HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 08 - Wastewater Treatment Plant Permit ITEM # 0
MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BRUNO RUMBELOW, CITY MANAGER
MEETING DATE: APRIL 6, 2010
SUBJECT: ENGINEERING SERVICES CONTRACT AMENDMENT #2
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT PERMIT RENEWAL
RECOMMENDATION:
City Council consider approving Amendment # 2 to the Engineering Services Contract
with Freese and Nichols, Inc. in an amount of $47,553.37 for continued professional
services in the preparation of our application for renewal of the Grapevine Wastewater
Treatment Plant Permit, authorize the City Manager to execute said amendment and
take any necessary action.
FUNDING SOURCE:
Funds are available in account 200-44540-531-2 (Wastewater Treatment Professional
Services).
BACKGROUND:
The Grapevine Wastewater Treatment Plant, located on Scribner Street operates under
a permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission of
Environmental Quality. The permit dictates water quality effluent limits that the plant
must achieve to meet the standards necessary to maintain water quality in the waters of
the United States.
The permit is renewable every five years. Our current operating permit expired on
September 1, 2006 and has been in the process of renewal since that time. Historically,
Freese and Nichols Inc. has provided engineering services for all aspects of the
construction, permitting and technical operation of the treatment plant and was approved
by City Council on October 11, 2005 to provide staff with technical assistance in
preparing a routine permit renewal.
The permit renewal application was prepared and submitted to the TCEQ for their
review. In response to our application submittal, the City received a Draft Permit from
TCEQ with significantly more restrictive effluent limits than the permit that expired in
September, 2006.
0:Iagenda12010\04-06-101F&N WWTP Permit Renewal Contract Amendment#2
March 31,2010(10:06AM)
On October 2, 2007, the City Council authorized Freese and Nichols' staff, in
coordination with City Staff, to begin a process of review and negotiation with the TCEQ
staff to relax the draft effluent limits. This process included a significant effort by F&N to
evaluate TCEQ's water quality model, preparation of a request for a temporary variance
for the permit and the development of a detailed plan for a dissolved oxygen study in
coves in the lake.
The TCEQ granted the City a variance from these limits for a period of three years
during which time, the City could study the TCEQ's dissolved oxygen criteria in the
Morehead Branch Cove and possibly provide justification for an amendment to the water
quality standards imposed by TCEQ.
TRA faced similar issues on Lake Grapevine and developed a work plan to study
dissolved oxygen in the lake in an effort to relax the TCEQ limits. Through an
agreement with TRA, the City's needs were incorporated into the work plan for TRA's
study of the lake to provide data for Morehead Cove, our area of interest.
Freese. & Nichols staff coordinated our needs with TRA's consultant conducting the data
collection over a two year period.
Freese & Nichols initial contract and amendment #1 included all efforts up to the
completion of the data collection.
The data collection has been completed and is available for analysis. Amendment #2
includes Freese & Nichols' staff analyzing and summarizing the data collected in 2008
and 2009 and evaluating the TCEQ water quality model in light of the data collected.
The goal is to identify model parameters that can be revised and potentially result in the
City maintaining its current effluent limits. Freese & Nichols staff has enlisted the
assistance of the author of the computer software used by TCEQ to develop their
effluent limits.
Staff recommends approval
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March 31,2010(10:06AM)