Written 9/3/2007
Why Not Give Us What We Want?
Friends of Barber Creek has consistently asked that Oconee County officials agree to three things should they decide to expand the Rocky Branch sewage plant and begin discharging treated wastewater into Barber Creek.
We’ve asked that the water not be released when the creek is flooding, that the water be treated to the highest level the technology will allow, and that the County provide for independent monitoring.
The County plans to include holding ponds in the upgrade. It has presented charts that show the new plant can exceed the proposed standards. And helping citizens monitor the plant’s operation would be inexpensive.
So why not simply agree to the requests?
E-mail correspondence between officials and Precision Planning Inc., the County's consultant, provide explanations.
Just after noon on December 12, the day of the hearing before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division on the County’s request for a permit to discharge 1.0 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into Barber Creek, Jimmy Parker of PPI sent an e-mail message to Alan Theriault, administrative officer of the County, Melvin Davis, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Gary Dodd, Utility department director, and Christopher Thomas, assistant director of the Utility Department.
Parker also copied the message to Wayne Haynie of Jordan Jones & Goulding and Jim Sunta of PPI. The Utility Department is recommending that JJ&G get the bid to upgrade Rocky Branch.
The purpose of the message was to explain how the officials should address "the three issues presented in the attached flier," which was the petition we circulated asking the EPD to impose our three requests on the County.
Parker said that once Barber Creek floods, the additional water discharged from the plant would produce an increase in water that is "negligible." He said: "In fact, a fallen tree would have much more impact on stream hydraulics and flood levels than the proposed discharge."
So even if the impact is minimal, why not agree to hold the water?
In times of high rain, the County will have few customers for reuse water. The spray fields at the site also will be saturated. It is at these times when the County will most need to discharge into Barber Creek.
Those of us along the creek know that it has flooded often and badly in recent years. We also know that even another tree falling into it is a problem.
So how about the higher level of treatment?
"I feel the County is already going above and beyond, and the water that will be discharged will be cleaner than the water in the Creek," Parker writes. "The real answer to this question is that it would be cost prohibitive, and the net benefits of treating to higher standards do not justify the additional costs.
"I strongly recommend that the County hold their position as ‘meeting’ the requirements established by the State," Parker continued. "If we commit to exceed those requirements, the State may possibly reduce current effluent limits, which would result in additional costs for this and all future treatment expansions."
So it is a matter of money, and not yet being required to meet the higher standards.
Ironically, PPI and JJG prepared a slide presentation for the hearing that showed the Calls Creek sewage plant–the only other sewage plant operated by the County–easily exceeds the standards set by the state on at least two criteria. The Calls Creek plant uses the same technology proposed for Rocky Branch.
So what about independent monitoring?
"The EPD has the right to do this at any time," Parker writes, "but usually these activities are limited to compliance issues due to staffing shortages."
"In my opinion, Oconee County would not object to additional downstream sampling," Parker continued. "But this is an issue that must be addressed by the State, based on availability of resources."
In other words, if the state wants to do it, it is fine with Parker.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek has asked that the County help citizens do this monitoring by creating a fund for that purpose and posting all records from operation of the plant on the County’s web site.
These are the issues that will be addressed at the BOC meeting tomorrow night (Sept. 4).
Though BOC Chairman Davis was involved in this correspondence with Parker and the other consultants, the four other members of the Commission are unlikely to even be aware of it.
The department heads work for Davis and report to him.
The four other commissioners, however, can tell Davis and the Utility Department how to operate the plant by agreeing to the three request we are making.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Written 9-2-2007
Baiting with Membranes
For three years, Oconee County officials have touted in public meetings the membrane filtration technology for its proposed expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage plant, saying the technology will allow the County to discharge "near drinking level" quality water into Barber Creek.
The County told the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) when it applied for its permit to discharge into Barber Creek that it would use the membrane filtration technology in the plant.
When, on June 29 of this year, it issued a Request for Proposal for engineering design and support for construction of the upgrade, the County said the upgraded plant would use membrane filtration to treat the sewage water passing through it.
Prior to the July 26, 2007, deadline for submission of bids, however, County officials told bidders the County was interested in using less sophisticated technologies for Rocky Branch.
Jordan Jones & Goulding (JJ&G), the bidder that Utility Department Director Chris Thomas has recommended to the Board of Commissioners, has proposed two alternatives to membrane filtration.
Thomas has informed Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis he wants to explore the alternatives JJ&G proposed to membrane filtration for Rocky Branch.
Chairman Davis has put a decision on the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant on the agenda for the Sept. 4 meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
That Thomas would pick JJ&G from among the three bidders probably should not have been a surprise. JJ&G, with headquarters in Norcross but a branch office on South Milledge avenue in Athens, partnered with Precision Planning Inc. (PPI) of Lawrenceville in preparing the Design Development Report (DDR) the County submitted to the EPD with its application for its Rocky Branch discharge permit.
The report specified the membrane filtration technology to be used at Rocky Branch.
JJ&G also was in charge of construction of the existing Rocky Branch facility, which sprays treated sewage water onto hayfields on site and does not have a permit to discharge into any stream.
In addition, JJ&G competed with PPI over reservoir proposals for Oconee County, with PPI proposing the Walton County Hard Labor Creek project and JJ&G proposing a reservoir in Oconee County on Barnett Shoals road. PPI won, and the Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on Sept. 4 on a contract with Walton County for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir.
Thomas asked two people from PPI to evaluate the three bids submitted on July 26 and included their scores for the bids in reaching his decision to recommend JJ&G.
At the BOC meeting of July 31, 2007, when Thomas announced that three bids had been received, he said the bids would be rated by PPI, the County’s Public Works department, the Utility Department assistant director, and himself.
The evaluators rated the bids on five criteria, as specified in the Request for Proposal.
The raters could give up to 15 points for qualifications, experience and office location of the project manager, up to 15 points for experience of the bidder in design and construction of upgrades and expansions of sewage plants, up to 15 points for the experience of the bidder with membrane filtration systems, up to 15 points for the bidders understanding and approach to the project, and up to 40 points for the costs.
Thomas received ratings from Jimmy Parker and Jim Sunta of PPI, Dan Wilson, the assistant county engineer, and from John Hatcher, the assistant Utility Department director.
Keck & Wood Inc. of Duluth had the low bid of $643,000 but also the lowest average score from the five raters: 67.6. (Thomas reported the score of 63 in an e-mail message he sent to Chairman Davis on August 2, 2007.) Carter & Sloope bid $690,000 and received an average rating of 77.6. JJ&G, with its bid of $680,580, received a score of 92.6.
Low bidder Keck & Wood got the highest ratings on cost (average of 40 out of 40 points), but the lowest ratings on each of the other four criteria. JJ&G beat out all bidders on qualifications, experience and office location of the project manager, experience of the bidder in design and construction of upgrades and expansions of sewage plants, and for the experience of the bidder with membrane filtration systems. It essentially was tied with Carter & Sloope on understanding and approach to the project. (The scores can be viewed here.)
In his e-mail message to Davis on Aug. 2, Thomas said that, based on the scores, "the review team recommends the use of JJ&G for the design of the upgrade to the Rocky Branch WRF." (WRF stands for water reclamation facility and is an alternative name for sewage treatment plant.)
Thomas also wrote that "There are a number of alternate design approaches," and he had asked Wayne Haynie, senior vice president of JJ&G, "to include a pricing clarification based on some of the different approaches."
As I explained in my posting on Aug. 18, 2007, Davis tried to get the Commissioners to act on Thomas’ recommendation of JJ&G at the August 7 BOC meeting. The minutes say, "By consensus, no action was taken on this matter." I could not attend the meeting, and I don’t know if Thomas gave any hint then that JJ&G actually was proposing alternatives to the membrane filtration system.
Haynie from JJ&G and Van Kile, senior project manager, in their cover letter for their bid, said they were "delighted" to learn that Oconee County was willing to consider alternatives to membrane filtration for Rocky Branch. Haynie and Kile said they learned of this "flexibility in your thinking" at "the preproposal conference."
Haynie was one of 16 persons present at a "Pre-Submittal Conference" held on July 19, 2007, according to records given to me by the County. The official agenda for that meeting makes no reference to alternatives to membrane filtration.
The Request For Proposal, which specifies bid requirements, said: "Oconee County is committed to incorporating advanced technologies in its wastewater collection and treatment strategies and, therefore, has designated that the Rocky Branch WRF upgrade include membrane filters." (P. 7)
In the cover letter, Haynie wrote: "We know that you do not necessarily need a membrane plant to produce reuse water. Therefore, we are proposing a plant design that will provide you the following benefits:
"Lower energy consumption, allowing for lower annual operating costs.
"Easily expandable, because of common wall construction and site layout.
"Convertible to membranes in the future as discharge limits tighten."
According to the proposal, the membrane filtration system has three advantages over alternatives. It requires little space. It provides "an additional barrier to fecal coliform, cryptosporidium, and giardia, which results in more reliable disinfection." And it "will meet more stringent requirements without additional capital expense."
The EDP permit issued for Rocky Branch expires on March 29, 2012, and the County will have to seek reissuance of a permit for operation beyond that date. Standards could be changed.
JJ&G lists four disadvantages of the membrane technology: higher capital costs, higher energy costs, periodic membrane replacement, and the relative novelty of the technology.
It proposes as alternatives an "oxidation ditch process" and a "fill-and-decant activated sludge system." Both would require upgrading to meet more stringent effluent requirements, according to the proposal.
In the public presentations on the proposed Rocky Branch upgrade, County officials have praised the County’s only other sewage plant, which is on Calls Creek near Watkinsville. That plant used membrane filtration, and the County has held it up as a model. No problems with the plant have been mentioned publicly.
The JJ&G proposal, however, said that the County has experienced "unreliable water quality using membranes at Calls Creek." (P. 10)
JJ&G acknowledges that the Design Development Report (which it co-authored with PPI) has been reviewed and approved by EPD, but it said it is prepared to revise a DDR for submittal to EPD.
Keck & Wood, with two representatives at the Pre-Submittal Conference on July 19, did not include any alterative to membrane filtration it its bid.
Carter & Sloope also had one person at that meeting. The firm noted in its application that it understood that the Rocky Branch expansion was for a plant with a capacity of 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of capacity and that the proposal should allow for expansion to 2 MGD.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) asked bidders to prepare for expansion to 2 MGD. Carter & Sloope also note that it understood that the "ultimate build-out" of the plant could be 4 MGD, something the County has not openly acknowledged in the past.
Carter & Sloope submitted its bid based on "membrane technology as outlined in the RFP and DDR."
Carter & Sloope added: "It is our understanding that the County is having some concerns about the long-term O&M expenses of membrane treatment plants." It noted that it uses a disk filtration technology at the plant it designed for Barrow County, the only sewage plant currently discharging into Barber Creek.
Carter & Sloope cautions Oconee County, however, that while it would be willing to propose an alternative design to the County, the switch in technologies "may be a tough sell politically to the general public since Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility was predicated on membrane technology. Carter & Sloope attended all of the Oconee County public meetings and is aware of the public interest in this project."
The Carter & Sloope proposal contains another interesting observation:
"Sewer service is the catalyst to ignite the growth (in the County) and sustain it. While the economic impact may be positive, the impact on the natural resources of Oconee County and its infrastructure will be tremendous. To mitigate those impacts, adequate plans–a vision, if you will–must be put into place that will help Oconee County meet its current and future wastewater needs."
Oconee County has never adopted a wastewater master plan, though it hired a firm to do one for it. The first draft was produced in March of 2004. The second and final was produced in Feb. of 2005.
Both drafts recommended that the County begin shifting its waste treatment capacity from Calls Creek and Barber Creek to the Oconee River.
Care to know the name of the firm that produced that wastewater master plan?
Yes, it was JJ&G.
Baiting with Membranes
For three years, Oconee County officials have touted in public meetings the membrane filtration technology for its proposed expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage plant, saying the technology will allow the County to discharge "near drinking level" quality water into Barber Creek.
The County told the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) when it applied for its permit to discharge into Barber Creek that it would use the membrane filtration technology in the plant.
When, on June 29 of this year, it issued a Request for Proposal for engineering design and support for construction of the upgrade, the County said the upgraded plant would use membrane filtration to treat the sewage water passing through it.
Prior to the July 26, 2007, deadline for submission of bids, however, County officials told bidders the County was interested in using less sophisticated technologies for Rocky Branch.
Jordan Jones & Goulding (JJ&G), the bidder that Utility Department Director Chris Thomas has recommended to the Board of Commissioners, has proposed two alternatives to membrane filtration.
Thomas has informed Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis he wants to explore the alternatives JJ&G proposed to membrane filtration for Rocky Branch.
Chairman Davis has put a decision on the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant on the agenda for the Sept. 4 meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
That Thomas would pick JJ&G from among the three bidders probably should not have been a surprise. JJ&G, with headquarters in Norcross but a branch office on South Milledge avenue in Athens, partnered with Precision Planning Inc. (PPI) of Lawrenceville in preparing the Design Development Report (DDR) the County submitted to the EPD with its application for its Rocky Branch discharge permit.
The report specified the membrane filtration technology to be used at Rocky Branch.
JJ&G also was in charge of construction of the existing Rocky Branch facility, which sprays treated sewage water onto hayfields on site and does not have a permit to discharge into any stream.
In addition, JJ&G competed with PPI over reservoir proposals for Oconee County, with PPI proposing the Walton County Hard Labor Creek project and JJ&G proposing a reservoir in Oconee County on Barnett Shoals road. PPI won, and the Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on Sept. 4 on a contract with Walton County for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir.
Thomas asked two people from PPI to evaluate the three bids submitted on July 26 and included their scores for the bids in reaching his decision to recommend JJ&G.
At the BOC meeting of July 31, 2007, when Thomas announced that three bids had been received, he said the bids would be rated by PPI, the County’s Public Works department, the Utility Department assistant director, and himself.
The evaluators rated the bids on five criteria, as specified in the Request for Proposal.
The raters could give up to 15 points for qualifications, experience and office location of the project manager, up to 15 points for experience of the bidder in design and construction of upgrades and expansions of sewage plants, up to 15 points for the experience of the bidder with membrane filtration systems, up to 15 points for the bidders understanding and approach to the project, and up to 40 points for the costs.
Thomas received ratings from Jimmy Parker and Jim Sunta of PPI, Dan Wilson, the assistant county engineer, and from John Hatcher, the assistant Utility Department director.
Keck & Wood Inc. of Duluth had the low bid of $643,000 but also the lowest average score from the five raters: 67.6. (Thomas reported the score of 63 in an e-mail message he sent to Chairman Davis on August 2, 2007.) Carter & Sloope bid $690,000 and received an average rating of 77.6. JJ&G, with its bid of $680,580, received a score of 92.6.
Low bidder Keck & Wood got the highest ratings on cost (average of 40 out of 40 points), but the lowest ratings on each of the other four criteria. JJ&G beat out all bidders on qualifications, experience and office location of the project manager, experience of the bidder in design and construction of upgrades and expansions of sewage plants, and for the experience of the bidder with membrane filtration systems. It essentially was tied with Carter & Sloope on understanding and approach to the project. (The scores can be viewed here.)
In his e-mail message to Davis on Aug. 2, Thomas said that, based on the scores, "the review team recommends the use of JJ&G for the design of the upgrade to the Rocky Branch WRF." (WRF stands for water reclamation facility and is an alternative name for sewage treatment plant.)
Thomas also wrote that "There are a number of alternate design approaches," and he had asked Wayne Haynie, senior vice president of JJ&G, "to include a pricing clarification based on some of the different approaches."
As I explained in my posting on Aug. 18, 2007, Davis tried to get the Commissioners to act on Thomas’ recommendation of JJ&G at the August 7 BOC meeting. The minutes say, "By consensus, no action was taken on this matter." I could not attend the meeting, and I don’t know if Thomas gave any hint then that JJ&G actually was proposing alternatives to the membrane filtration system.
Haynie from JJ&G and Van Kile, senior project manager, in their cover letter for their bid, said they were "delighted" to learn that Oconee County was willing to consider alternatives to membrane filtration for Rocky Branch. Haynie and Kile said they learned of this "flexibility in your thinking" at "the preproposal conference."
Haynie was one of 16 persons present at a "Pre-Submittal Conference" held on July 19, 2007, according to records given to me by the County. The official agenda for that meeting makes no reference to alternatives to membrane filtration.
The Request For Proposal, which specifies bid requirements, said: "Oconee County is committed to incorporating advanced technologies in its wastewater collection and treatment strategies and, therefore, has designated that the Rocky Branch WRF upgrade include membrane filters." (P. 7)
In the cover letter, Haynie wrote: "We know that you do not necessarily need a membrane plant to produce reuse water. Therefore, we are proposing a plant design that will provide you the following benefits:
"Lower energy consumption, allowing for lower annual operating costs.
"Easily expandable, because of common wall construction and site layout.
"Convertible to membranes in the future as discharge limits tighten."
According to the proposal, the membrane filtration system has three advantages over alternatives. It requires little space. It provides "an additional barrier to fecal coliform, cryptosporidium, and giardia, which results in more reliable disinfection." And it "will meet more stringent requirements without additional capital expense."
The EDP permit issued for Rocky Branch expires on March 29, 2012, and the County will have to seek reissuance of a permit for operation beyond that date. Standards could be changed.
JJ&G lists four disadvantages of the membrane technology: higher capital costs, higher energy costs, periodic membrane replacement, and the relative novelty of the technology.
It proposes as alternatives an "oxidation ditch process" and a "fill-and-decant activated sludge system." Both would require upgrading to meet more stringent effluent requirements, according to the proposal.
In the public presentations on the proposed Rocky Branch upgrade, County officials have praised the County’s only other sewage plant, which is on Calls Creek near Watkinsville. That plant used membrane filtration, and the County has held it up as a model. No problems with the plant have been mentioned publicly.
The JJ&G proposal, however, said that the County has experienced "unreliable water quality using membranes at Calls Creek." (P. 10)
JJ&G acknowledges that the Design Development Report (which it co-authored with PPI) has been reviewed and approved by EPD, but it said it is prepared to revise a DDR for submittal to EPD.
Keck & Wood, with two representatives at the Pre-Submittal Conference on July 19, did not include any alterative to membrane filtration it its bid.
Carter & Sloope also had one person at that meeting. The firm noted in its application that it understood that the Rocky Branch expansion was for a plant with a capacity of 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of capacity and that the proposal should allow for expansion to 2 MGD.
The Request for Proposal (RFP) asked bidders to prepare for expansion to 2 MGD. Carter & Sloope also note that it understood that the "ultimate build-out" of the plant could be 4 MGD, something the County has not openly acknowledged in the past.
Carter & Sloope submitted its bid based on "membrane technology as outlined in the RFP and DDR."
Carter & Sloope added: "It is our understanding that the County is having some concerns about the long-term O&M expenses of membrane treatment plants." It noted that it uses a disk filtration technology at the plant it designed for Barrow County, the only sewage plant currently discharging into Barber Creek.
Carter & Sloope cautions Oconee County, however, that while it would be willing to propose an alternative design to the County, the switch in technologies "may be a tough sell politically to the general public since Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility was predicated on membrane technology. Carter & Sloope attended all of the Oconee County public meetings and is aware of the public interest in this project."
The Carter & Sloope proposal contains another interesting observation:
"Sewer service is the catalyst to ignite the growth (in the County) and sustain it. While the economic impact may be positive, the impact on the natural resources of Oconee County and its infrastructure will be tremendous. To mitigate those impacts, adequate plans–a vision, if you will–must be put into place that will help Oconee County meet its current and future wastewater needs."
Oconee County has never adopted a wastewater master plan, though it hired a firm to do one for it. The first draft was produced in March of 2004. The second and final was produced in Feb. of 2005.
Both drafts recommended that the County begin shifting its waste treatment capacity from Calls Creek and Barber Creek to the Oconee River.
Care to know the name of the firm that produced that wastewater master plan?
Yes, it was JJ&G.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Written 8/18/2007
Guessing When BOC Will Act On Rocky Branch
It’s a guessing game as to whether the proposed expansion of Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant will be on the Board of Commissioners’ agenda on August 28.
Utility Department Director Chris Thomas is quoted in the August 16 issue of The Oconee Enterprise saying that the BOC will vote on that night on the issue.
BOC Chairman Melvin Davis, in an e-mail message sent to me this morning, said: “At this point in time I do not plan for this topic to be on the agenda for the 8 28 07 meeting.”
The County has not yet posted the draft agenda for the meeting.
Davis’ clearly would like to minimize citizen comment on the decision, and his record of providing details about what he plans to ask the Board to do on the issue isn’t very good.
On July 27, in response to a letter I sent him, Davis sent me an e-mail saying the “Utility Department will provide an update on this possible upgrade of the LAS site, to the Board of Commissioners at the Agenda setting meeting next Tuesday evening, the 31st of July.”
The draft of the Agenda for the Board of Commissioners posted before the August 7, however, indicated that the Board would "Consider approval of the LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
I objected in an e-mail I sent to Davis and the other Commissioners on August 5 on the grounds that citizens had not had a chance to review the bids, which had been opened only on July 31.
Davis wrote back the next day, saying:
“The item on the agenda for 8/7/07 does indicate action on the design for the facility. However, staff has indicated that with an RFP (Request for Proposals), negotiations may take place with the recommended vendor in order to clarify tasks, costs, etc. This will allow the Board of Commissioners and the public to have complete knowledge of the scope of the Proposal. At this point staff has not met with the vendor to qualify and clarify expectations. I expect staff to recommend to the BOC that negotiations take place and return to the BOC with specific tasks and costs associated with those tasks. In fact, this recommendation was made by staff to me and forwarded to the Board on 8/3/07.”
Despite this reassurance, Davis sought action on the recommendation by Thomas at the August 7 meeting that the County award a design contract for the plant expansion. The BOC, however, refused to take action.
The draft of the minutes for the meeting, posted on the County’s web site, explains the BOC inaction as follows:
“Utility Director Chris Thomas reported the Review Committee had completed its review of the three proposals for the Rocky Branch engineering upgrade and recommended the use of Jordan, Jones & Goulding (JJ&G) for the design of the upgrade to the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility. By consensus, no action was taken on this matter.”
Charlie Baugh, who is active in Friends of Barber Creek and attended the August 7 meeting on the group’s behalf, put it this way:
“Thomas made the presentation and recommended JJ&G. The recommendation to the BOC was to allow the staff to negotiate the terms and work to be done and a final price for the design work.
“Davis called for motions, and there was a deafening silence. No one moved or said a word. Then Davis asked why there were no motions. (Commissioner Chuck) Horton said he would not vote for JJ&G to do anything. Then (Commissioner) Margaret (Hale) said she did not think it appropriate to continue until the Board had voted to do the expansion. (Commissioner Don) Norris was silent. Davis then said that since the Board was not ready he would defer the item to a later meeting. At that point (Commissioner Jim) Luke said he is for some level of expansion of the LAS site.”
Davis and his Utility Department have been pushing this project for two years, and Davis has tried to calm citizen concerns about it since they first arose in October of 2004. That was when some of us learned that the plant expansion would result in the discharge of treated sewage into Barber Creek.
It is at least possible Davis will try to get the BOC to take action again on August 28.
In rejecting a request by the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek for a meeting with the BOC before any action is taken, Davis wrote on August 6 that the Board had already heard enough from citizens but “when a decision is made by the Board to upgrade the LAS site, a period of public comment will be allowed.”
Those of us who want to ask the BOC to protect the creek from flooding, treat the water to the highest standard the technology of the proposed plant will allow, and agree to independent monitoring of the plant will have to be prepared to make those requests in the “period of public comment” Chairman Davis says he will allow.
And it appears we’ll have to keep guessing when that will happen.
Guessing When BOC Will Act On Rocky Branch
It’s a guessing game as to whether the proposed expansion of Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant will be on the Board of Commissioners’ agenda on August 28.
Utility Department Director Chris Thomas is quoted in the August 16 issue of The Oconee Enterprise saying that the BOC will vote on that night on the issue.
BOC Chairman Melvin Davis, in an e-mail message sent to me this morning, said: “At this point in time I do not plan for this topic to be on the agenda for the 8 28 07 meeting.”
The County has not yet posted the draft agenda for the meeting.
Davis’ clearly would like to minimize citizen comment on the decision, and his record of providing details about what he plans to ask the Board to do on the issue isn’t very good.
On July 27, in response to a letter I sent him, Davis sent me an e-mail saying the “Utility Department will provide an update on this possible upgrade of the LAS site, to the Board of Commissioners at the Agenda setting meeting next Tuesday evening, the 31st of July.”
The draft of the Agenda for the Board of Commissioners posted before the August 7, however, indicated that the Board would "Consider approval of the LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
I objected in an e-mail I sent to Davis and the other Commissioners on August 5 on the grounds that citizens had not had a chance to review the bids, which had been opened only on July 31.
Davis wrote back the next day, saying:
“The item on the agenda for 8/7/07 does indicate action on the design for the facility. However, staff has indicated that with an RFP (Request for Proposals), negotiations may take place with the recommended vendor in order to clarify tasks, costs, etc. This will allow the Board of Commissioners and the public to have complete knowledge of the scope of the Proposal. At this point staff has not met with the vendor to qualify and clarify expectations. I expect staff to recommend to the BOC that negotiations take place and return to the BOC with specific tasks and costs associated with those tasks. In fact, this recommendation was made by staff to me and forwarded to the Board on 8/3/07.”
Despite this reassurance, Davis sought action on the recommendation by Thomas at the August 7 meeting that the County award a design contract for the plant expansion. The BOC, however, refused to take action.
The draft of the minutes for the meeting, posted on the County’s web site, explains the BOC inaction as follows:
“Utility Director Chris Thomas reported the Review Committee had completed its review of the three proposals for the Rocky Branch engineering upgrade and recommended the use of Jordan, Jones & Goulding (JJ&G) for the design of the upgrade to the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility. By consensus, no action was taken on this matter.”
Charlie Baugh, who is active in Friends of Barber Creek and attended the August 7 meeting on the group’s behalf, put it this way:
“Thomas made the presentation and recommended JJ&G. The recommendation to the BOC was to allow the staff to negotiate the terms and work to be done and a final price for the design work.
“Davis called for motions, and there was a deafening silence. No one moved or said a word. Then Davis asked why there were no motions. (Commissioner Chuck) Horton said he would not vote for JJ&G to do anything. Then (Commissioner) Margaret (Hale) said she did not think it appropriate to continue until the Board had voted to do the expansion. (Commissioner Don) Norris was silent. Davis then said that since the Board was not ready he would defer the item to a later meeting. At that point (Commissioner Jim) Luke said he is for some level of expansion of the LAS site.”
Davis and his Utility Department have been pushing this project for two years, and Davis has tried to calm citizen concerns about it since they first arose in October of 2004. That was when some of us learned that the plant expansion would result in the discharge of treated sewage into Barber Creek.
It is at least possible Davis will try to get the BOC to take action again on August 28.
In rejecting a request by the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek for a meeting with the BOC before any action is taken, Davis wrote on August 6 that the Board had already heard enough from citizens but “when a decision is made by the Board to upgrade the LAS site, a period of public comment will be allowed.”
Those of us who want to ask the BOC to protect the creek from flooding, treat the water to the highest standard the technology of the proposed plant will allow, and agree to independent monitoring of the plant will have to be prepared to make those requests in the “period of public comment” Chairman Davis says he will allow.
And it appears we’ll have to keep guessing when that will happen.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Written 8/15/2007
Chairman Davis Denies Request for BOC Meeting
Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, has rejected the request of Friends of Barber Creek that he schedule a public meeting so citizens can discuss the proposed expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant with the Board of Commissioners.
Davis wrote that the Board of Commissioners already has done enough to get input from the public and has addressed the concerns raised by the Friends of Barber Creek.
"I see no need to have an additional public meeting," Davis wrote in a letter dated August 6, 2007.
Davis said the Board of Commissioners has discussed the Rocky Branch facility at six meetings, two in 2004, two in 2005 and two in 2006, and held three public meetings on the proposed expansion.
One of those public meetings–in December of 2006–was actually a hearing citizens had requested with the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD), not the BOC.
The public notice telling citizens about the March 2006 hearing did not mention that plant expansion would result in discharge of treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
The BOC meetings dealt with permits and other preliminary actions. The BOC never has voted to expand the plant.
The County received a permit from the EPD in April of 2007 to begin discharging 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of treated sewage water from the Rocky Branch plant into Barber Creek when the plant is expanded.
The Board of Friends of Barber Creek wrote to Davis on July 17 requesting the opportunity to ask the members of the Board of Commissioners, should they decide to expand the Rocky Branch sewage plant, to:
1 Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;
2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage plant to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and
3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.
Davis said "It is my belief that the BOC has attempted to get significant public input into this process" and has "responded positively to the three (3) concerns outlined in your letter."
Davis said the County has agreed that the holding facilities on the plant site "will be used to store treated wastewater during times of flooding" and that this requirement "was approved by EPD."
In fact, the EPD permit, which the County received on April 2, 2007, makes no mention of holding facilities and places no restrictions on release of water into Barber Creek other than that the amount cannot exceed 1 MGD on a monthly average or 1.25 MGD on a weekly average.
Davis also contends in his letter that the new plant will use "the same standards as the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County."
In fact, the Gwinnett County facility is required to meet a higher standard than Rocky Branch for total suspended solids, ammonia, fecal coliform bacteria, total phosphorus and turbidity. For example, the Rocky Branch plant will be allowed to discharge water with a fecal coliform bacteria count of 23 per 100 milliliter, while the Gwinnett plant can discharge water with a fecal coliform bacteria count of only 2 per milliliter.
Davis said in his August 6 letter that the EPD "requires continuous monitoring" of the plant, but he does not state that this monitoring is done by the plant operators themselves.
Davis acknowledged that his decision to deny further public discussion could be overruled by a majority of the five-member Board of Commissioners.
Davis copied his response to the other members of the Board of Commissioners. None has written indicating disagreement with Davis’ decision not to hold a public meeting as requested by the Friends of Barber Creek.
The Rocky Branch sewage plant currently uses a Land Application System to treat sewage water, but that technique of spraying sewage water onto hayfields will be replaced by a plant with a membrane filtration system if Rocky Branch is expanded. At present, the County does not discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
Davis’ response to the request for a public meeting on the Rocky Branch expansion contrasts strikingly with his response to the request from the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce earlier this year that the County consider approving beer and wine sales at restaurants.
Davis held lengthy public meetings on that issue in May and June, although, at this point, the BOC has not voted on the issue.
According to Davis’ letter, "when a decision is made by the Board to upgrade the LAS site, a period of public comment will be allowed."
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek had asked that Davis "schedule a public meeting at which those of us concerned about the health of Barber Creek are given a chance to discuss with the Board of Commissioners announced plans to expand the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant."
It seems it matters quite a lot which group makes the request for the courtesy of meeting with the BOC.
Chairman Davis Denies Request for BOC Meeting
Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, has rejected the request of Friends of Barber Creek that he schedule a public meeting so citizens can discuss the proposed expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant with the Board of Commissioners.
Davis wrote that the Board of Commissioners already has done enough to get input from the public and has addressed the concerns raised by the Friends of Barber Creek.
"I see no need to have an additional public meeting," Davis wrote in a letter dated August 6, 2007.
Davis said the Board of Commissioners has discussed the Rocky Branch facility at six meetings, two in 2004, two in 2005 and two in 2006, and held three public meetings on the proposed expansion.
One of those public meetings–in December of 2006–was actually a hearing citizens had requested with the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD), not the BOC.
The public notice telling citizens about the March 2006 hearing did not mention that plant expansion would result in discharge of treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
The BOC meetings dealt with permits and other preliminary actions. The BOC never has voted to expand the plant.
The County received a permit from the EPD in April of 2007 to begin discharging 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of treated sewage water from the Rocky Branch plant into Barber Creek when the plant is expanded.
The Board of Friends of Barber Creek wrote to Davis on July 17 requesting the opportunity to ask the members of the Board of Commissioners, should they decide to expand the Rocky Branch sewage plant, to:
1 Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;
2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage plant to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and
3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.
Davis said "It is my belief that the BOC has attempted to get significant public input into this process" and has "responded positively to the three (3) concerns outlined in your letter."
Davis said the County has agreed that the holding facilities on the plant site "will be used to store treated wastewater during times of flooding" and that this requirement "was approved by EPD."
In fact, the EPD permit, which the County received on April 2, 2007, makes no mention of holding facilities and places no restrictions on release of water into Barber Creek other than that the amount cannot exceed 1 MGD on a monthly average or 1.25 MGD on a weekly average.
Davis also contends in his letter that the new plant will use "the same standards as the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County."
In fact, the Gwinnett County facility is required to meet a higher standard than Rocky Branch for total suspended solids, ammonia, fecal coliform bacteria, total phosphorus and turbidity. For example, the Rocky Branch plant will be allowed to discharge water with a fecal coliform bacteria count of 23 per 100 milliliter, while the Gwinnett plant can discharge water with a fecal coliform bacteria count of only 2 per milliliter.
Davis said in his August 6 letter that the EPD "requires continuous monitoring" of the plant, but he does not state that this monitoring is done by the plant operators themselves.
Davis acknowledged that his decision to deny further public discussion could be overruled by a majority of the five-member Board of Commissioners.
Davis copied his response to the other members of the Board of Commissioners. None has written indicating disagreement with Davis’ decision not to hold a public meeting as requested by the Friends of Barber Creek.
The Rocky Branch sewage plant currently uses a Land Application System to treat sewage water, but that technique of spraying sewage water onto hayfields will be replaced by a plant with a membrane filtration system if Rocky Branch is expanded. At present, the County does not discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
Davis’ response to the request for a public meeting on the Rocky Branch expansion contrasts strikingly with his response to the request from the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce earlier this year that the County consider approving beer and wine sales at restaurants.
Davis held lengthy public meetings on that issue in May and June, although, at this point, the BOC has not voted on the issue.
According to Davis’ letter, "when a decision is made by the Board to upgrade the LAS site, a period of public comment will be allowed."
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek had asked that Davis "schedule a public meeting at which those of us concerned about the health of Barber Creek are given a chance to discuss with the Board of Commissioners announced plans to expand the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant."
It seems it matters quite a lot which group makes the request for the courtesy of meeting with the BOC.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Written 8/05/2007
County Asked to Take Another Step Toward Rocky Branch Upgrade
Chairman Melvin Davis has put on the agenda for late in the August 7 meeting of the Board of Commissioners an item that could have a big impact on Oconee County, and particularly on those who live along and care about Barber Creek.
The Board will be asked to "Consider approval of LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
This will come up after the Board considers eight rezones, including a controversial one on Old Barnett Shoals, and makes appointments to five County committees, including the Planning Commission.
This would seem to be an inappropriate time to decide on a project very conservatively estimated to cost $6 to $8 million and make decisions about how the sewage capacity gained from the proposed upgrade will be allocated between commercial and residential users.
Citizens will not get to see the bid until the meeting and will not know about the proposed sewage use policies until some proposal is announced at the meeting. It seems there will be little discussion of options.
I've written to Mr. Davis asking him to delay any decision on the important project. The text of my letter is below:
August 5, 2007
Dear Mr. Davis:
The draft of the Agenda for the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, August 7, indicates that, under Item 7, the Board will "Consider approval of the LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
I ask that the Board take no action at this time on these items.
At the July 31, 2007, meeting, Mr. Chris Thomas, assistant director of the Utility Department, indicated that he and his three designated reviewers would complete their evaluation of the three submitted bids for Engineering Design and Support for the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade only on August 2, and that he would not make his recommendation public until August 7.
As a result, citizens will not have had a chance to see the bids until the August 7 meeting. As is clear from the Request for Proposal itself and from the comments Mr. Gary Dodd, Utility Department director, at the July 31 meeting, the bid covers construction management and bidding, in addition to engineering design.
As a consequence, rather than merely making a decision on the bids, the Board is really being asked to make a decision on a project with an expected total cost of $6 to $8 million, according to the RFP.
In addition, the bid does not cover the full scope of work needed to upgrade Rocky Branch. As stated on page 7 of the RFP, it covers only work within "the treatment facility property boundary." The County must build a pump and pipe to get the treated water to Barber Creek, about a mile from the property, and the extensive water distribution network required to operationalize the "reuse" component of the plant.
As a result, the total cost for this project is going to be far in excess of $6 to $8 million.
In addition, on pages 1 and 6 of the RFP, bidders are advised that they should make provisions for an eventual upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant to a 2 million gallons per day capacity, not the 1 MGD covered in the bid. So the decision actually has ramifications beyond the bid itself.
Mr. Dodd said at the July 31 meeting that he wanted to ask the Board to provide policy regarding the use of the new sewage capacity that the Rocky Branch plant will produce. He suggested an even split between commercial and residential use of the new plant’s capacity. During the discussion that followed, however, a number of options were discussed, including setting aside some of the new capacity for existing subdivisions now on septic systems.
In fact, in an e-mail message from Mr. Dodd to County Administrative Officer Mr. Alan Theriault on March 21, 2007, Mr. Dodd indicated that 391,340 gallons per day out of the existing 400,000 gpd of capacity at the existing Rocky Branch plant has "been sold (committed)," with a breakdown of 60% commercial and 40% residential. To get to a 50-50 split for the whole plant, as he suggests in the memo, more of the new capacity would have to be set aside for residential use. But Mr. Dodd also said in that e-mail that the BOC could decide "that they do not want any of the upgrade allotted for residential."
Citizens, who will learn first on August 7 what the Utility Department proposes, should have a chance to review these options and offer comment on them before the Board votes.
At the July 31 meeting, Mr. Dodd also raised the question as to how the Utility Department will set up its financing so that water customers in the County do not subsidize sewage customers, since there will be many more of the former than the latter. This, in addition, is an important issue for the Board to debate.
The list of questions in need of debate, however, is even longer. As you know, Mr. Thomas informed you in an e-mail message of April 2, 2007, that the county has a new wasteload allocation for the Calls Creek sewage treatment plant, "allowing us to expand to 1.5 MGD pending an antidegradation review." So the County could decide to expand Calls Creek rather than Rocky Branch.
In addition, the County received in June of 2006 a wasteload allocation to discharge up to 2 MGD of discharge water from the Rocky Branch plant into the Apalachee River. This option was never explored, but it would seem to be appropriate to discharge into the Apalachee if the County goes forward with the Hard Labor Creek reservoir plans. That reservoir, as you know, would draw water from the Apalachee downstream from the proposed discharge site, meaning that the County truly would be recycling the water it uses.
The fundamental problem is that the County has never debated and adopted a version of the February 2005 wastewater master plan produced for the County. That plan calls for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch plant only as a short-term solution to the need for additional sewage capacity in the County. The report recommends that the County move its sewage treatment facilities to the Oconee River, an option that still remains viable if the County were to work with Clarke County or seek a waste load allocation for alternate locations along the river.
I wrote to you on July 17 and informed you that the Board of Directors of the Friends of Barber Creek wishes to have an opportunity for citizens to voice their requests to the full Board of Commissioners regarding the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant. Specifically, we are asking that the Board of Commissioners:
1. Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;
2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and
3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.
At this time, you have not responded to this request, other than acknowledge receipt of it via an e-mail message on July 27. If the Board of Commissioners approves one of the bids on August 7, it will mean that the County will have to go back to the bidder at a later time and ask for modifications to meet the first two requests above.
For all of these reasons, I ask that the Board of Commissioners take no action regarding the upgrade of the Rocky Branch LAS at the meeting on August 7.
I thank you for consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Lee Becker, President
Friends of Barber Creek
1050 Scott Terrace
Athens, GA 30606 (Oconee County)
706 548 1525
lbbecker@mindspring.com
County Asked to Take Another Step Toward Rocky Branch Upgrade
Chairman Melvin Davis has put on the agenda for late in the August 7 meeting of the Board of Commissioners an item that could have a big impact on Oconee County, and particularly on those who live along and care about Barber Creek.
The Board will be asked to "Consider approval of LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
This will come up after the Board considers eight rezones, including a controversial one on Old Barnett Shoals, and makes appointments to five County committees, including the Planning Commission.
This would seem to be an inappropriate time to decide on a project very conservatively estimated to cost $6 to $8 million and make decisions about how the sewage capacity gained from the proposed upgrade will be allocated between commercial and residential users.
Citizens will not get to see the bid until the meeting and will not know about the proposed sewage use policies until some proposal is announced at the meeting. It seems there will be little discussion of options.
I've written to Mr. Davis asking him to delay any decision on the important project. The text of my letter is below:
August 5, 2007
Dear Mr. Davis:
The draft of the Agenda for the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, August 7, indicates that, under Item 7, the Board will "Consider approval of the LAS Design Proposal and Sewer Policy Clarification."
I ask that the Board take no action at this time on these items.
At the July 31, 2007, meeting, Mr. Chris Thomas, assistant director of the Utility Department, indicated that he and his three designated reviewers would complete their evaluation of the three submitted bids for Engineering Design and Support for the Rocky Branch Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade only on August 2, and that he would not make his recommendation public until August 7.
As a result, citizens will not have had a chance to see the bids until the August 7 meeting. As is clear from the Request for Proposal itself and from the comments Mr. Gary Dodd, Utility Department director, at the July 31 meeting, the bid covers construction management and bidding, in addition to engineering design.
As a consequence, rather than merely making a decision on the bids, the Board is really being asked to make a decision on a project with an expected total cost of $6 to $8 million, according to the RFP.
In addition, the bid does not cover the full scope of work needed to upgrade Rocky Branch. As stated on page 7 of the RFP, it covers only work within "the treatment facility property boundary." The County must build a pump and pipe to get the treated water to Barber Creek, about a mile from the property, and the extensive water distribution network required to operationalize the "reuse" component of the plant.
As a result, the total cost for this project is going to be far in excess of $6 to $8 million.
In addition, on pages 1 and 6 of the RFP, bidders are advised that they should make provisions for an eventual upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant to a 2 million gallons per day capacity, not the 1 MGD covered in the bid. So the decision actually has ramifications beyond the bid itself.
Mr. Dodd said at the July 31 meeting that he wanted to ask the Board to provide policy regarding the use of the new sewage capacity that the Rocky Branch plant will produce. He suggested an even split between commercial and residential use of the new plant’s capacity. During the discussion that followed, however, a number of options were discussed, including setting aside some of the new capacity for existing subdivisions now on septic systems.
In fact, in an e-mail message from Mr. Dodd to County Administrative Officer Mr. Alan Theriault on March 21, 2007, Mr. Dodd indicated that 391,340 gallons per day out of the existing 400,000 gpd of capacity at the existing Rocky Branch plant has "been sold (committed)," with a breakdown of 60% commercial and 40% residential. To get to a 50-50 split for the whole plant, as he suggests in the memo, more of the new capacity would have to be set aside for residential use. But Mr. Dodd also said in that e-mail that the BOC could decide "that they do not want any of the upgrade allotted for residential."
Citizens, who will learn first on August 7 what the Utility Department proposes, should have a chance to review these options and offer comment on them before the Board votes.
At the July 31 meeting, Mr. Dodd also raised the question as to how the Utility Department will set up its financing so that water customers in the County do not subsidize sewage customers, since there will be many more of the former than the latter. This, in addition, is an important issue for the Board to debate.
The list of questions in need of debate, however, is even longer. As you know, Mr. Thomas informed you in an e-mail message of April 2, 2007, that the county has a new wasteload allocation for the Calls Creek sewage treatment plant, "allowing us to expand to 1.5 MGD pending an antidegradation review." So the County could decide to expand Calls Creek rather than Rocky Branch.
In addition, the County received in June of 2006 a wasteload allocation to discharge up to 2 MGD of discharge water from the Rocky Branch plant into the Apalachee River. This option was never explored, but it would seem to be appropriate to discharge into the Apalachee if the County goes forward with the Hard Labor Creek reservoir plans. That reservoir, as you know, would draw water from the Apalachee downstream from the proposed discharge site, meaning that the County truly would be recycling the water it uses.
The fundamental problem is that the County has never debated and adopted a version of the February 2005 wastewater master plan produced for the County. That plan calls for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch plant only as a short-term solution to the need for additional sewage capacity in the County. The report recommends that the County move its sewage treatment facilities to the Oconee River, an option that still remains viable if the County were to work with Clarke County or seek a waste load allocation for alternate locations along the river.
I wrote to you on July 17 and informed you that the Board of Directors of the Friends of Barber Creek wishes to have an opportunity for citizens to voice their requests to the full Board of Commissioners regarding the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant. Specifically, we are asking that the Board of Commissioners:
1. Agree to hold discharge water from the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant in storage facilities when Barber Creek is flooding or threatening to flood, rather than discharge into the Creek;
2. Treat effluent from the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant to the highest level possible with the technology available and, at a minimum, to the level of treatment at the Hill Plant in Gwinnett County for water being discharged into Lake Lanier; and
3. Set up a system of independent monitoring of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, its effluent, and Barber Creek.
At this time, you have not responded to this request, other than acknowledge receipt of it via an e-mail message on July 27. If the Board of Commissioners approves one of the bids on August 7, it will mean that the County will have to go back to the bidder at a later time and ask for modifications to meet the first two requests above.
For all of these reasons, I ask that the Board of Commissioners take no action regarding the upgrade of the Rocky Branch LAS at the meeting on August 7.
I thank you for consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Lee Becker, President
Friends of Barber Creek
1050 Scott Terrace
Athens, GA 30606 (Oconee County)
706 548 1525
lbbecker@mindspring.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Written 7/31/2007
Some Things Missing
The Request for Proposals for the $6 to $8 million expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage plant has one interesting and significant exclusion.
The RFP does not cover construction of the pipe and pump that will be needed to get the treated sewage water to Barber Creek or to the water distribution system required to carry the reuse-quality water to any customers the County may be able to line up for it.
The RFP stipulates that the project extends "only to the treatment facility property boundary." The RFP states that work beyond the 245-acre site off Rocky Branch road behind the new high school "will be addressed in a separate project."
The exclusion is interesting because the County originally planned to dump the water into an unnamed tributary at the edge of the County property, but the Georgia Environmental Protection Division has said it will not allow that, since the County sought and was granted permission to discharge into Barber Creek, not the unnamed tributary.
In addition, the County repeatedly has said discharge into Barber Creek will actually be less than the allowed 1.0 million gallons per day of treated sewage water because the County will sell the treated water to customers for irrigation. The County will have to build a separate distribution and metering system for the reuse water.
Chris Thomas, assistant director of the Oconee County Utility Department, told me in an e-mail message on September 6, 2006, that the Rocky Branch "discharge will be into the feeder creek," rather than Barber Creek itself. He copied his message to me to Utility Department head Gary Dodd. (Dodd will retire on August 6, and Thomas is set to replace him as director.)
At the December 12 hearing before the EPD, I argued that the draft permit was for the wrong stream, since it named Barber Creek and not the tributary.
The EPD in late March of 2007 informed me and others who questioned the County over its plans for the Rocky Branch plant that "The discharge is not to be occurring in the stream adjacent to the plant site, which is a tributary to Barber Creek."
On December 13–the day after the hearing--Curtis Boswell, from the Engineering & Technical Support Program at the EPD in Atlanta, sent an email message to Chris Thomas saying:
"We did a satellite view of the discharge location for the Rocky Branch facility. Looks like you guys are going to pipe approximately 1-mile to Barber Creek. I relayed this information to the Athens Banner this morning. Go ahead and submit the pump station and force main information with the plans and specifications for the wastewater facilities."
Gary Dodd e-mailed back to Boswell about an hour later, saying:
"This can gravity all the way and it is not a mile, what you sent ABH is ok with us, if they call we will tell them this is an option that we can use. Thanks for the heads up!!"
Boswell wrote back the following day (14th of December) saying:
"The application included a map showing a 1-mile radius essentially from the headworks. The proposed discharge location fell along the radius line. Am I missing something? This is the same location identified in the wasteload allocation. It did not look downhill all the way!"
The effort to convince the Athens Banner-Herald that the County had planned to pipe the water to Barber Creek all along was successful. The reporter never wrote about the issue and apparently did not know that the County was not even certain at that point whether it would have to pump the treated sewage to Barber Creek or whether it would flow by gravity.
One way or the other, the County has to get the water off the property. Unless it tries to use the unnamed tributary to do that, it will need to seek another bid for the pipe to Barber Creek as well as the distribution system for the reuse water.
That means the $6 to $8 million cost estimate is a low one.
Some Things Missing
The Request for Proposals for the $6 to $8 million expansion of the Rocky Branch sewage plant has one interesting and significant exclusion.
The RFP does not cover construction of the pipe and pump that will be needed to get the treated sewage water to Barber Creek or to the water distribution system required to carry the reuse-quality water to any customers the County may be able to line up for it.
The RFP stipulates that the project extends "only to the treatment facility property boundary." The RFP states that work beyond the 245-acre site off Rocky Branch road behind the new high school "will be addressed in a separate project."
The exclusion is interesting because the County originally planned to dump the water into an unnamed tributary at the edge of the County property, but the Georgia Environmental Protection Division has said it will not allow that, since the County sought and was granted permission to discharge into Barber Creek, not the unnamed tributary.
In addition, the County repeatedly has said discharge into Barber Creek will actually be less than the allowed 1.0 million gallons per day of treated sewage water because the County will sell the treated water to customers for irrigation. The County will have to build a separate distribution and metering system for the reuse water.
Chris Thomas, assistant director of the Oconee County Utility Department, told me in an e-mail message on September 6, 2006, that the Rocky Branch "discharge will be into the feeder creek," rather than Barber Creek itself. He copied his message to me to Utility Department head Gary Dodd. (Dodd will retire on August 6, and Thomas is set to replace him as director.)
At the December 12 hearing before the EPD, I argued that the draft permit was for the wrong stream, since it named Barber Creek and not the tributary.
The EPD in late March of 2007 informed me and others who questioned the County over its plans for the Rocky Branch plant that "The discharge is not to be occurring in the stream adjacent to the plant site, which is a tributary to Barber Creek."
On December 13–the day after the hearing--Curtis Boswell, from the Engineering & Technical Support Program at the EPD in Atlanta, sent an email message to Chris Thomas saying:
"We did a satellite view of the discharge location for the Rocky Branch facility. Looks like you guys are going to pipe approximately 1-mile to Barber Creek. I relayed this information to the Athens Banner this morning. Go ahead and submit the pump station and force main information with the plans and specifications for the wastewater facilities."
Gary Dodd e-mailed back to Boswell about an hour later, saying:
"This can gravity all the way and it is not a mile, what you sent ABH is ok with us, if they call we will tell them this is an option that we can use. Thanks for the heads up!!"
Boswell wrote back the following day (14th of December) saying:
"The application included a map showing a 1-mile radius essentially from the headworks. The proposed discharge location fell along the radius line. Am I missing something? This is the same location identified in the wasteload allocation. It did not look downhill all the way!"
The effort to convince the Athens Banner-Herald that the County had planned to pipe the water to Barber Creek all along was successful. The reporter never wrote about the issue and apparently did not know that the County was not even certain at that point whether it would have to pump the treated sewage to Barber Creek or whether it would flow by gravity.
One way or the other, the County has to get the water off the property. Unless it tries to use the unnamed tributary to do that, it will need to seek another bid for the pipe to Barber Creek as well as the distribution system for the reuse water.
That means the $6 to $8 million cost estimate is a low one.
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