-be vacant biosolids composting property is an excellent idea Many communities struggle with siting recycling composting operations within their community We here in san rosa and sonoma county are fortunate to have a location At the ready that is perfectly suited for renewal sonoma to set up their operation Transportation of organics requires a lot of energy and thus produces ghds or greenhouse gases Logically it makes sense to transport organic material the shortest distance possible The city of san rosa and sonoma county has a chance to demonstrate their understanding of sound sustainable practices By making a wise choice on where to site the new organics materials processing operation Please make the right choice. The most environmentally sound option is supporting the siting of this operation to the west side That's my written comment. I'm also A person in this room, and i'm compassionate both in terms of the environment and in terms of people I'm hearing the concerns It's touching and it's an emotional for me to hear that i'm supporting something that's very important for us Environmentally from a global standpoint and from a community standpoint, but i'm not indifferent to the impact of the neighbors in that community Thank you for your time Thank you, mr. Sutton sunny galbraith Thank you Liz Bartolato Uh, good afternoon sunny gave me uh or asked me to convey that she Representing 350 sonoma and she's the chair of zero waste north bay task force Asked for your approval for this continued negotiations with renewable sonoma I'm liz bordolato, and i'm a senator as a resident and a member of an advisory board called the ab 939 local task force For waste diversion I urge you to approve the negotiations with renewable sonoma And their plan to use the existing biosolids facility for this new look for their new location This is a great plan Time is of the essence and as you know to comply with ab 1383 Every california jurisdiction is going to be required to divert their compostable material away from landfill or face finds We need a local compost facility as soon as possible Please approve this plan. Thank you Thank you, mr. Bartolato Joshua beniston Good afternoon, and thanks for the opportunity to speak. I'm dr. Josh beniston I'm a full-time faculty member in the agriculture department at santa rosa junior college And i'm also a consulting soil scientist. I work around the north bay in the region with primarily partners in the wine industry and also the resource conservation districts and I would just echo many of the Things that were shared before by speakers before me in that there is a tremendous Need and desire for compost in the sonoma county agriculture worlds all of them. They all want to compost And and have a need for it And are currently, you know spending funds that they're Generating here and getting from the state to purchase it from elsewhere So what an incredible opportunity that we have an existing facility That can be repurposed to meet this need again and to help us deal with the Climate crisis that the city acknowledges Compost is an essential ingredient for sustainable land management Not an optional one Um And then I just want to also speak to the quality of of renewable sonoma that I think that they are a great business and candidate to support in this process Because it's been my experience that that it's a very community-minded Business i've worked with will backs a lot through santa rosa junior college. He Has donated hundreds of hours of his time to to support our education programs And has leveraged his connections in the industry to get all kinds of materials and tools Donated for our programs He and I are also working on on training programs related to composting as you're hearing there's There's not enough compost being made in california. And so we need more facilities and we also need more people that know how to make Compost in a in a level that in an equality that are appropriate for agriculture So I think there's in addition to You know the the need for farming there's a tremendous opportunity for education and for our community to be a leader in this area that's really needed and so I you know Would love to see the board support this and would love to see this project move forward. Thank you Thank you. Dr. Benison pat mitchell Good afternoon This i'm saddened by uh this last meeting I went to at the board of public utilities subcommittee Although everybody on that subcommittee Is selected by the santa rosa city council Hmm interesting connection, huh? So of course they endorsed it and people got up just like you folks are today Talking about compost and how much you love it and how important it is And the one thing I would like you to go home with today The one idea I would really like you to get Is that the people on walker avenue and launo road who are in this neighborhood who are going to be impacted In a very negative way. I want you to understand That we love compost also We love it. We adore it. It's necessary. It's wonderful And everyone who has gotten up here and Spoken about how much they care about composting has missed the point And the point I would like you all to get today Is that there are alternative locations? It does not have to be where they selected and for the woman who's concerned about democracy This was not a democratic process You're way off base. We were not even informed that this selection was being made. We found out by accident They talk about public involvement and informing the public. We were never informed. That's not democracy folks There are alternatives. It's very very sad For me to hear you all talk about your love of compost And your utter disregard And and and your ignorance Of how this is impacting us and what the alternatives are There's a lot of better alternatives That are available. It's very difficult for these these boards to go backwards now And undo the decisions they've made and rethink this but it can be done This should be on commercial there should be more Than one location for compost. What is this notion of putting it all in this one location? There are going to be at least a hundred and sixteen Trips vehicles going up and down 116 And lauderoad every day at least probably more And uh, you know what has caltrans been informed of the impact? Caltrans might be very interested in the traffic you're putting on 116 Why should we put all that traffic there? We don't have to do that We have alternatives. We should have several compost facilities It's time to wake up Thank you. Ms. Mitchell Carmen Snyder Hi there. I'm Carmen Snyder. I'm the executive director of Sonoma County Farm Trails a membership organization that has almost 200 Farmer members and business partners Businesses being those that support local agriculture In terms of Everything that everyone has said thus far about being in support of this Facility and the operators I'll just ditto your comments rather than repeat them We spoke on behalf of Renewable Sonoma when the process was happening back in August here of 2018 And one of the points that we made that I'll reiterate is that Our local agricultural community relies on compost and they were Really distressed to so many of us were when Sonoma compost Shut down because from backyard gardeners like myself to small farms to large ranches like I know Dutton ranch used to Purchase 2,500 yards of compost annually from Sonoma compost So they really rely on and appreciate High quality affordable compost that is locally Made so I I do want to For us all to to remember what a tremendous resource this is For me personally and it's one of the most hopeful things about agriculture these days What's happening in carbon farming and regenerative agriculture? In terms of carbon sequestration and of course compost is a key ingredient in that On another note I'll say that I'm the manager of the gravenstein apple fair and I have personal experience working With alan and shelly and will at the fair They have helped us. I think become one of the forerunners In events in reducing waste this year diverting 85 percent of the waste from the landfill So I know them to be Experts I know them to be tremendously community-minded generous And kind and people of great integrity so I'm On behalf of myself as a citizen and cinema county farm trails We fully support this project and location And urge you to move it forward quickly to bring compost local compost back to our county. Thank you Thank you. Ms. Snyder Matt Winecough, I hope if I pronounce that right. I apologize if I didn't Matt wincoupe Thank you. I'm here representing myself as a resident and originally I'm from sabastopol I'm also director sales at world centric world centric supports a compost site in Sonoma county I'm here to make more comments on behalf of myself today I have a few key points I'd like to mention that I think are really important for consideration. The first is that currently Maybe somebody from zero waste can check me The county is outhauling in excess of 80 000 tons a year To support the green waste program That recology is mostly outhauling and that's happening because there is no compost facility in the county I believe it was last year, but it may have been 2018 the waste agency Had approved an expansion of the great the green waste service in the county Which at the time was needed to increase the amount of of hauling to You know accommodate all of the the need for green waste hauling What that tells me is that more people in the community had been using the green waste service Meaning there was greater need and that the longer we go without a compost site in the county The more That outhauling is going to increase it's going to go beyond 80 000 tons a year It's going to go quite a lot quite quite a lot beyond that I can tell you that I live in rural sebasta pool just outside the city limits Last week my neighborhood our green waste bins were not picked up by recology And that tells me that more and more people are continuing most likely to use the green waste service Which means that we're going to continue to outhaul more and more tons of green waste out of the county You know i've heard a lot from from the local farmers, especially the organic farmers Most definitely appreciate those those comments I can tell you that regular residential green waste producers Are going to continue using the service one of the easiest ways to Reduce your impact on the environment is to Compost it's super easy and more and more people know that they see what's happening to the climate And they're looking for ways to make a change you're going to have more and more people composting more and more outhauling Also going vegetarian is a good way to reduce your impact, but uh The last thing I wanted to to mention is that when you compare The outhauling that would be going to list deck For the biosolids that's only 11 000 tons a year So the need for that facility for the green waste is really really dramatically more if you will I also wanted to make a comment Just to acknowledge mr. DeWitt If he's still here because I thought your idea about this deck, you know, three years. I think that's a pretty good idea You know to to review after three years, but And I also think that uh that there's a that I have sympathy for folks in the community here nearby And You know outreach to to the community so that that they really really understand What the data is on the impact on the community of how this will benefit In the many different ways is is needed more more community participation and partnerships together So that we are all all riding on the same road together and everybody knows what's going on clearly Thank you Thank you. Mr. Wincoup Deborah Preston This is the last speaker card that I have Afternoon Deborah Preston sabastopol. I'm here representing wine and water watch We are a local organization of 250 citizens concerned with a number of environmental issues including climate change action And water use and pesticide use We are represented and active in many groups including Sonoma county water coalition and S.A.S.S safe ag safe schools In addition, several of us are organic farmers or gardeners and in the spirit of full disclosure I'll say that I have a small home orchard and I am a former customer of Sonoma compost Um, I'll just agree with many of the folks who have spoken in support of the facility It's ridiculous to outhaul all our waste and My personal experience With compost is uh, if you want to use less chemicals even or less, you know fewer pesticides even if you're using organic ones Compost helps you use fewer of those it improves your soil. So you use less water And it's essential As citizens we need encouragement that our county is forward-looking and indeed committed to Climate change I am sympathetic to the folks who live on walker roads and on lano roads But I live in that area too and lano is a busy road and I don't think anything is going to make it not a busy road um Climate action requires acting in the interests of the greater good. Um, not the individual preference and Wine and water watch respectfully asks you to approve the uh preferred location of the new facility and thanks a lot for letting me speak Thank you. Ms. Preston That concludes all the speaker cards public comment bring it back to the full board any questions or comments by board members board member grable First I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful comments and and participation Uh, it's not often we get this level of enthusiasm and engagement at the board of public utilities. So We we appreciate it from uh, both compost advocates and climate Activists and neighbors alike um In my day job, I work a lot in housing policy and land use and um One of the similarities that comes to mind is that often you get a lot of people who are supportive of the idea of affordable housing or housing And they come forward and they say no, I'm supportive of that just not here and It would be it would be okay if that was once or twice, but that seems to happen again and again and again and the result is We've never never built the affordable housing or the housing that we need and So it's taken a lot of heavy lifting and people saying okay Well, then if not here then where and if not now then when And that's that's how i'm feeling based on the comments that i've heard and and based on my knowledge of of both the facility the alternatives And what we have to work with right now based on the imperatives that we're facing Um, and I do believe that the neighbors have some some very good points in terms of yes, this will affect them I think we just need to be honest about that. We don't think we should be dismissive of that I think we should just be honest. Yeah, it'll affect the neighbors. It will Is it an environmental justice issue to me? No environmental justice came about based on disproportionate effects of mostly toxic waste facilities And petroleum processing plants in regard to african-american neighborhoods The seminal case was northwood 1979 in houston. That was an african-american neighborhood That was heavily impacted by a toxic waste processing facility and they won that case under the Equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. That's the history of environmental justice. I don't think we should conflate the two But let's take the let's take the concerns of the neighbors seriously. That being said, I think this is an imperative I think this site is a very good one and there's so many synergistic benefits Not just not just for climate And local compost availability green waste hauling getting those trucks off the road. They're going to the east bay and beyond but also You know the fact that we got we have the opportunity to to have the runoff go back into the plant where we can treat it better than Anyone else that I know So that to me is a no-brainer um Based on that and the fact that you know just the broader climate imperative from everything that I know There are two things that we should be doing more than anything else our imperatives are Housing near jobs because that is we are going the opposite direction on that right now Kate gordon from opr Office planning and research has given us two directives from the state One is emissions based on mega commuting super commuting because there's no work to be able to live near their jobs or in county Need to fix that immediately And a lot of people are working on it. The second one is carbon drawdown And the biggest way the biggest way we know of carbon drawdown based on paul hawken based on kate gordon stuff is food waste compost and Working land stewardship Organic and regenerative agriculture those are the those are the our biggest imperatives right now globally If we can make a dent in that locally and have all these mutual and synergistic benefits for the community um And let's try to you know, let's try to mitigate as many impacts as we can for the neighbors But this is a this is a I think an imperative that that reaches far beyond our community um Regardless of the the logistical benefits that it provides Both in terms of hauling and and availability. I think it's it's something that we have a responsibility to uh to pursue and really Take leadership on so I'll be uh voting in favor of that Thank you. Any other board member comments or questions board member battenford Echoing my colleagues appreciation. I do thank each and every one of you for Joining us this afternoon um There's a lot of agreement in the room. Um, and I don't think that Even the things that we're passionate about differently are mutually exclusive um, we agree that local processing reducing outhauling uh supporting our local economies supporting local operators local agriculture um The greater good climate change and also respecting those who live nearby facilities um I uh Will be supporting the recommendation today uh to proceed with the negotiations on this site, but it's kind of a um, you know, it's a It's a tricky order of decision-making that happens here. Um, I think that we can get really Frightened about things that we don't know Um about things that may or may not move next door to us And we have not walked through a sequel process yet And so I appreciate staff all of your work. Thank you very much And I also appreciate just being very very upfront and clear and specific about the community's concerns I take very very seriously the impacts of those that live around Any facility with any impacts to their property to their health to their safety to their peace of mind um We have a process to identify and mitigate impacts But the concerns still remain so, you know, there's some questions around to what extent do these things Be become mitigated through the sequel process, right? I think the questions Um for those that are impacted by a project such as this end up being around what is my life going to look like After this is built And not being able to really predict that or to feel like they can't predict that Um, and I take that very very seriously. So as we As we proceed through this very important project that we need we've needed it for years and I I congratulate staff and my colleagues for getting us to this point It's not been an easy haul. So I appreciate it um But I do remain concerned um Whether it's one or whether it's 150 or 350 people How we wrestle with this question, right? How many people is it okay to impact? to help a community With its impacts and those are very personal decisions. They're political decisions um And decisions that we can't make until we walk through a design pace and a technical phase and a sequel phase. So Um, but today I am um pleased to support The recommendation to move forward with the negotiations and look forward to all that comes next Thank you other comments Having sat on the bpu city council liaison committee, obviously we've seen this uh This matter in many different versions and from different directions over the last couple years I'm fully supportive of the recommendation by staff. I think it's a perfect use of an existing facility that will minimize some of our concerns about the ecology and and So I will be supporting it If there's no further comments Vice chair Arnone, I'd like to express my support by moving that we accept the recommendation um for second I'll second You can take it Okay, we have a motion by vice chair Arnone seconded by board member watts and thirded by board member grable All in favor I posed Passes unanimously. Thank you to staff and again. Thank you to all you who are here Your voices were heard whether we believe Whether you believe that or not and uh, we know that staff and the city will do the right thing and Hopefully this project will move forward We'll move now to item 7.3 which is a report item Director Burke Thank you. Sorry my Little technical difficulties here Item 7.3 is approval of a change of scope contract change order to construction contract number C 0 2 1 9 0 rehabilitate matanzas siphons And we have a deputy director lori or bantler lori urbanic And associate civil engineer jason roberts presenting Welcome to both of you Thank you director burke. Um, i'm lori urbanic and with me today is jason roberts We're both from engineering and we are here seeking an out of scope change order from contract c 0 2 1 9 0 the rehabilitation of the matanzas creek siphons and the purpose of uh Coming before the board with this sort of unique request Is because we have a very urgent need on the lano trunk line out off of lano road Um Jason will talk a little bit about how we discovered the situation and the condition of the pipe And um, then i'll talk about sort of the steps that we went through to get to this point jason Oh, i'm i apologize Do you know how to get it to turn off? Thank you deputy director urbanic On february 19th the sinkhole was discovered Above a section of the lano trunk Immediately adjacent to a decommission flow meter structure operations expressed immediate concern about The cause of the sinkhole Thinking that there was a possibility of a pipe collapse directly underneath There was also concern raised about the proximity of the sinkhole not only to the edge of lano road But that the alignment of the pipe under lano road would would be a potential issue as well Uh local operations and engineering staff mobilized cctv contractor to inspect the pipe on february 24th The work was scheduled during low low flows really very early in the morning between four and six a.m Along with a coordinated diversion of the crosstown trunk and the surpassed bold discharge Uh, however a full inspection of the pipe was inhibited by hanging gaskets in the pipe as shown in the picture below They were only able to inspect about 21 feet Um from the inspection that inspection video that they were able to collect Uh, it was clear there was no direct evidence of a pipe collapse But there were multiple other severe defects that were observed and which I will summarize briefly in the next slides So the picture above uh, you can see exposed aggregate on the surface of the interior pipe wall This was observed along the entire length of the pipe and is consistent with excessive hydrogen sulfide exposure essentially corroding the concrete oops Sorry there the picture on the bottom you can see At one of the joints you can see the gasket hanging out This this shows major groundwater infiltration Which was observed at just about every pipe joint along the length of this pipe The top picture shows again concrete corrosion But to a level where the reinforcement of the pipe is essentially exposed to hydrogen sulfide Inside of the pipe and the bottom picture Uh shows a close-up of that exposed reinforcement Um corroding away and actually missing in some locations Um, so even though the cctv contractor couldn't inspect the entire length of the pipe Uh, it was very clear to operations and engineering staff that we had enough information to determine that immediate action was required So I recognize that this is a very brief presentation and I apologize for that As you can see we just recently found out about this. So this was quite a rush situation to get this before the board But the the pictures that we showed on this slide don't actually represent the true condition of that pipe In that the amount of water that you see in the video flowing through there is Is substantial Also, what's not mentioned in the slides is Since this piece of pipe Crosses this segment of pipe crosses lano road. We also have another very High sensitive valuable piece of infrastructure that Traverses perpendicular down lano road, which is the geysers pipeline, which is directly above this Um deteriorated piece of sewer main Sewer trunk line. So I just wanted to make the the board aware of that as well Um, this does prevent present a very unique situation for us in that we still have a contract open with the contractor s a k We've spoken with them. They are willing to do the work and able to do the work as evidenced by the most recent linings Not only on the tanzas siphon, but the lano trunk line this past summer and fall You may recall that I was here at the last meeting and let you know how much money we actually saved on the tanzas creek siphon There's 2.3 million dollars remaining that the board has previously authorized under this contract That is available to complete this urgent repair I'll point out that we don't use this very often, but the city council policy 100-07 does provide The board with the authority if you so determine that this is an urgent need to approve a change of scope change order We have a very preliminary As in I called the contractor and said here's what we know We sent them the videos. How much do you think this is going to cost? So the preliminary estimate may be low. They were out on site on friday To sort of do a site analysis and look at what the bypass situation would look like We do need to open trench across lano road. So there'll be some traffic disruption that will that will occur. Should this be approved? The approval would allow us the most expeditious way to complete the repair And we're happy to take any additional questions that you may have and I apologize for the brevity of this staff report Thank you board member questions or comments board member right I am so sorry May I read the recommendation to you? Apparently I am It is therefore That we recommend the board approve a change out of excuse me a scope Approved change of scope contract change order with s a k to the construction contract c0 219 to repair The 60 inch wastewater trunk line crossing under lano road And authorize the assistant city manager or the deputy director of engineering services and public works department to execute the change order as necessary to complete the work and execute In an amount not to exceed the also authorized contract total amount And that was of the matanzas creeks siphon of 3.9 million dollars Thank you board member right Okay, first of all, um I think the star is really aligned in this Emergency that you were you had a contractor under a contract that had the expertise to do this work And you had the contingency so Something when that was very lucky, but what concerns me why the we Vc tv this line five or six years ago and We didn't notice it wasn't it is to deteriorate that much in five or six years Thank you board member right for that question the This particular section of trunk line Lies downstream of as I mentioned a decommissioned flow meter structure During the last two contracts that we had with cctv contractors They were utilizing Pond tunes basically to float camera equipment down the trunk line to get video on them Because of the high water levels that we typically have in the wanow trunk They were not willing to Essentially pass this flow meter structure. There's about a one foot drop and some turbulence there And so we have not been able to Get direct video on this line Um and with the new effort going on right now with the 2020 master plan update and condition assessment As part of that project It was actually a first order of business to really focus on how are we going to Get a good inspection cctv inspection of this pipe Okay, thank you for that and you said you're gonna open cut across the road or are you this is a lining contractor though So how what is the what's the repair method? It is it is aligning methods. He's Aligning project to repair that piece But in order to bypass we'll have to bypass over and across lana road So rather than ramping the bypass pipe We'll just open cut it and plate it Or cover it with ac we haven't quite determined what that approach will be yet Okay, thank you Any other questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion I move to approve second Motion by a board member right seconded by a board member grable to approve Seven point three three two seven point two all in favor. Hi Passes unanimously. Thank you public comments, uh, mr. Dewitt I came today because recently the city of santa rosa declared a climate emergency New folks are part of the climate emergency response team You're our first responders in a way With that in mind I wanted to first also thank board member grable For bringing up the matter of cancer alley In houston, texas 1979 In that very same year my boyhood home over in roseland was discovered to have contaminated well And the well contamination was coming from a co-mingled plume Under sabastopol road, which eventually got named mc minne avenue state superfund site I was on mc minne avenue as a boy So Long story short Here we are in a situation where we could do some positive things If we become a bit proactive it took over 25 years, I believe to deactivate or delist the mc minne avenue state superfund site Right now at this climate emergency We have a possibility for something over in my neighborhood of roseland. It could be helpful to all of us We have roseland creek It's overlooked little kind of gem It has a riparian corridor in some places that's still undisturbed It also has some spots that weren't Channelized by the sonoma county water agency when they thought they'd do flood control Which nonetheless did not stop flooding Out in forestville and gernville So those riparian corridors could be a spot where we could be doing stormwater retention basins Or we could be working forward And not necessarily Looking at just land use and property values for speculative developers that come along And have land next to the creek We at the city Taxpayers and ratepayers could be looking forward and saying well, why don't we get some of those open spaces Near roseland creek And finding ways for them to be revitalized Riparian corridors have many positive aspects There's a group that's called themselves the friends of roseland creek They've been working on some different activities They convinced the agricultural and open space district to help fund The preservation of some land So 19 and a half acres of land near roseland creek off of burbank avenue and macmin avenue where I grew up Are still relatively pristine And they're now in the city limits So i'm hoping that we can talk in the future about this again I'm looking for a way we could have a dialogue Me talking that you doesn't work But if we could talk together and look into these matters maybe get it on a agenda as a study item Thank you for your time Thank you, mr. DeWitt. I would encourage you to talk to city staff as well I'm sure they'd be happy to talk to you and so any member of the board Chair galvin, thank you. I just wanted to take the opportunity to clarify The last item that was voted on was item 7.3 And I think that the board was clear that it was the change of scope change order for the sewer trunk lining in lano So just going to state that for the record. Thanks Thank you We have no referrals no written communication. Any subcommittee reports Any board member reports subcommittee Board member watts the budget subcommittee has a meeting scheduled for march 10th. And so we will breathe Staff will be bringing more items after that for the full board to review Thank you Any board member reports Directors report Thank you, chair I have a couple things to report to the board this afternoon First, I wanted to give the board a just a brief overview. We had a technical advisory committee meeting Last week or this week. Sorry. It's been a blur Monday march 2nd At the technical advisory committee, there were a few things that were presented one of which was a vote by the tack On the proposed fiscal year 2020 2021 sonoma water budget and rates The tack did unanimously recommend the budget which is presenting a 5.3 percent wholesale water rate increase In terms of our customers that would be a 2.3 percent pass through which is roughly 96 cents per month For the average family of four the board would will be getting a full presentation on the proposed budget for consideration at your next board meeting And hopefully making a recommendation for how the WAC members should vote on the board The WAC will be voting on the on the budget At their april WAC meeting We also got an update on the potter valley project and the work that's occurring among the five partners to develop a feasibility study As part of the potential relicensing of the potter valley project The consultant has completed their Draft and they were expecting to be submitting it to the partners this week and then The partners will be reviewing that draft and they were tentatively scheduling to make that public mid april and the Feasibility study and project description is due to be submitted to FERC in mid may And additional information is available on a new website that has been put forward It's to basin solution dot org To as in the number so t w o basin solution dot org For additional information on what's occurring with the potter valley project I also wanted to let the board know We are working with the Sonoma county water agency In relation to providing support for their katati aqueduct repair On february 25th the Sonoma water board of directors approved a resolution authorizing emergency repairs to the russian river katati aqueduct The portion that needs repair is located near river road and woller roads in forestville The water agency has part of some inspections identified some corrosion and determined they needed to replace the pipe We are working and coordinating closely not only with Sonoma water staff, but all of the contractor staff Regarding those repairs. We don't anticipate that it will impact sanor as a water service But again, we're continuing to work closely and coordinate on that The repairs are currently scheduled to occur in mid-march and will take approximately one week Sonoma water is working with the other water contractors to have local supplies available and they're also Putting out information regarding requesting customers to reduce water use During that time frame as well. So you'll see some more messaging Prior to and during the repair to encourage customers to conserve The water department is Providing mutual aid to Sonoma water We have agreed to provide them with a 40 foot length of 48 inch pipe to help with those repairs if needed If the water agency does use it, um, they will replace it in kind if it turns out that they do not need to use it They will return it to us. So Wanted to let the board know about that and then last um on the wastewater side We did receive our draft MPDS permit for the Laguna treatment plant and subregional system It was released on february 28th The the draft has been released by the regional board for public review and comment And we have established a team of staff and consultants to thoroughly review the draft Comments are due to the regional board by 5 p.m. On march 30th And the permit is currently scheduled to be heard at the regional board at their meeting on june 18th and 19th in santa rosa And we do anticipate that we will be developing comments And we'll keep the board apprised of the work We're doing to review and comment on the draft permit and that's my report Any questions for the director? Thank you, we are adjourned